We saw an old movie called “Arabian Nights” and wondered what you could tell us about its star, Maria Montez?
—Gary Bagley, Burney, California
Born in the Dominican Republic, Montez made more than two dozen films between 1940 and 1951, mostly portraying exotic beauties in costume such adventures as “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” and “Cobra Woman,” which helped earn her the title “The Queen of Technicolor.” Married to French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont, she had a daughter, Tina Aumont, who also became an actress. Montez died in 1951 at the age of 39 after apparently suffering a heart attack and drowning in her bathtub.
