Trivia

Jesse L. Lasky was impressed by his dancing and his resemblance to Rudolph Valentino when he saw him in his nightclub routine in 1922 and signed him as a rival/replacement for the increasingly demanding and difficult Valentino. One of Lasky's secretaries suggested the screen name of Ricardo Cortez.

He was born in New York City, to Austrian Jewish parents, Sarah (Lefkowitz) and Moses or Morris Krantz, who married in New York on October 8, 1899. His paternal grandparents were Jacob Krantz and Annie Schluosselfeld. His maternal grandparents were Samuel Lefkowitz and Rosa Schwartz.

Brother of cinematographer Stanley Cortez.

Arrived in Hollywood with Norman Kerry and used his business acumen to arrange a Universal Studios contract for his actor friend.

Died in a New York hospital.

Was engaged to Agnes Ayres before his marriage to Alma Rubens in 1926.

In 1926, The Los Angeles Examiner selected him to appear as a member of the 'All American Screen Players Team,' along with Estelle Taylor, Monte Blue, Norma Talmadge, George Beranger, Eleanor Boardman, Marion Davies, Patsy Ruth Miller, Sydney Chaplin, Ronald Colman, Noah Beery, Alec B. Francis, Julia Faye, William Boyd, Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen.