Cesar Romero

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Cesar Romero
photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1934
Birth name	Cesar Julio Romero, Jr.
Born	February 15, 1907 New York City, New York, USA
Died	January 1, 1994, (age 86) Santa Monica, California, USA
Other name(s)	Butch, Latin from Manhattan
Years active	ca. 1930-1990
Notable roles	The Joker in Batman

Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was a Cuban-American actor. He was born in New York to wealthy Cuban parents and played "Latin lovers" in films from the 1930s until the 1950s, usually in supporting roles. He starred as Cisco Kid in six westerns made between 1939 and 1941. Romero's Hollywood earnings allowed him to support his large family after his parents lost their sugar import business and suffered losses in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Romero lived on and off with various family members, especially his sister, for the rest of his life.

Romero's skill at both dancing and comedy can be seen in the classic 20th Century Fox films he starred in opposite Carmen Miranda and Betty Grable, such as A Night in Havana and Springtime in the Rockies, in the 1940s.

Romero served admirably in various capacities in the United States Coast Guard in the Pacific for several years during WWII.

Cesar Romero in his most famous role as the Joker from Batman.

In 1966, Romero achieved icon status when he played The Joker in ABC-TV's Batman television series. He refused to shave his trademark mustache and so it was covered with white makeup when playing the supervillain throughout the series' run. Romero also portrayed The Joker in the spin-off movie version of the show.

Among Romero's guest star work in the 1970s was a recurring role on the western comedy Alias Smith and Jones, starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy. Romero played Señor Armendariz, a Mexican rancher feuding with Patrick McCreedy (Burl Ives), the owner of a ranch on the opposite side of the border. He appeared in three episodes.

Romero portrayed Chico Rodriguez's (Freddie Prinze) absent father in Chico And The Man and later appeared as Peter Stavros in the television series Falcon Crest (1985-1987).

Romero always claimed his grandfather on his mother's side was Cuban poet and patriot José Martí although his mother's parents were legally Carmen and Manuel Mantilla with Jose Martí as his godfather. There was some speculation that Maria was fathered by Martí who was a boarder in the Mantilla household but he never claimed Maria as his daughter in his lifetime. Romero was a believer in liberation theology. Romero, who never married despite proposing to at least one woman, was known to be gay, even during the more discreet standards of his generation.^[1][2]

He was a mainstay of the Hollywood social circuit until his death in 1994.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Trivia

• The sinister screeching laugh associated with the Joker began with Romero. Upon first reading the script for Batman he grew so amused with the story that he began to laugh out loud. The producers asked him to use the laugh whenever he taunted the Dynamic Duo. As a result it became so associated with the Joker that it became the standard in later animated shows and the Batman movies. It even became illustrated in the comic.
• In a Halloween edition of the popular Homestar Runner internet cartoons, Strong Bad dresses as "Cesar Romero as the Joker", complete with bleached mustache.
• Cesar Romero is referenced in an episode of The Simpsons, when Homer Simpson sees the "ghost" of Cesar Chavez, asking him, "Who are you?" The ghost replies, "Cesar Chavez." Homer says, "Why do you look like Cesar Romero?" The ghost says, "Because you don't know what Cesar Chavez looks like."
• Romero is also referenced in an episode of Sanford and Son, when Lamont confronts his father, Fred Sanford, on an especially fake-looking wig he is wearing. Lamont asks him what it (the wig) is, and when Fred asks him what it looks like, Lamont responds that "it looks like the welcome mat at Cesar Romero's house!"

[edit] References

1. ^ Steve Starr (2006). Cesar Romero. Entertainment Magazine Online. Retrieved on 2007-03-08.
2. ^ Hadleigh, Boze (1996). Hollywood Gays. Barricade Books, Inc.. ISBN 1569800839. 

[edit] External links

• Cesar Romero at the Internet Movie Database
• Cesar Romero at Find A Grave
• Cesar Romero at The 1966 Batman TV Villains
• Cesar Romero's death certificate at findadeath.com