CESAR ROMERO BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Cesar Julio Romero Jr. was born February 15, 1907 in New York City. His mother, Maria Maniela, was a concert singer and his father, Italian-born Senor Romero was an importer/exporter of sugar refining machinery. He  attended the Collegiate School For Boys and later Riverdale Country School, where he studied dance, art, and acting.  He took a job at a New Jersey department store, and then at the National City Bank, but quickly learned that type of career was not for him.

Romero went on to form a dance team with debutante Elizabeth Higgins. This union would eventually land them on Broadway where they stared in “Lady Do” in (1927). Cesar became a Broadway favorite, and in 1933 procured two more performances in “Dinner At Eight” and “All Points West”. Though he was fond of dancing and his Broadway roles, Cesar decided to slow down, and sought acting roles in Hollywood. His first film was “The Shadow Laughs” (1933). Romero was sometimes referred to as “The New Valentino,” the handsome, six-foot-two Cesar, appeared as a gigolo in his second film, “The Thin Man” (1934), a very successful movie with Myrna Loy and William Powell which generated many sequels.

Usually playing the "Latin Lover," Romero often depicted characters of indistinct nationalities. Some of his other films include the elaborate “The Devil Is A Woman” (1935) with Marlene Dietrich, and “Wee Willie Winkie” (1937) with Shirley Temple. In musical comedies, Romero appeared in “Weekend In Havana” (1941) with Alice Faye, “Springtime In The Rockies” (1942) with Betty Grable, “Coney Island” (1943), again with Betty Grable, and “Wintertime” (1943) with skating star Sonja Henie. From 1940-1941, Romero starred as the "Cisco Kid" in six western movies which included “The Gay Caballero” (1940).

With the onset of World War II, Romero temporarily put his film career on hold in order to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1947, after three years of service Cesar, nicknamed "Butch," returned from military service and Twentieth Century Fox decided to send him and his close friend, Tyrone Power, on a good-will tour to Latin America.

Romero was famously called a 'confirmed bachelor,' and the "Latin from Manhattan.” He was thought to be Hollywood’s most professional and popular escort. He always dove into the nightlife and the social world, and there was rarely an opening of a film or art gallery where he was not seen with a famous star on his arm, such as Joan Crawford, Linda Darnell, Barbara Stanwyck, Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, Jane Wyman, or Ginger Rogers. It was reported that Cesar's had 30 tuxedos, 200 sport coats, and 500 suits. Romero rarely spent an evening at home in his Brentwood home, with which he shared with his sister Maria.

In 1953, Romero starred in a 39-episode television serial, “Passport To Danger”, and he continued to do guest spots on dozens of televised shows that include the special “Lucy Takes A Cruise To Havana” (1957), “Zorro” (1957), “77 Sunset Strip” (1958), “Fantasy Island” (1978), and “Murder She Wrote” (1984). Cesar made several appearances on The Milton Berle Show, one of which he danced with Carmen Miranda on a live broadcast.

Romero, though wealthy, continued to work steadily throughout the 1950's and 1960's, acting in films every single year. He appeared in five movies in 1965 alone. Romero had a great sense of humor.

1960 brought about another great fil year for Mr. Romero as he co-starred in a classic "Ocean's Eleven" (or Ocean's 11) starring Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, Angie Dickinson, Richard Conte, Akim Tamiroff, Henry Silva, Ilka Chase, Norman Fell, Harry Wilson, Buddy Lester, Shirley MacLaine, Red Skelton, Patrice Wymore and George Raft shortly followed by "Pepe" starring Mario Moreno in the title role and Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Bing Crosby, Maurice Chevalier, Dan Dailey, Shirley Jones, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Debbie Reynolds, Donna Reed and Jack Lemmon just to name a few of the stars

In the 1960's, as most of Romero's contemporaries from Hollywood's golden era began to retire or die off, he became an idol to a whole new generation as the "Joker" in television's Batman series.  Romero refused to shave his famous moustache for the role, and it was covered with white makeup. With his new popularity among a young crowd, he appeared in three successful Walt Disney comedy films: “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” (1969), “Now You See It, Now You Don't” (1972), and “The Strongest Man In The World” (1975).

In 1968, Romero was named one of the 'most beautiful men in the world' by T.V. Guide Magazine with 'hair the color of stainless steel,' an "alert, erect posture," and "charm to spare."  Romero continued to appear in films almost yearly throughout the 1970's and 1980's. In 1985, the still handsome and popular man was cast as Peter Stavros, Jane Wyman's love interest on the popular television series, Falcon Crest.

With a body of work spanning more than seven decades and over a hundred film credits, Romero remained an active member in Hollywood's social scene throughout his career. Although he never married, the self-described "Latin from Manhattan" was linked romantically to a number of women. On January 1, 1994, Romero fell ill with bronchitis and pneumonia and died of complications from a blood clot on New Year's Day, 1994. He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
 
 
Filmography

1933  The Shadow Laughs 
1934  The Thin Man
1934  British Agent 
1934  Cheating Cheaters 
1934  Strange Wives
1935  A Dream Comes True
1935  Clive of India
1935  The Good Fairy
1935  The Devil Is a Woman 
1935  Cardinal Richelieu
1935  Hold 'Em Yale
1935  Diamond Jim
1935  Metropolitan 
1935  Rendezvous
1935  Show Them No Mercy!
1936  Love Before Breakfast 
1936  Nobody's Fool 
1936  Public Enemy's Wife
1936  Fifteen Maiden Lane
1936  She's Dangerous
1937  Armored Car
1937  Wee Willie Winkie
1937  Dangerously Yours 
1937  Ali Baba Goes to Town
1938  Happy Landing 
1938  Always Goodbye
1938  Five of a Kind
1938  My Lucky Star 
1939  Wife, Husband and Friend
1939  A Little Princess
1939  Return of the Cisco Kid
1939  Hollywood Hobbies
1939  Frontier Marshal
1939  Charlie Chan at Treasure Island
1939  The Cisco Kid and the Lady
1940  He Married His Wife 
1940  Viva Cisco Kid
1940  Lucky Cisco Kid
1940  The Gay Caballaro
1941  Dance Hall 
1941  Romance of the Rio Grande 
1941  Tall, Dark and Handsome
1941  Ride on Vaquero
1941  The Great American Broadcast
1941  Week-End in Havana
1942  A Gentleman at Heart 
1942  Tales of Manhattan 
1942  Orchestra Wives
1942  Springtime in the Rockies 
1943  Coney Island 
1943  Wintertime
1946  Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Victory Show
1947  Carnival in Costa Rica 
1947  Captain from Castile
1948  Deep Waters
1948  Julia Misbehaves
1948  That Lady in Ermine 
1949  The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend
1949  Screen Snapshots: Motion Picture Mothers, Inc.
1950  Love That Brute
1950  Once a Thief
1951  Happy Go Lovely
1951  Lost Continent 
1951  FBI Girl 
1952  The Jungle
1952  Scotland Yard Inspector 
1953  Street of Shadows
1953  Prisoners of the Casbah
1954  Vera Cruz 
1955  The Americano
1955  The Racers
1956  The Heart and the Sword
1956  The Leather Saint
1956  Around the World in Eighty Days
1957  The Story of Mankind
1958  Villa!!
1959  My Private Secretaries
1960  Ocean's Eleven
1960  Pepe
1961  The Seven Women from Hell
1962  We Shall Return
1962  If a Man Answers 
1963  Saint Mike
1963  The Castilian 
1963  Donovan's Reef
1964  A House Is Not a Home
1965  Two on a Guillotine 
1965  Sergeant Dead Head
1965  Marriage on the Rocks
1966  Broken Sabre
1966  Batman
1968  Madigan's Millions
1968  Hot Millions
1968  Skidoo
1969  Target: Harry
1969  A Talent for Loving
1969  Crooks and Coronets
1969  Midas Run
1969  Latitude Zero
1969  The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes 
1970  The Red, White, and Black
1971  Mooch Goes to Hollywood 
1971  The Last Generation
1972  The Proud and the Damned
1972  Now You See Him, Now You Don't
1974  The Haunted Mouth
1974  The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe
1975  The Strongest Man in the World 
1975  Timber Tramps 
1976  Carioca Tiger
1977  Mission to Glory: A True Story
1985  Lust in the Dust
1985  Flesh and Bullets
1988  Mortuary Academy
1988  Judgement Day
1990  Simple Justice