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César Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor. 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 live-action Batman television series of the mid-1960s, who was included in TV Guides 2013 list of the 60 nastiest villains of all time.Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; (March 25, 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time". TV Guide. pp. 14–15. Romero was the first actor to play the character.Bernstein, 2025 p. 94-95: Romero was considered for the role along with José Ferrer and Gig Young; the latter two were dropped due to scheduling conflicts.
Romero grew up in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, and went to Bradley Beach Elementary School, Asbury Park High School,Voger, Mark (November 8, 2014). "'Batman' TV cast on the creation of a camp classic". The Star-Ledger. Newark. 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." the Collegiate School, and the Riverdale Country Day School.Adams, Marjory (November 16, 1957). "Movie Question Box". The Boston Globe. November 16, 1957. Retrieved April 2, 2019. After his parents lost their sugar-import business and suffered losses in the Wall Street 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, who referred to himself as "a Latin from Manhattan", lived on and off with various family members for the rest of his life.Thomas, Bob (June 22, 1984). "Entertainment: Latin from Manhattan Danced to Hollywood". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Associated Press. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
On October 12, 1942, he 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-crewed assault transport 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.
Romero starred as the Cisco Kid in six westerns made between 1939 and 1941.Bernstein, 2025 pp. 154-156: Chronology He 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 (1941) and Springtime in the Rockies(1942).Bernstein, 2025 p. 157, p. 159, Chronology.
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.Bernstein, 2025 p. 158, Chronology In The Thin Man (1934), Romero played a supporting role opposite the film's main stars William Powell and Myrna Loy.Bernstein, 2025 p. 30, p. 142 (Chronology)
Many of Romero's films from this early period saw him cast in small character actor, 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 (1937) starring Shirley Temple and Victor McLaglenBernstein, 2025 pp. 47-49, p. 150 (Chronology) and a supporting role as the Indian servant Ram Dass in The Little Princess (1939), also with Temple.Bernstein, 2025 p. 52, p. 152-153 (Chronology)
Romero also appeared in a comic turn as a foil for Frank Sinatra and his crew in Ocean's 11 (1960) starring the Rat Pack (Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop).Bernstein, 2025 p. 87-88, p. 190 (Chronology)
Romero sometimes played the leading man, for example in Allan Dwan's 15 Maiden Lane (1936) opposite Claire TrevorBernstein, 2025 p. 143 (Chronology) as well as winning the key role of the Doc Holliday character (with name changed to "Doc Halliday") in Dwan's acclaimed Wyatt Earp saga Frontier Marshal (1939) starring Randolph Scott and Nancy Kelly three years later.Bernstein, 2025 p.153 (Chronology) Twentieth Century Fox, along with mogul Darryl Zanuck, 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.Bernstein, 2025 p. 67-68, p. 161: Plot sketch, costars, Production and Release dates. Role: Hernando Cortés.
Among almost countless television credits, Romero appeared several times on The Martha Raye Show in the mid-1950s. Bernstein, 2025 p. 81, p. 171, p. 172, p. 173, p. 175, p. 177: Bernstein provides airdates and co-stars for most of these appearances.
He portrayed Don Diego de la Vega's maternal uncle in a number of second-season Zorro episodes.Bernstein, 2025 p. 85, p. 186: See here for plot sketches in all four appearances, cast and Airdates.
In 1958, he guest-starred as Ramon Valdez in 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 sharp 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. "TV Highlights of the Week". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. September 26, 1959. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
In 1960, he was cast as Ricky Valenti in "Crime of Passion" from Pete and Gladys.Bernstein, 2025 p. 190-191: Plot sketch provided here. “Airdate 09/26/60” In 1965, Romero played the head of THRUSH in France in "The Never Never Affair" from The Man from U.N.C.L.E..Bernstein, 2025 p. 202: Plot sketch provided here. “Airdate 03/22/65”
From 1966 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.Bernstein, 2025 p. 223, p. 225-226, p. 227 (Chronology) He appeared in three episodes. Romero later portrayed Peter Stavros on Falcon Crest (from 1985 to 1987).Bernstein, 2025 pp. 241-248
He also appeared in a sixth-season episode of The Golden Girls, where he played a suitor named Tony Delvecchio for Sophia (Estelle Getty).Bernstein, 2025 p. 133, p. 251 (Chronology)
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.Bernstein, 2025 p. 219-220
Also in 1964, Romero was very involved in the U.S. Senate race in California that pitted one of Romero's best friends and fellow actor, Republican nominee George Murphy (who nicknamed Romero "Butch"), in his successful bid to oust then-Senator Pierre Salinger, a Democrat.
The Senate race was a heated contest where Salinger had already narrowly defeated then-California State Controller Alan Cranston, who would become a senator in 1968, in the Democratic primary. Both men had "primaried" Senator Clair Engle, who had sought re-nomination despite being terminally ill with a brain tumor; Engle died less than two months after the primary. Then-Democratic Governor Pat Brown appointed Salinger instead of Cranston to fill the vacancy; although the appointment seemed reasonable since Salinger had won the primary, it was roundly criticized by Romero and Murphy as cronyism since Salinger had been the White House press secretary for the late President John F. Kennedy, a close ally of Brown. Romero appealed to disappointed Cranston backers after the primary to support Murphy. Romero's urging helped Salinger lose a race no one thought could be lost.
Murphy lost the full use of his voice during his term when part of his larynx was removed due to throat cancer. Romero employed other Hollywood stars to try to help Murphy win re-election in 1970. However, Murphy lost re-election to John V. Tunney, the son of boxing legend Gene Tunney.
After Murphy's Senate defeat, Romero scaled back his involvement in politics but would take part for a Hollywood friend, such as Ronald Reagan in his successful gubernatorial bids in 1966 and 1970 as well as all four of his presidential bids in 1968, 1976, 1980, and 1984. Romero also joined with fellow actors and actresses in lobbying the United States Congress to present the then-dying John Wayne with a Congressional Gold Medal for his service to the nation.
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 Boulevard for film and another star at 1719 Vine Street for television.
| 1933 | The Shadow Laughs | Tony Rico | |
| 1934 | The Thin Man | Chris Jorgenson | |
| 1934 | British Agent | Tito Del Val | |
| 1934 | Cheating Cheaters | Tom Palmer | |
| 1934 | Strange Wives | Boris | |
| 1935 | Clive of India | Mir Jaffar | |
| 1935 | A Dream Comes True | Himself | Uncredited |
| 1935 | The Good Fairy | Joe | |
| 1935 | Cardinal Richelieu | Andre de Pons | |
| 1935 | The Devil Is a Woman | Antonio Galvan | |
| 1935 | Hold 'Em Yale | Gigolo Georgie | |
| 1935 | Diamond Jim | Jerry Richardson | |
| 1935 | Metropolitan | Niki Baroni | |
| 1935 | Rendezvous | Nieterstein | |
| 1935 | Show Them No Mercy! | Tobey | |
| 1936 | Love Before Breakfast | Bill Wadsworth | |
| 1936 | Nobody's Fool | Dizzy Rantz | |
| 1936 | Public Enemy's Wife | Gene Maroc | |
| 1936 | 15 Maiden Lane | Frank Peyton | |
| 1937 | She's Dangerous | Nick Sheldon / Al Shaw | |
| 1937 | Armored Car | Petack | |
| 1937 | Wee Willie Winkie | Khoda Khan | |
| 1937 | Dangerously Yours | Victor Morell | |
| 1937 | Ali Baba Goes to Town | Himself | Uncredited |
| 1938 | Happy Landing | Duke Sargent | |
| 1938 | Always Goodbye | Count Giovanni 'Gino' Corini | |
| 1938 | My Lucky Star | George Cabot Jr | |
| 1938 | Five of a Kind | Duke Lester | |
| 1939 | Wife, Husband and Friend | Hugo | |
| 1939 | The Little Princess | Ram Dass | |
| 1939 | The Return of the Cisco Kid | Lopez | |
| 1939 | Frontier Marshal | Doc Halliday | |
| 1939 | Charlie Chan at Treasure Island | Rhadini | |
| 1939 | The Cisco Kid and the Lady | Cisco Kid | |
| 1939 | Hollywood Hobbies | Himself | Uncredited |
| 1940 | He Married His Wife | Freddie | |
| 1940 | Viva Cisco Kid | Cisco Kid | |
| 1940 | Lucky Cisco Kid | Cisco Kid | |
| 1940 | The Gay Caballero | Cisco Kid | |
| 1941 | Romance of the Rio Grande | Cisco Kid / Real and fake Carlos Hernandez | |
| 1941 | Tall, Dark and Handsome | J.J. 'Shep' Morrison | |
| 1941 | Ride on Vaquero | Cisco Kid | |
| 1941 | The Great American Broadcast | Bruce Chadwick | |
| 1941 | Dance Hall | Duke McKay | |
| 1941 | Week-End in Havana | Monte Blanca | |
| 1942 | A Gentleman at Heart | Tony Miller | |
| 1942 | Tales of Manhattan | Harry Wilson | |
| 1942 | Orchestra Wives | St. John 'Sinjin' Smith | |
| 1942 | Springtime in the Rockies | Victor Prince | |
| 1943 | Coney Island | Joe Rocco | |
| 1943 | Wintertime | Brad Barton | |
| 1946 | Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Victory Show | Himself | |
| 1947 | Carnival in Costa Rica | Pepe Castro | |
| 1947 | Captain from Castile | Hernán Cortés | |
| 1948 | That Lady in Ermine | Joe Sanger | |
| 1948 | Julia Misbehaves | Fred Ghenoccio | |
| 1948 | Deep Waters | Count Mario | |
| 1949 | The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend | Blackie Jobero | |
| 1949 | Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc. | Himself | |
| 1950 | Love That Brute | Pretty Willie Wetzchahofsky | |
| 1950 | Once a Thief | Mitch Moore | |
| 1951 | Happy Go Lovely | John Frost | |
| 1951 | Lost Continent | Major Joe Nolan | |
| 1951 | FBI Girl | FBI Agent Glen Stedman | |
| 1952 | The Jungle | Rama Singh | |
| 1952 | Lady in the Fog | Philip 'Phil' O'Dell | |
| 1953 | The Sword of Granada | Don Pedro de Rivera | |
| 1953 | Street of Shadows | Luigi | |
| 1953 | Prisoners of the Casbah | Firouz | |
| 1954 | Vera Cruz | Marquis Henri de Labordere | |
| 1955 | The Americano | Manuel Silvera / "El Gato" / Etc. | |
| 1955 | The Racers | Carlos Chavez | |
| 1956 | The Leather Saint | Tony Lorenzo | |
| 1956 | Around the World in 80 Days | Abdullah's henchman | |
| 1957 | The Story of Mankind | Spanish Envoy | |
| 1958 | Villa!! | Tomás Lopez | |
| 1959 | My Private Secretaries | Rafael Travesi | |
| 1960 | Ocean's 11 | Duke Santos | |
| 1960 | Pepe | Himself | |
| 1961 | Seven Women from Hell | Luis Hullman | |
| 1961 | The Runaway | Father Dugan | |
| 1962 | If a Man Answers | Robert Swan / Adam Wright | |
| 1963 | We Shall Return | Carlos Rodriguez | |
| 1963 | The Castilian | Jerónimo | |
| 1963 | Donovan's Reef | Marquis Andre de Lage | |
| 1963 | Saint Mike | Unknown role | |
| 1964 | A House Is Not a Home | Lucky Luciano | |
| 1965 | Two on a Guillotine | John Harley 'Duke' Duquesne | |
| 1965 | Sergeant Deadhead | Admiral Stoneham | |
| 1965 | Marriage on the Rocks | Miguel Santos | |
| 1966 | Batman | The Joker | |
| 1968 | Madigan's Millions | Mike Madigan | |
| 1968 | Hot Millions | Customs Inspector | |
| 1968 | Skidoo | Hechy | |
| 1969 | Crooks and Coronets | Nick Marco | |
| 1969 | Midas Run | Carlo Dodero | |
| 1969 | Lt. George Duval | ||
| 1969 | Latitude Zero | Dr. Malic / Lt. Hastings | |
| 1969 | The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes | A. J. Arno | |
| 1969 | A Talent for Loving | Don Jose | |
| 1970 | The Red, White, and Black | Col. Grierson | |
| 1971 | Once Upon a Wheel | Himself | |
| 1971 | The Last Generation | Unknown role | Archive footage |
| 1972 | The Proud and the Damned | San Carlos' Mayor | |
| 1972 | Now You See Him, Now You Don't | A. J. Arno | |
| 1974 | The Haunted Mouth | B. Plaque | Also Narrator |
| 1975 | The Strongest Man in the World | A. J. Arno | |
| 1975 | Timber Tramps | Greedy sawmill mogul | |
| 1976 | Carioca Tigre | Don Rosalindo Y Guana | |
| 1977 | Mission to Glory: A True Story | Admiral Atondo | |
| 1979 | The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe | Dr. Richard Grimaldi | |
| 1985 | Lust in the Dust | Father Garcia | |
| 1985 | Flesh and Bullets | Judge in Santa Monica | |
| 1988 | Judgement Day | Octavio | |
| 1988 | Simple Justice | Vincenzo DiLorenzo | |
| 1995 | Himself | ||
| 1988 | Mortuary Academy | Ship's Captain | |
| 1998 | The Right Way | Don Genese | Final role Posthumous release |
| 1950 | The Ed Wynn Show | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1951 | Stars Over Hollywood | N/A | 1 episode entitled "A Letter From Home" | |
| 1954–1958 | Passport to Danger | Steve McQuinn | 33 episodes | |
| 1954 | A Star Is Born World Premiere | Himself | Television short | |
| 1956–1967 | The Red Skelton Hour | Prison Convict, Mustapha Dame, Concierge, Russian agent, Clayton Harrison, Witch Doctor, Plumber, Advertising Agency Executive, Pierre, Big Bill - Racketeer | 11 episodes | |
| 1957 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | N/A | 1 episode entitled "Old Spanish Custom | |
| 1957 | Navy Log | Himself/host | ||
| 1957 | The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show | Carlos Garcia | Episode: "Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana | |
| 1958 | Wagon Train | Hon Don 'Charlie' Carlos de Fuentes | Episode: "The Honorable Don Charlie Story" | |
| 1959 | Zorro | Esteban de la Cruz | 4 episodes | |
| 1959 | The Texan | Captain Joaquin Acosta | Episode: "Caballero" | |
| 1959 | John Gunther's High Road | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1959 | Death Valley Days | Don Augustin Oblivion | Episode: "Olvera" | |
| 1959–1965 | Rawhide | Col. Emilio Vasquez, Don Francisco Maldenado, Big Tim Sloan, Ben Teagle | 4 episodes | |
| 1960 | Love and Marriage | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1960 | Stagecoach West | Manolo Lalanda | Episode: "A Time To Run" | |
| 1960 | Five Fingers | Ferri | Episode: "Counterfeit" | |
| 1960–1961 | Stagecoach West | Colonel Francisco Martinez | 2 episodes | |
| 1961 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | The Man from Everywhere | Episode: "The Ballet of the Pater Bullet" | |
| 1962 | The Beachcomber | Jaoquin Perez, Krasny | 2 episodes | |
| 1963 | Fractured Flickers | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1963 | 77 Sunset Strip | Lorenzo Cestari | Episode: "5: Part 4 | |
| 1963–1965 | Burke's Law | Police Chief Alvaro, Gregorio Jonas, Antonio Cardoza, Louis Simone, Marcus DeGrute | 5 episodes | |
| 1964 | Dr. Kildare | Dr. Paul Marino | Episode: "Onions, Garlic and Flowers That Bloom in the Spring" | |
| 1964–1970 | The Mike Douglas Show | Himself | Unknown episodes | |
| 1965 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Victor Gervais | Episode: "The Never-Never Affair" | |
| 1965 | Bonanza | Guido Borelli | Episode: "The Deadliest Game" | |
| 1965 | Branded | Gen. Arriola | Episode: "The Mission: Part 2" | |
| 1965 | Ben Casey | Frederic Delano | Episode: "Did Your Mother Come from Ireland, Ben Casey?" | |
| 1966–1969 | Daniel Boone | Esteban de Vaca, Adm. Alejandro Buenaventura, Colonel Carlos Navarro | 3 episodes | |
| 1966–1968 | Batman | The Joker | 22 episodes | |
| 1967 | T.H.E. Cat | Gordon Amley | Episode: "Queen of Diamonds, Knave of Hearts" | |
| 1968 | Get Smart | Kinsey Krispen | Episode: "The Reluctant Redhead" | |
| 1969 | Here's Lucy | Tony Rivera | Episode: "A Date for Lucy" | |
| 1970 | Julia | Bunny Henderson, Bernard Henderson | 5 episodes | |
| 1970 | Bewitched | Ernest Hitchcock | Episode: "Salem, Here We Come" | |
| 1970 | It Takes a Thief | Mike | Episode: "Beyond a Treasonable Doubt" | |
| 1971 | The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World | Himself | Television movie documentary | |
| 1971 | The Jimmy Stewart Show | Harris Crofton | 2 episodes | |
| 1971 | Love, American Style | Young Unmarrieds | 1 episode | |
| 1971 | Nanny and the Professor | Schiavoni | Episode: "The Man Who Came to Pasta" | |
| 1971 | Mooch Goes to Hollywood | Himself | Television movie | |
| 1971 | The Merv Griffin Show | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1971–1972 | Alias Smith and Jones | Armendariz | 3 episodes | |
| 1972 | The Mod Squad | Frank Barton | Episode: "The Connection" | |
| 1972 | The Jimmy Stewart Show | Admiral Decker | 2 episodes | |
| 1973 | Chase | Parker | Episode: "A Bit of Class" | |
| 1974 | Ironside | Tony Hudson | Episode: "The Last Cotillion" | |
| 1974 | Banacek | Marius Avantalu | Episode: "The Vanishing Chalice" | |
| 1974 | Dinah! | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1975 | Medical Center | Packy | Episode: "The High Cost of Winning" | |
| 1976 | Ellery Queen | Armand Danello | Episode: "The Adventure of the Wary Witness" | |
| 1977 | Chico and the Man | Gilberto Rodriguez | Episode: "Chco's Padre" | |
| 1978 | Vega$ | Christopher Vincente | Episode: "Lost Women" | |
| 1979 | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | Amos Armat | Episode: "Vegas in Space" | |
| 1979–1983 | Fantasy Island | Sheikh Hameel Habib, Edmond Rome, Frederick Kragen, Maestro Roger Alexander | 4 episodes | |
| 1980 | Charlie's Angels | Elton Mills | Episode: "Dancing' Angels" | |
| 1982 | Matt Houston | Miles Gantry | Episode: "Who Would Kill Ramona?" | |
| 1983 | Hart to Hart | Dr. Villac | Episode: "Chamber of Lost Harts" | |
| 1984–1986 | The Love Boat | Carlos Belmonte, John, Stockton, John Drake | 4 episodes | |
| 1985 | Magnum, P.I. | Doc Villoroch | Episode: "Little Games" | |
| 1985–1992 | Murder, She Wrote | Marcello Abruzzi, Diego Santana | 2 episodes | |
| 1985 | Family Feud | Himself | 1 episode | |
| 1985–1988 | Falcon Crest | Peter Stavros | 52 episodes | |
| 1985–1986 | Riptide | Angelo Guirilini | 2 episodes | |
| 1988 | The Tracey Ullman Show | Roland Diego | 1 episode | |
| 1990 | The Golden Girls | Tony | Episode: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun... Before They Die" | |
| 1993 | Edna Time! | Himself | 1 episode |
| 1929 | The Street Singer | John | Broadway |
| 1932 | Dinner at Eight | Ricci | Broadway |
| 1949 | Burns and Allen Show | "Cesar Romero Steals Bill’s Girlfriend" |
| Diamonds of Gulaga |
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