Cesar Romero (February 15, 1907 - January 1, 1994)

Cesar Romero...AWESOME! I have heard many people refer to Cesar Romero as one of Hollywood's truest gentlemen. He certainly made the rounds so to speak and appeared with some of Hollywood's greatest leading ladies. Between 1933 and 1990 he appeared in 98 films...some of the most notable being "The Thin Man" and "Ocean's Eleven." As far as television goes.... "The Ed Wynn Show", "I've Got a Secret", "The Colgate Comedy Hour", "The Martha Raye Show", "The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show", "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show", "What's My Line?", "Pantomime Quiz", "The Hollywood Squares", "The Mike Douglas Show", "Family Feud", "Climax!", "Private Secretary", "Studio 57", "The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show", "Wagon Train", "Zorro", "Death Valley Days", "Pete and Gladys", "The Ann Sothern Show", "The Red Skelton Show", "The Dick Powell Show", "77 Sunset Strip", "Burke's Law", "Dr. Kildare", "Bonanza", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "Ben Casey", "Get Smart", "Here's Lucy", "Julia", "Bewitched", "Love, American Style", "The Jimmy Stewart Show", "The Mod Squad", "Banacek", "Ironside", "Medical Center", "Ellery Queen", "Vega$", "Chico and the Man", "Fantasy Island", "Charlie's Angels", "Donahue", "Hart to Hart", "Magnum P.I.", "Murder, She Wrote", "The Love Boat", "The Tracey Ullman Show", and "The Golden Girls." From 1954 to 1956 he starred in his own series "Passport to Danger" in which he played a U.S. diplomatic courier who traveled around fighting enemy agents. His most popular television appearance though was as that villianous clown prince of crime, The Joker on the ABC 1960's version of "Batman." Even though he only appeared in 22 of the show's 120 episodes his piercing eyes and laugh made him a pop culture icon. To this day he is the only actor, aside from animated productions, to portray the Joker on television. Actor Roger Stoneburner briefly appeared as The Joker in the opening episode of the short lived series "Birds of Prey" in 2002 but Romero is the only one to have a recurring role as the character. As far as flesh and blood appearances in all media go he is only one of the three actors to play the character (the other two being Jack Nicholson and the late Heath Ledger respectively). Continuing on he is the only actor to play the Joker both on television and in the movies. In the summer of 1966 a feature length version of "Batman" was released and among the rouge's gallery were Burgess Meredith as the Penguin, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Lee Meriwether as the Catwoman and of course Cesar Romero as the Joker. On "Falcon Crest" he had a recurring role as Peter Stavros between 1985 and 1988. He was a member of the regular cast during the 1986-1987 season. When he is first introduced it is revealed that he once had a deep love for Angela Channing (Jane Wyman) and will only assist her in the predicament that she is in if she agrees to marry him. Because she will do ANYTHING for her beloved winery she accepts. During his run he was Angela's greatest love and sometimes her greatest enemy. When he departed in 1987, he dropped a bomb on his soon to be ex-wife...her deadliest enemy Richard Channing (David Selby) was actually her son, long thought to have died shortly after birth. Romero was fabulous as Peter Stavros for many reasons...he had the ability to get Angela in line. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone should have been given the ability to put Angela in line but if someone had to do it I'm glad it was Stavros. Also he had that wonderful booming voice and very serious look. Also, he had unlimited friends and resources. He clobbered Roland Saunders (Robert Stack) over the head with a piece of winery equipment, killed him and got away with it. First he skips bail and leaves the country only to return in 1988 telling Angela "the charges were dropped I'm a free man." In 1992, at 85, Romero made his final television appearance as Marcello Abruzzi in the "Murder, She Wrote" episode "Murder in Milan." The role is very brief but he can be seen with the great Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) on his arm at one point. Despite his lengthy resume he will always be Batman's greatest villain and Angela Channing's third husband to me. God Bless you Mr. Romero...you set the standards and showed us how every great actor and gentlemen should behave.