FILM STARS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 79, 24 June 1927, Page 15

FILM STARS

RICARDO CORTEZ Ricardo Cortez was born in Vienna, and came with his parents to New York when he was three years old. There he received

his schooling, and as a young man entered the brokerage business. He found, however, that a broker’s office was no place for a young man with stage aspirations. His interest was in the theatres, and he spent all his spare time attending play-houses of New York. One day he saw an ad-

vertisement for minor players. He answered it and was given a small part in a large scene of a stock company production. As a soldier he held a spear and stood motionless throughout the scene, but he found this more exciting than sitting on an office stool poring over figures. He had achieved some success upon the stage when chance took him to Los Angeles. Chance also took him to a supper dance at a Los Angeles hotel. It happened that Adolph Zukor, president, and Jesse L. Lasky, vice-president of the famous Players-Lasky Corporation, and other studio officials were also taking dinner there. Mr. Lasky was impressed by the youthful actor’s appearance, and wrote him a note, which was handed to Mr. Cortez by one of the waiters. An appointment was arranged the following day at the Para mount studio. A few* days later he was signed to a longterm contract. Mi*. Cortez’s first Paramount picture was “Sixty Cents An Hour,” starring Walter Heirs. Following this he was cast in a leading role in “Children of Jazz.” He later appeared in “In the Name Of Love,” “The Spaniard,” “Not So Long Ago,” “The Pony Express,” “Volcano,” “The Sorrows of Satan,” “The Cat’s Pyjamas,” “New York,” and “Underworld.” Despite living practically all his life in America, Ricardo Cortez has a temperament which is decidedly Continental. He is a tall, dreamy-eyed youth who spends much of his spare time in the open air. He haunts the beaches and gymnasiums of Los Angeles, rides horseback, and plays polo and many other outdoor games.