# Carlos Romero (actor)

Carlos Romero (February 15, 1927 – June 21, 2007) was a professional ice skater who turned to acting in films and television. He was a prolific character actor, who appeared on 132 television episodes and eleven films during his half-century of performing.

## Early life

He was born Carlos Romero Jr, the only child of Carlos Romero Sr and Malvina Polo. His father, born Geronimo Quiroga in Monterrey, Mexico, fled to the United States as a child in 1910 with his large family. They had owned a hotel and theater in Monterrey, but supported the wrong side in the struggle between Venustiano Carranza and Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution.
The extended family adopted the stage name "The Dancing Romeros" for their act during the 1920's, when they performed shows at nightclubs, and later at movie theaters, in between exhibitions of silent pictures.
Carlos Sr switched to designing dance routines for nightclubs and films in the early 1930's. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1938 under his stage name, sponsored by members of the Hollywood film industry with whom he worked. The family settled into the San Fernando Valley of California, where young Carlos attended first Van Nuys High School then North Hollywood High School. Carlos Romero Jr applied for his first social security card at age 15 in June 1942.
Besides film and nightclubs, his father also designed dances for Fanchon and Marco's entertainment partnership. They hired him to design routines for the International Polarink Follies, an ice show that debuted at the newly opened Polarink in Long Beach, California during March 1939. This show had business ties with the more well-known Ice Follies, and by 1943 Carlos Sr had become a director for it as well. His contracts with film studios usually included a clause granting him two months annual leave for work on ice shows. Carlos Jr thus had an early introduction to entertainment ice skating as a profession, as opposed to competitive skating.

## Start in skating

The Ice Follies of 1944 tour started in Los Angeles during September 1943. As Carlos Jr related it to a later interviewer, he was standing backstage at an early performance when someone shoved a horse head mask over him and pushed him out onto the ice. At sixteen he became a full time pro skater, traveling with the Ice Follies on its year-round tour. His hiring as a teenager was likely due to the absence of 21 male cast and crew of military age for the war effort. Newspapers, to distinguish him from his well-known father, consistently referred to him as "Carlos Romero Jr", which was his Ice Follies billing as well. He was among the cast in that year's official program and newspapers listed him with the other performers.
The Ice Follies was then entering its eighth year, with annual attendance approaching two million. Named for the coming year, each Ice Follies show would start performances at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles during September. The entire company would travel on the Ice Follies Special, a special train, usually chartered from Great Northern Railways, to cities across the northern US and Canada. The tour would finish up in San Francisco, playing the current show for the summer months during evenings at the Winterland Arena, while rehearsing the new show for the coming season during the day.
Carlos was in Boston on tour with the Ice Follies of 1945 during February of that year when he turned eighteen. He registered for the draft with a local board in Boston, which then forwarded it to the district board for his permanent residence in Encino, California. According to the draft registrar, Carlos stood 6' 1 3/4" (187.3 cm), weighed 152 pounds (68.9 kg), had hazel eyes, brown hair, and a sallow complexion. He lived with his father in Encino, was employed by the Ice Follies, had scars on the back of his head and right forefinger, and was left-handed.

## Military service

On June 26, 1945, while still on tour with the Ice Follies, Carlos enlisted in the US Army. According to his enlistment papers, Carlos was single, a citizen, had completed three years of high school, and was an athlete by occupation. He wasn't inducted right away, for he continued to perform with the Ice Follies through August 1945.
Carlos Jr apparently served in the US Army from early September 1945 through late August 1947, given his dates of absence from the Ice Follies. A later interview said he was assigned to the Signal Corps, possibly with a specialized entertainment unit, for he claimed to have emceed a GI show in Berlin for which he also did a song and dance routine.
Reporter Pat Laughrey interviewed Carlos Romero Jr just after his military service, when he had rejoined the Ice Follies. The tone of the interview may be judged from Carlos relating to the reporter that his nickname with the show was "Romero the Great". Like one of the charming, witty, fast-talking characters he would later play on television, he was not above giving a slight spin to the truth, saying he had enlisted after "December 1941", and served in France, Belgium, and Germany, letting the unwary assume from the order of countries that he was with the liberation forces, rather than the army of occupation.
An anonymous newspaper blurb from the same time frame mentioned Carlos Jr was a "Purple Heart wearer", while a later article referred to the performer Carlos Romero Jr as a "decorated war hero". The same description was repeated, along with the addendum that he had "narrowly escaped death", in a capsule profile from an official Ice Follies program. The ultimate source for these unlikely statements is unknown.

## Post service skating

Starting in September 1947, Carlos toured with the Ice Follies of 1948. His father had switched to working for the competing Ice Vanities troupe in 1946. Despite the parental defection, Carlos resumed performing with the show in character parts, generally comic acrobatic bits. The tour's premiere at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Hollywood was broadcast live by KTLA on September 18, 1947. This was Carlos first known appearance on screen, playing a matador trying to battle with the Disney character Ferdinand the Bull. Though the broadcast was not recorded, home movie film of the same premiere, including a brief scene of Carlos, was on YouTube as of August 2021.
While on tour during December 1947, Carlos married Ice Follies headliner and former National Pairs Champion Betty Schalow, who was two years older than him. The ceremony occurred during the finale of a Follies performance at the arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a longtime venue for all the touring ice shows. Carlos Romero Sr had to give his legal consent to the marriage, as under Pennsylvania law at the time the twenty year old Carlos Jr was still a minor. The marriage came as a complete surprise to their colleagues with the tour. The event was widely reported in newspapers, and marked a rise in Carlos profile with the tour. Though well-reviewed by the newspapers, Carlos was never a headliner, for he had no competitive skating background and lacked the technical virtuosity demanded of such.
Carlos continued touring with the Ice Follies through the spring of 1948 and stayed with them as they went into their summer quarters in San Francisco. He was cast again in Ice Follies of 1949 and the following year in Ice Follies of 1950. He was with the latter tour at least until January 1950, when newspapers stopped listing him among the other performers. Carlos and Betty apparently divorced in late 1949, though the exact date and location are not known. Betty soon remarried to another skater with the show and stayed with the Ice Follies until 1956.

## Stage and screen acting

Despite his father's contacts in the film industry, Carlos started his acting career on the stage. According to a later Hedda Hopper column, he seems to have been active in both New York and West Coast theatre, though details are lacking for the former. He was mentioned as a new addition to the cast of the Los Angeles based Geller Theatre Workshop in November 1951, for a production of Moss Hart's Light Up The Sky, as "a former Ice Follies skater, who also has a number of years' Little Theater experience". His next documented stage performance was again with the Geller Theatre, in October 1953, for a production of The Two Mrs. Carrolls. This was also his first billing without the generational suffix of "Junior", which he abandoned going forward.
Carlos Romero did an episode of State Trooper in December 1957 that is his first known non-skating television role. He had supposedly done some television in New York, but verification for this is lacking. He had a surprising career arc on the screen, having a flood of television and film roles immediately upon this debut. For some early television character parts he was asked to wear a fake mustache. He had always been clean-shaven for performances prior to 1958, but casting directors and audiences soon came to expect a mustache, and he obliged. He would still appear without one for Native American roles, and for the occasional contemporary part.

## Later career

For 1981, Carlos had no television appearances, breaking a string of twenty-four years of continuous performances. He made up for the gap in the next two years, playing his longest recurring role for a series on Falcon Crest. His TV work gradually dwindled away to once a year in the mid 1980s, though he may have done work outside the US that isn't readily available for reference. His last known performance of any sort was at age 70 in 1997, for an episode of the Spanish comedy series La casa de los líos.
Carlos Romero passed away in Ferndale, California on June 21, 2007.

## Personal life

Carlos was interested in flying as a young man, and qualified for a pilot's license in 1947. He also liked bowling, swimming, riding horses, and hunting. Carlos was always readily accessible to fans who wanted a photo with him. He was noted for his keen sense of humor and fast patter, and was not above joshing an interviewer with exaggerations about himself.
Almost ten years after his divorce from Betty Schalow, Carlos married Alix Bainbridge, nine years his junior, during August 1958. They had a son, born a little more than a year later, but divorced in August 1967. Despite a strong physical resemblance, Carlos Romero was apparently not related to actor Cesar Romero.

## Filmography

Film (by year of first release) :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | The World Was His Jury | 2nd Officer Johnson | The first film Carlos appeared in had the working title of The Trial of Captain Barrett |
| 1958 | The True Story of Lynn Stuart | Fred (uncredited) | |
| 1958 | The Gun Runners | Carlos Contreras | |
| 1959 | The Young Land | Francisco Quiroga | |
| 1959 | They Came to Cordura | Arreaga | |
| 1962 | Deadly Duo | Police Lieutenant Reyes | |
| 1964 | Island of the Blue Dolphins | Chowig | |
| 1966 | Lanza tus penas al viento | | |
| 1966 | The Professionals | 2nd Revolutionary | |
| 1973 | Soylent Green | New Tenant | |
| 1973 | The Don Is Dead | Mariano Longobardo (uncredited) | |
Television (in original broadcast order) :
| Year | Series | Episode | Role | Notes |
| 1947 | Ice Follies | (Sept 18, 1947) | Matador / Magician | A live local broadcast on KTLA from the Pan-Pacific Auditorium |
| 1957 | State Trooper | The Gandy Dancers of Steptoe Valley | Pablo Viejo | |
| 1958 | Wagon Train | The Luke O'Malley Story | Dan Romero | |
| 1958 | Broken Arrow | Power | Natan | |
| 1958 | How to Marry a Millionaire | The Big Order | Ramon Valdez | |
| 1958 | The Gale Storm Show | Hayride Ahoy | | |
| 1958 | Zorro | Welcome to Monterrey | Romero Serrano | |
| 1958 | Zorro | Horse of Another Color | Romero Serrano | |
| 1958 | Zorro | The Senorita Makes a Choice | Romero Serrano | |
| 1958 | Cimarron City | Twelve Guns | Joaquin Avila (uncredited) | |
| 1958 | Zorro | Rendezvous at Sundown | Romero Serrano | |
| 1958 | The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin | Miracle of the Mission | Strong Branch | |
| 1958 | The Californians | The Man Who Owned San Francisco | Jose Limantour | |
| 1959 | The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin | Ol' Betsy | Running Deer | |
| 1959 | Death Valley Days | Price of a Passport | Captain Carlos Rico | |
| 1959 | Wagon Train | The Conchita Vasquez Story | Carlos Soldareo | |
| 1959 | Bronco | Prairie Skipper | Angelo | |
| 1959 | Bat Masterson | The Black Pearls | Dale - Henchman | |
| 1959 | Rawhide | S2:E1, Incident of the Day of the Dead | Goyo | |
| 1959 | Cheyenne | The Rebellion | Lieutenant Jose Montez | |
| 1959 | Wichita Town | Bullet for a Friend | Rico Rodriguez | Carlos had a brief recurring character part on this series |
| 1959 | Wichita Town | They Won't Hang Jimmy Relson | Rico Rodriguez | |
| 1959 | Richard Diamond, Private Detective | The Client | Jose | |
| 1959 | Wanted: Dead Or Alive | Desert Seed | Juan Gomez | |
| 1959 | Wichita Town | Out of the Past | Rico Rodriguez | |
| 1960 | Maverick | The Marquesa | Manuel Ortiz | |
| 1960 | Cheyenne | Gold, Glory and Custer - Requiem | Moccasin Charlie | |
| 1960 | Riverboat | The Blowup | Juan Miguel (uncredited) | |
| 1960 | Wichita Town | The Long Night | Rico Rodriguez | |
| 1960 | Shotgun Slade | Donna Juanita | Mario Guiagoes | |
| 1960 | Bronco | La Rubia | Urbino | |
| 1960 | Bat Masterson | Gold Is Where You Steal It | Juan Torrino | |
| 1960 | Bourbon Street Beat | Green Hell | Ramon Rivera | |
| 1960 | Rawhide | S2:E30, Incident of the Silent Web | Mendoza | |
| 1960 | Wagon Train | Wagons Ho! | Indian #1 (Uncredited) | |
| 1960 | Peter Gunn | Mask of Murder | Sol Escobar | |
| 1960 | Cheyenne | Road to Three Graves | Luiz Perez | |
| 1960 | Rawhide | S3:E7, "Incident at Superstition Prairie" | Asunta | |
| 1961 | Zorro | The Postponed Wedding | Ansar | |
| 1961 | Surfside 6 | Heels Over Head | Juan Escudero | |
| 1961 | Maverick | Dutchman's Gold | Ricardo Padilla | |
| 1961 | The Case of the Dangerous Robin | Doll of Death | | |
| 1961 | Gunslinger | Road of the Dead | Colonel Delgado | |
| 1961 | Maverick | Substitute Gun | Clete Spain | |
| 1961 | Checkmate | Dance of Death | Arturo Calderone | |
| 1961 | 77 Sunset Strip | Hot Tamale Caper Part 1 | Senor Seradil | |
| 1961 | 77 Sunset Strip | Hot Tamale Caper Part 2 | Senor Seradil | |
| 1961 | Rawhide | S4:E1, Rio Salado | Antonio Marcos | |
| 1961 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Squatter's Rights | Juan Quintos | |
| 1962 | 77 Sunset Strip | The Parallel Caper | Caesar Martinez | |
| 1962 | The Dick Powell Theater | Borderline | | |
| 1962 | Rawhide | S5:E14, Incident of Decision | Antonio Chavez | |
| 1963 | Empire | Where the Hawk Is Wheeling | Max | |
| 1963 | Alcoa Premiere | The Hat of Sargeant Martin | Sergeant Sandy Sandoval | Carlos was on this ABC show the same night (Feb 7).... |
| 1963 | Perry Mason | The Case of the Libelous Locket | Raul Perez | ....that he was on this CBS show |
| 1963 | Wagon Train | The Tom Tuesday Story | Bandit Leader (Uncredited) | |
| 1963 | Have Gun – Will Travel | The Black Bull | Nino Ybarra | |
| 1963 | The Virginian | The Mountain of the Sun | Pedro | |
| 1963 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Season 1 Episode 28: "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans" | Alfau - Mexican Police Chief | |
| 1963 | Rawhide | S5:E29, Incident at Rio Doloroso | Hernan Maldenado | |
| 1963 | GE True | Five Tickets to Hell | Lieutenant Juan Garcia | A clean-shaven Carlos stars as a Mexican police officer |
| 1964 | Perry Mason | The Case of the Scandelous Sculptor | Nonno Volente | |
| 1964 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | The Tenderfoot Part 1 | Commandante Maldonado | |
| 1965 | Ben Casey | A Horse Named Stravinsky | Dr. Elton De Los Rios | |
| 1965 | Laredo | I See By Your Outfit | Miguel | |
| 1966 | Daniel Boone | Gabriel | Francisco | |
| 1966 | I Spy | The Conquest of Maude Murdock | Bandit #1 | |
| 1966 | Perry Mason | The Case of the Tsarina's Tiara | Ricardo Arena | |
| 1966 | The Big Valley | Legend of a General Part 1 | Leon | |
| 1966 | The Big Valley | Legend of a General Part 2 | Leon | |
| 1966 | The Fugitive | Wine Is a Traitor | Morales | |
| 1967 | The FBI | The Gray Passenger | Calderon | |
| 1967 | The Fugitive | Death of a Very Small Killer | Sergeant Rodriguez | |
| 1967 | The Invaders | The Storm | Luis Perez | |
| 1967 | The FBI | The Extortionist | S. A. Robert Vega | |
| 1967 | Death Valley Days | Along Came Mariana | Jose de la Cruz Romero | |
| 1967 | The Wild Wild West | The Night of the Assassin | The Lieutenant | |
| 1967 | The High Chaparral | The Widow from Red Rock | Romero | Carlos does another doubleheader, appearing on this NBC show.... |
| 1967 | The FBI | Line of Fire | Bartender | ....the same night (November 26) he was on this ABC show |
| 1968 | Run For Your Life | A Dangerous Proposal | Lieutenant Ortiz | |
| 1968 | It Takes a Thief | One Night on Soledade | Andreas | |
| 1968 | Dragnet | Robbery: DR-15 | Juan | |
| 1968 | Mannix | The End of the Rainbow | Jug Haskins | |
| 1969 | Mod Squad | The Sunday Drivers | Frank Salido | |
| 1969 | The FBI | The Patriot | Captain Ortiz | |
| 1969 | The Guns of Will Sonnett | A Town in Terror Part 1 | Carlos | |
| 1969 | The Guns of Will Sonnett | A Town in Terror Part 2 | Carlos | |
| 1969 | Family Affair | The Young Man from Bolivia | Senor Mendez | |
| 1969 | It Takes a Thief | The Baranhoff Timetable | Director | |
| 1969 | D.A.:Murder One | (TV Movie) | Bob Ramirez | |
| 1970 | The High Chaparral | Fiesta | Sargente | |
| 1970 | The Virginian | Last of the Comancheros | Raul Armendez | |
| 1971 | The Smith Family | Chicano | Mike Blanco | |
| 1971 | Family Affair | You Can't Fight City Hall | Mr. Alvarez | |
| 1971 | Cannon | Scream of Silence | Moreno | |
| 1971 | The FBI | Bitter Harbor | | |
| 1972 | O'Hara, U.S. Treasury | Operation: Mr Felix | Peter Wade | |
| 1972 | Adam-12 | Gifts and Long Letters | Reuben Sanchez | Carlos played a detective sergeant on three episodes of this series |
| 1973 | Adam-12 | O'Brien's Stand | Reuben Sanchez | |
| 1973 | Streets of San Francisco | Deathwatch | Supervisor Pete Delgado | |
| 1973 | Adam-12 | Nightwatch | Reuben Sanchez | |
| 1974 | Kung Fu | Empty Pages of a Dead Book | Doctor | |
| 1974 | Banacek | Fly Me- If You Can Find Me | Sheriff Ortega | |
| 1974 | Barnaby Jones | Rendezvous with Terror | Jarras | |
| 1974 | Chase | The People Parlay | Felix Martinez | |
| 1974 | The Six Million Dollar Man | Act of Piracy | Ferndo Ferraga | |
| 1975 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Legacy of Terror | George Andrews | |
| 1975 | Chico and the Man | Bird in a Gilded Cage | Diner Owner Ramon | |
| 1976 | Cannon | Bloodlines | Captain Landivar | |
| 1977 | Wonder Woman | Return of Wonder Woman | Colonel Acevo | |
| 1978 | Rockford Files | South By Southeast | Sam Gurolla | |
| 1979 | Hart to Hart | Passport to Murder | Doctor | |
| 1980 | Barnaby Jones | Killer Without a Name | Carlos Duquesa | |
| 1982 | Falcon Crest | For Love or Money | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1982 | Code Red | Trapped by Time | Robles | |
| 1982 | Falcon Crest | House of Cards | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1982 | Falcon Crest | The Good, the Bad, and the Profane | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1982 | Falcon Crest | The Challenge | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1982 | Falcon Crest | The Arrival | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1982 | Falcon Crest | Troubled Waters | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1982 | Falcon Crest | Murder One | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1983 | Hart to Hart | Pounding Harts | Emil Herrera | |
| 1983 | T. J. Hooker | Raw Deal | Senor Diez | |
| 1983 | Falcon Crest | Cimmerean Dawn | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1983 | Falcon Crest | Conspiracy | Carlo Agretti | |
| 1984 | The Fall Guy | Rabbit's Feet | Moreno | |
| 1985 | Scarecrow and Mrs. King | Spiderweb | Julian Zaken | |
| 1985 | The A-Team | Knights of the Road | Zuniga | |
| 1986 | Dynasty | The Arraignment | Judge J. Thebom | |
| 1987 | Magnum, P.I. | Tigers Fan | Grady Walker | |
| 1988 | Days of Our Lives | Episode of Sept 7, 1988 | Mr. Kent | |
| 1989 | L.A. Law | Urine Trouble Now | Alfredo Perez | This was Carlos final US television appearance |
| 1997 | La casa de los líos | La boda de Arturo Valdés | Guijarro | His final television appearance was on this comedy series in Spain |
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