Cesar Romero

American actorTemplate:SHORTDESC:American actor[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

For the American soccer player, see César Romero Zamora.

**Cesar Julio Romero Jr.** (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor, singer, dancer, and vocal artist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years.

His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and the Joker on the *Batman* television series, which was included in *TV Guide's* 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.

## Early life

 File:Cesar Romero - USCG 2.jpg
Cesar Julio Romero Jr. was born in New York City on February 15, 1907, the son of Cesar Julio Romero Sr. and Maria Mantilla. His mother was said to be the biological daughter of Cuban national hero José Martí. His father was born in Barcelona, Spain and immigrated to the United States in 1888, where he was an import/export merchant. His mother was a concert singer.

Romero grew up in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, and was educated at Bradley Beach Elementary School, Asbury Park High School, the Collegiate School, and the Riverdale Country Day School. After his parents lost their sugar-import business and suffered losses in the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Romero's Hollywood earnings allowed him to support his large family, all of whom followed him to the American West Coast years later. Romero lived on and off with various family members for the rest of his life.

On October 12, 1942, he voluntarily enlisted in the United States Coast Guard as an apprentice seaman and served in the Pacific Theater of Operations. He reported aboard the Coast Guard-manned assault transport Template:Ship in November 1943. According to a press release from the period, Romero saw action during the invasions of Tinian and Saipan. The same article mentioned that he preferred to be a regular part of the crew and was eventually promoted to the rating of chief boatswain's mate.

## Career

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 File:Cesar Romero in Public Enemy's Wife.JPG
 File:Carmen Miranda and César Romero in Week-End in Havana (1941).jpg
The 6'3" [190 cm] Romero routinely played "Latin lovers" in films from the 1930s until the 1950s, usually in supporting roles. He starred as the Cisco Kid in six westerns made between 1939 and 1941. Romero danced and performed comedy in the 20th Century Fox films he starred in opposite Carmen Miranda and Betty Grable, such as *Week-End in Havana* and *Springtime in the Rockies*, in the 1940s. He also played a minor role as Sinjin, a piano player in Glenn Miller's band, in the 1942 20th Century Fox musical *Orchestra Wives*.

In *The Thin Man* (1934), Romero played a villainous supporting role opposite the film's main star William Powell. Many of Romero's films from this early period saw him cast in small character parts, such as Italian gangsters and East Indian princes. Romero had a lead role as the Pathan rebel leader, Khoda Khan, in John Ford's British Raj-era action film *Wee Willie Winkie* starring *Shirley Temple* (1937) and *The Little Princess* (1939) alongside Shirley Temple. He also appeared in a comic turn as a foil for Frank Sinatra and his crew in *Ocean's 11* (1960).

Romero sometimes played the leading man, for example in Allan Dwan's *15 Maiden Lane* (1936) opposite Claire Trevor, as well as winning the key role of the Doc Holliday character (with name changed to "Doc Halliday") in Dwan's Wyatt Earp saga *Frontier Marshal* three years later. 20th Century Fox, along with mogul Darryl Zanuck, personally selected Romero to co-star with Tyrone Power in the Technicolor historical epic *Captain from Castile* (1947), directed by Henry King. While Power played a fictionalized character, Romero played Hernán Cortés, a historical conquistador in Spain's conquest of the Americas.Template:Citation needed

### Television

Among many television credits, Romero appeared several times on *The Martha Raye Show* in the mid-1950s. He portrayed Don Diego de la Vega's maternal uncle in a number of Season 2 *Zorro* episodes.Template:Citation needed

 File:Cesar Romero - The Joker 1967.jpg
In 1958, he guest-starred as Ramon Valdez, a South American businessman, who excels at dancing the Cha-Cha with Barbara Eden in her syndicated romantic comedy, *How to Marry a Millionaire* in the episode entitled "The Big Order". He performed the mambo with Gisele MacKenzie on her NBC variety show, *The Gisele MacKenzie Show*. He guest-starred in 1957 on CBS's *The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour* on the first episode of the seventh season ("Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana"). He played "Don Carlos", a card shark on the episode, "The Honorable Don Charlie Story" of NBC's *Wagon Train*. On January 16, 1958, he appeared on *The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford*. In 1959, Romero was cast as Joaquin in the episode "Caballero" from *The Texan*, and on September 26 of that year, he hosted the Cuban installment of *John Gunther's High Road*.

In 1960, he was cast as Ricky Valenti in "Crime of Passion" from *Pete and Gladys*.Template:Citation needed In 1965, Romero played the head of THRUSH in France in "The Never Never Affair" from *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* From 1965 to 1968, he portrayed the Joker on *Batman*. He refused to shave his moustache for the role, and so the supervillain's white face makeup was simply smeared over it throughout the series' run and in the 1966 film.

His guest star work in the 1970s included a recurring role on the western comedy *Alias Smith and Jones* as 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 later portrayed Peter Stavros on *Falcon Crest* (from 1985–1987). He also appeared in a sixth-season episode of *The Golden Girls*, where he played a suitor named Tony Delvecchio for Sophia. Apart from these television roles, Romero appeared as A.J. Arno, a small-time criminal who continually opposes Dexter Riley (played by Kurt Russell) and his schoolmates of Medfield College in a series of films by Walt Disney Productions in the 1970s.

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## Personal life

Romero never married and had no children, but made frequent appearances at Hollywood events escorting actresses, such as Joan Crawford, Linda Darnell, Barbara Stanwyck, Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, Jane Wyman and Ginger Rogers; he was almost always described in interviews and articles as a "confirmed bachelor". Romero talked about his homosexuality with author Boze Hadleigh in a series of interviews which were published in 1996 - two years after Romero's death, in Hadleigh's book *Hollywood Gays*.

Charlie Harper, lead singer of English punk band UK Subs, is reportedly a nephew of Romero.

A registered Republican, in October 1960, he appeared in the Nixon-Lodge Bumper Sticker Motorcade Campaign.

### Death

On January 1, 1994, aged 86, Romero died from complications of a blood clot while being treated for bronchitis and pneumonia at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

His body was cremated and the ashes were interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.

For his contributions to the motion picture and television industry, Romero has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6615 Hollywood Blvd.

## Filmography

### Films

* *The Shadow Laughs* (1933) as Tony Rico (first film role)
* *The Thin Man* (1934) as Chris Jorgenson
* *British Agent* (1934) as Tito Del Val
* *Cheating Cheaters* (1934) as Tom Palmer
* *Strange Wives* (1934) as Boris
* *Clive of India* (1935) as Mir Jaffar
* *A Dream Comes True* (1935) as Himself (uncredited)
* *The Good Fairy* (1935) as Joe
* *Cardinal Richelieu* (1935) as Andre de Pons
* *The Devil Is a Woman* (1935) as Antonio Galvan
* *Hold 'Em Yale* (1935) as Gigolo Georgie
* *Diamond Jim* (1935) as Jerry Richardson
* *Metropolitan* (1935) as Niki Baroni
* *Rendezvous* (1935) as Nieterstein
* *Show Them No Mercy!* (1935) as Tobey
* *Love Before Breakfast* (1936) as Bill Wadsworth
* *Nobody's Fool* (1936) as Dizzy Rantz
* *Public Enemy's Wife* (1936) as Gene Maroc
* *Wee Willie Winkie* (1937) as Khoda Khan
* *Dangerously Yours* (1937) as Victor Morell
* *Ali Baba Goes to Town* (1937) as Himself (at Fictional Premiere) (uncredited)
* *Happy Landing* (1938) as Duke Sargent
* *Always Goodbye* (1938) as Count Giovanni 'Gino' Corini
* *My Lucky Star* (1938) as George Cabot Jr
* *Five of a Kind* (1938) as Duke Lester
* *Wife, Husband and Friend* (1939) as Hugo
* *The Little Princess* (1939) as Ram Dass
* *The Return of the Cisco Kid* (1939) as Lopez
* *Frontier Marshal* (1939) as Doc Halliday
* *Charlie Chan at Treasure Island* (1939) as Rhadini
* *The Cisco Kid and the Lady* (1939) as Cisco Kid
* *Hollywood Hobbies* (1939) as Himself (uncredited)
* *He Married His Wife* (1940) as Freddie
* *Viva Cisco Kid* (1940) as Cisco Kid
* *Lucky Cisco Kid* (1940) as Cisco Kid
* *The Gay Caballero* (1940) as Cisco Kid
* *Romance of the Rio Grande* (1941) as Cisco Kid / Real and fake Carlos Hernandez
* *Tall, Dark and Handsome* (1941) as J.J. 'Shep' Morrison
* *Ride on Vaquero* (1941) as Cisco Kid
* *The Great American Broadcast* (1941) as Bruce Chadwick
* *Dance Hall* (1941) as Duke McKay
* *Week-End in Havana* (1941) as Monte Blanca
* *A Gentleman at Heart* (1942) as Tony Miller
* *Tales of Manhattan* (1942) as Harry Wilson
* *Orchestra Wives* (1942) as St. John 'Sinjin' Smith
* *Springtime in the Rockies* (1942) as Victor Prince
* *Coney Island* (1942) as Joe Rocco
* *Wintertime* (1943) as Brad Barton
* *Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Victory Show* (1946) as Himself
* *Carnival in Costa Rica* (1947) as Pepe Castro
* *Captain from Castile* (1947) as Hernán Cortéz
* *That Lady in Ermine* (1948) as Joe Sanger
* *Julia Misbehaves* (1948) as Fred Ghenoccio
* *Deep Waters* (1948) as Count Mario
* *The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend* (1949) as Blackie Jobero
* *Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc.* (1949) as Himself
* *Love That Brute* (1950) as Pretty Willie Wetzchahofsky
* *Once a Thief* (1950) as Mitch Moore
* *Happy Go Lovely* (1951) as John Frost
* *Lost Continent* (1951) as Major Joe Nolan
* *FBI Girl* (1951) as FBI Agent Glen Stedman
* *The Jungle* (1952) as Rama Singh
* *Lady in the Fog* (aka *Scotland Yard Inspector*) (1952) as Philip 'Phil' O'Dell
* *The Sword of Granada* (1953) as Don Pedro de Rivera
* *Street of Shadows* (aka *Shadow Man*) (1953) as Luigi
* *Prisoners of the Casbah* (1953) as Firouz
* *Vera Cruz* (1954) as Marquis Henri de Labordere
* *A Star Is Born World Premiere* (1954, TV Short) as Himself
* *The Americano* (1955) as Manuel Silvera / "El Gato" / Etc.
* *The Racers* (1955) as Carlos Chavez
* *The Leather Saint* (1956) as Tony Lorenzo
* *Around the World in 80 Days* (1956) as Abdullah's henchman
* *The Story of Mankind* (1957) as Spanish Envoy
* *Villa!!* (1958) as Tomás Lopez
* *My Private Secretaries* (1959) as Rafael Travesi
* *Ocean's 11* (1960) as Duke Santos
* *Pepe* (1960) as Himself
* *Seven Women from Hell* (1961) as Luis Hullman
* *The Runaway* (1961) as Father Dugan
* *If a Man Answers* (1962) as Robert Swan / Adam Wright
* *We Shall Return* (1963) as Carlos Rodriguez
* *The Castilian* (1963) as Jerónimo
* *Donovan's Reef* (1963) as Marquis Andre de Lage
* *Saint Mike* (1963)
* *A House Is Not a Home* (1964) as Lucky Luciano
* *Two on a Guillotine* (1965) as John Harley 'Duke' Duquesne
* *Sergeant Deadhead* (1965) as Admiral Stoneham
* *Marriage on the Rocks* (1965) as Miguel Santos
* *Batman* (1966) as The Joker
* *Madigan's Millions* (1968) as Mike Madigan
* *Hot Millions* (1968) as Customs Inspector
* *Skidoo* (1968) as Hechy
* *Crooks and Coronets* (1969) as Nick Marco
* *Midas Run* (1969) as Carlo Dodero
* *Target: Harry* (1969) as Lt. George Duval
* *Latitude Zero* (1969) as Dr. Malic / Lt. Hastings
* *The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes* (1969) as A. J. Arno
* *A Talent for Loving* (1969) as Don Jose
* *The Red, White, and Black* (1970) as Col. Grierson
* *The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World* – TV Movie documentary (1971) as Himself
* *Once Upon a Wheel* (1971) as Himself
* *The Last Generation* (1971) (archive footage)
* *The Proud and the Damned* (1972) as San Carlos' Mayor
* *Now You See Him, Now You Don't* (1972) as A. J. Arno
* *The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe* (1974) as Dr. Richard Grimaldi
* *The Haunted Mouth* (1974) as B. Plaque (Narrator)
* *The Strongest Man in the World* (1975) as A. J. Arno
* *Timber Tramps* (1975) as Greedy sawmill mogul
* *Carioca Tigre* (1976) as Don Rosalindo Y Guana
* *Mission to Glory: A True Story* (1977) as Admiral Atondo
* *Lust in the Dust* (1985) as Father Garcia
* *Judgement Day* (1988) as Octavio
* *Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business* (1995) (documentary)
* *The Right Way* (1998) as Mr. Peretti (final film role)

### Television

* *The Ed Wynn Show* – episode – Episode #1.31 – Himself (1950)
* *Passport to Danger* – 31 episodes – Steve McQuinn (1954–1958)
* *The Red Skelton Hour* – 12 episodes – Various (1956–1970)
* *Navy Log* – episode – The Beach Pounders – Host (1957)
* *The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show* (1957)
* *Wagon Train* – episode – The Honorable Don Charlie Story – Hon Don 'Charlie' Carlos de Fuentes (1958)
* *Zorro* – 4 episodes – Esteban de la Cruz (1959)
* *The Texan* – episode – Caballero – Captain Joaquin Acosta (1959)
* *John Gunther's High Road* – Cuba episode – Himself (1959)
* *Death Valley Days* – episode – Oblivion (1959)
* *Rawhide* – 4 episodes – Various (1959–1965)
* *Stagecoach West* – episode – A Time to Run – Manolo Lalanda (1960)
* *Five Fingers* in episode "Counterfeit", never aired on NBC (1960)
* *Stagecoach West* – episode – The Big Gun – Colonel Francisco Martinez (1961)
* *Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre* 1961 Season 5 Episode 26 The Man from Everywhere
* *The Beachcomber* (1962)
* *Rawhide* – episode – "The Child Woman" – Big Tim Sloan (1962)
* *Fractured Flickers* – episode – Episode #1.14 – Himself (1963)
* *77 Sunset Strip* (1963)
* *Burke's Law* (1963–1965)
* *Dr. Kildare* (1964)
* *The Mike Douglas Show* – 3 episodes – Himself (1964–1970)
* *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* – episode – The Never-Never Affair – Victor Gervais (1965)
* *Branded* – episode – The Mission: Part 2 – Gen. Arriola (1965)
* *Bonanza* – episode – The Deadliest Game – Guido Borelli (1965)
* *Ben Casey* – episode – Did Your Mother Come from Ireland, Ben Casey? – Frederic Delano (1965)
* *Daniel Boone* – episode – Gabriel – Esteban de Vaca (1966)
* *Batman* – 22 episodes – The Joker (1966–1968)
* *Daniel Boone* – episode – Bitter Mission – Colonel Carlos Navarro (1967)
* *T.H.E. Cat* (1967)
* *Get Smart* – episode – The Reluctant Redhead – Kinsey Krispen (1968)
* *Here's Lucy* – episode – A Date for Lucy – Tony Rivera (1969)
* *Daniel Boone* – episode – The Grand Alliance – Buenaventura (1969)
* *Julia* – 4 episodes – Bunny Henderson / Bernard Henderson (1970)
* *Bewitched* – episode – Salem, Here We Come – Ernest Hitchcock (1970)
* *It Takes a Thief* – episode – Beyond a Treasonable Doubt – Mike (1970)
* *The Jimmy Stewart Show* – episode – A Hunch in Time – Harris Crofton (1971)
* *Love, American Style* – episode – Love and the Duel/Love and the Note/Love and the Young Unmarrieds (segment "Love and the Duel") (1971)
* *Nanny and the Professor* (1971)
* *Mooch Goes to Hollywood* (1971)
* *The Merv Griffin Show* – episode – Episode dated 16 November 1971 – Himself (1971)
* *Alias Smith and Jones* – episodes – The McCreedy Bust, The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone, & The McCreedy Feud – Armendariz (1971–1972)
* *The Mod Squad* – episode – The Connection – Frank Barton (1972)
* *The Jimmy Stewart Show* – episode – A Bone of Much Contention – Admiral Decker (1972)
* *Chase* (1973)
* *Ironside* – episode – The Lost Cotillion – Tony Hudson (1974)
* *Banacek* – episode – The Vanishing Chalice – Marius Avantalu (1974)
* *Dinah!* – episode – Episode #1.24 – Himself (1974)
* *Medical Center* (1975)
* *Ellery Queen* – episode – The Adventure of the Wary Witness – Armand Danello (1976)
* *Chico and the Man* (1977)
* *Vega$* – episode – Lost Women – Christopher Vincente (1978)
* *Buck Rogers in the 25th Century* – episode – Vegas in Space – Amos Armat (1979)
* *Fantasy Island* – episode – Pentagram/Casting Director/A Little Ball – Sheikh Hameel Habib (1979)
* *Charlie's Angels* – episode – Dancin' Angels – Elton Mills (1980)
* *Fantasy Island* – episode – Loving Strangers/Something Borrowed, Something Blue (1981) as Maestro Roger Alexander
* *Matt Houston* (1982)
* *Fantasy Island* – episode – The Butler's Affair/Roarke's Sacrifice (1983) as Edmond Rome
* *Hart to Hart* – episode – Chamber of Lost Harts (1983) as Dr. Villac
* *Fantasy Island* – episode – The Tallowed Image/Room and Bard (1983) as Mr. Kragen
* *Magnum, P.I.* – episode – Little Games (1985) as Doc Villoroch
* *Murder, She Wrote* – episode – Paint Me a Murder (1985) as Diego Santana
* *Family Feud* – 2 episodes (1985) as Himself
* *Falcon Crest* – 51 episodes (1985–1988) as Peter Stavros
* *Riptide* (1985–1986)
* *The Tracey Ullman Show* (1988)
* *The Golden Girls* – episode – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun... Before They Die (1990) as Tony Delveccio
* *Murder, She Wrote* – episode – Murder in Milan (1992) as Marcello Abruzzi
* *Edna Time!* - (1993) as himself (final television appearance)

## References

1. ↑ https://coastguard.togetherweserved.com/uscg/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApps?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=9164
2. ↑ Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; (March 25, 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time". *TV Guide*. pp. 14–15.
3. ↑ Candelaria, Cordelia. *Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture*, Volume 2.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Handel, Charles. "A Look at TV: Gunther Plans Unusual Shows". *Philadelphia Inquirer*. September 7, 1959. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
5. ↑ Oliver, Myrna. "Cesar Romero, Suave Star for Over 60 Years, Dies at 86". *Los Angeles Times*. January 4, 1994. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
6. ↑ Marti, José; Allen, Esther. (2002). *José Martí: Selected Writings*. New York: Penguin Books. Page XXIX. Template:ISBN.
7. ↑ Year: 1910; Census Place: Manhattan Ward 12, New York, New York; Roll: T624\_1023; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0593; FHL microfilm: 1375036
8. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925; Roll #: 453; Volume #: Roll 0453 - Certificates: 1250-1499, 11 Jan 1918-14 Jan 1918
9. ↑ Coons, Robbin. "Hollywood Sights and Sounds". *The Gettysburg Times*. March 2, 1936.
10. ↑ Voger, Mark. "'Batman' TV cast on the creation of a camp classic", NJ.com, November 8, 2014; retrieved November 15, 2014. "CESAR ROMERO – The actor who created the role of the Joker lived in Bradley Beach as a child, and attended Bradley Beach Elementary School and Asbury Park High School."
11. ↑ Adams, Marjory. "Movie Question Box". *The Boston Globe*. November 16, 1957. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
12. ↑ Thomas, Bob (AP). "Entertainment: Latin from Manhattan Danced to Hollywood". *The Globe and Mail*. June 22, 1984. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
13. ↑ Thomas, Bob (AP). "Cesar Romero, Actor, Dies at 86; A Suave Player in Films and TV". *The New York Times*. January 3, 1994. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
14. ↑ Wire service, "Cesar Romero Signs As Coast Guardsman", *The San Bernardino Daily Sun*, San Bernardino, California, October 13, 1942, Volume 49, page 9.
15. ↑ U.S. Coast Guard Historian's website https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Notable-People/Celebrities-and-Famous-People/
16. ↑ "*The Texan*". Classic Television Archive. http://ctva.biz/US/Western/Texan.htm. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
17. ↑ "TV Highlights of the Week". *Daytona Beach Morning Journal*. September 26, 1959. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Template:IMDb name
19. ↑ "Ceser Romero". http://emol.org/film/archives/romero/index.html. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
20. ↑ Hadleigh, Boze (1996). Hollywood Gays; Template:ISBN
21. ↑ William J. Mann, Behind the Screen (2001), pp. 157-58
22. ↑ "UK SUBS - Inland Empire Weekly". http://ieweekly.com/2007/11//pick-of-the-week-events/uk-subs. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
23. ↑ Nixon-Lodge Bumper Sticker Motorcade Campaign, latimes.com; accessed April 17, 2017.
24. ↑ "Cesar Romero, Actor, Dies at 86; A Suave Player in Films and TV" (1994-01-03).
25. ↑ Wilson, Scott. *Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons*, 3rd ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 40453-40454). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition
26. ↑ http://www.walkoffame.com/cesar-romero
27. ↑ "Better Radio Programs for the Week", The Decatur Daily Review (November 16, 1952), p. 48. Retrieved on June 18, 2015.  Template:Open access

## External links

Template:Commonscat

* Template:IMDb name
* Template:IBDB name
* Template:Tcmdb name
* Template:Amg name
* Cesar Romero profile, Virtual-History.com; accessed April 17, 2017.
* Cesar Romero in "Jean Boone - Interview with Cast of Batman, The Movie (1966)", texasarchive.org; accessed April 17, 2017.
* Steve Starr (2006). "Cesar Romero". *Entertainment Magazine*. http://emol.org/film/archives/romero/index.html. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
* *Romero Family Papers Regarding José Martí* dloc.com (Digital Library of the Caribbean); accessed April 17, 2017.

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