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[[Image:Cesar Romero Joker.gif|thumb|left|200px|Cesar Romero in his famous role as [[Joker (Batman)|The Joker]] from ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''.]]
[[Image:Cesar Romero Joker.gif|thumb|left|200px|Cesar Romero in his famous role as [[Joker (Batman)|The Joker]] from ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''.]]
In 1966, Romero again achieved icon status when he played [[Joker (comics)|The Joker]] in [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC's]] [[television series]], ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''. 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 original movie version, long before its recreations by [[Jack Nicholson]] or [[Heath Ledger]]. His performances, highlighted by their maniacal laughter, were cited as an influence for [[Mark Hamill]], when he took the role of The Joker in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' and its followups.
In 1966, Romero again achieved icon status when he played [[Joker (comics)|The Joker]] in [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC's]] [[television series]], ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''. 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 [[Batman (1966 film)|original movie]] version, long before its recreations by [[Jack Nicholson]] or [[Heath Ledger]]. His performances, highlighted by their maniacal laughter, were cited as an influence for [[Mark Hamill]], when he took the role of The Joker in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' and its followups.


In the 1970s, 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). 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. He also appeared as [[Count Dracula]] on [[Rod Serling]]'s ''[[Night Gallery]]''.
In the 1970s, 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). 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. He also appeared as [[Count Dracula]] on [[Rod Serling]]'s ''[[Night Gallery]]''.

Revision as of 15:18, 21 July 2008

Cesar Romero
photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1934
Born
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr.
Resting placeInglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California, USA\
Other namesButch, Latin from Manhattan
Years activeca. 1930-1990

Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was a Cuban American film and television actor, renowned for his portrayal of The Joker in the television series Batman.

Biography

Early life

Romero was born in New York to well-off Cuban parents. However, that lifestyle would change dramatically when his parents lost their sugar import business and suffered losses in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Fortunately, Romero's Hollywood earnings allowed him to support his large family, all of whom followed him to the West Coast, years later. Romero lived on and off with various family members, especially his sister, for the rest of his life.

Romero served admirably in various capacities in the United States Coast Guard in the Pacific for several years during World War II, with fellow Hollywood actors, Gig Young and Richard Cromwell.

Career

In Public Enemy's Wife (1936)

Romero played "Latin lovers" in films from the 1930s until the 1950s, usually in supporting roles. Initially, he attracted attention in Hollywood when he starred as Cisco Kid in six westerns made between 1939 and 1941. 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 Week-End in Havana and Springtime in the Rockies, in the 1940s.

As well as being an accomplished ballroom dancer, Romero was also a fine dramatic actor, as he demonstrated in The Thin Man (1934), in which he 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. He also appeared in a fine comic turn as a subversive opponent to Frank Sinatra and his crew in Ocean's Eleven.

20th Century Fox, and 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 Hernan Cortez, the most famous Conquistador in Spain's conquest of the Americas. The movie is set in 1519, and sets out the general account of the first stages in the conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico. This film was meant as the vehicle to restart Tyrone Power's career, though many feel that Romero's career benefited more from it. It was produced on a scale that would not be eclipsed as a visual epic, until years later when the cinema brought on Quo Vadis, The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur or even later, Lawrence of Arabia. Romero was able to maintain the aura of "major stardom" for at least 10 years after this major role. The film was widely seen, and influenced the future depiction of Spanish Conquistadors. The film anachronistically depicted the armor and headgear worn by the conquering Spanish adventurers, shifting the styles forward about 70 years. Countless monuments, logos, commercial art, and text books over the years have copied this mistake.

Television icon

In 1965, Romero played the head of THRUSH in France in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: ("The Never Never Affair").

File:Cesar Romero Joker.gif
Cesar Romero in his famous role as The Joker from Batman.

In 1966, Romero again achieved icon status when he played The Joker in ABC's television series, Batman. 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 original movie version, long before its recreations by Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger. His performances, highlighted by their maniacal laughter, were cited as an influence for Mark Hamill, when he took the role of The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and its followups.

In the 1970s, 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). 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. He also appeared as Count Dracula on Rod Serling's Night Gallery.

Apart from these television roles, Romero's most notable work in film in this period is 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.

In 2008, comedian Shaun Micallef started doing impersonations of Cesar on his television show Newstopia. The impersonations featured Cesar doing fake news reports from various locations.

Personal life

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 José 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 never married, despite proposing to at least one woman. Though Romero made regular appearances on the Hollywood social circuit, usually in the company of an attractive actress, he never married, and he was almost always described in interviews and articles as a "confirmed bachelor." Romero discussed his homosexuality in a series of interviews with author Boze Hadleigh, with the understanding that they would not be published during his lifetime.

Romero wore a man's tennis bracelet inscribed with his favorite nickname: "Butch." The term was reportedly bestowed on Romero by his one-time dancing partner Joan Crawford, who teased Romero by telling him: "You're so butch!" While Romero's homosexuality was an "open secret" in Hollywood, the movie-going public was unaware of his sexual proclivities and there was never any embarrassing scandal surrounding his male liaisons, which shows the care and finesse with which he conducted his private life for more than 60 years.

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

Political views

Romero believed in 'liberation theology,' a political system combining Marxism with Catholicism, which purports that, despite the fact that Karl Marx called religion 'the opiate of the masses,' religion and communism are still compatible. Romero was very Christian yet still believed in a utopian society whose belief is that Christ's kingdom would be very similar to Marx's envisionment of communism, and held to this belief until his death."[1][2]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Cesar Romero at IMDb
  2. ^ Steve Starr (2006). ""Cesar Romero"". Entertainment Magazine Online. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cesar Romero.

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