On Nov. 28, 1990, the handsome icon of style wrote a letter to me after I sent him a photo of himself which appears in my book, Picture Perfect. It read, 'Dear Steve, The 1930s and '40s was an era of elegance and refinement in this country. Sad to say it is long gone, and we are faced with an era of great amorality. Many thanks for the picture. I am delighted to have it. My very kindest regards, Cesar Romero.'
Cesar Julio Romero Jr. was born Feb. 15, 1907, in New York City. His mother, Maria Maniela, was a concert singer whose father reportedly was famed Cuban poet and revolutionary, Jose Marti. Italian-born Senor Romero was an importer-exporter of sugar refining machinery. Young Cesar attended the Collegiate School For Boys and the beautiful 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 career was not for him.
The youth formed a dance team with debutante Elizabeth Higgins, heiress to the Higgins Ink fortune. Soon, they were booked into New York's most exclusive nightclubs. The popular pair made a Broadway debut in 1927 in Lady Do, in which they tangoed, waltzed, and foxtrotted through 56 performances at the Liberty Theatre. With his next dancing partner, Nita Vermill, Romero raised her high above his head and during a series of swirls suddenly experienced excruciating appendicitis. Though he fulfilled his dancing contract, he felt he had to slow down, and sought acting roles. Romero landed parts in various Broadway plays. In 1933, he was spotted by a talent scout who brought him to Hollywood for his first film, The Shadow Laughs ( 1933 ) . Startlingly handsome, the six-foot-two Romero, sometimes referred to as the 'New Valentino,' with a flashing smile and gleaming ebony hair appeared as a gigolo in his second film, The Thin Man ( 1934 ) , a highly successful movie with Myrna Loy and William Powell which spawned many sequels.
Usually playing the 'Latin Lover,' Romero often depicted characters of indeterminate 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. Equally at home in musical comedies, Romero appeared in Weekend In Havana ( 1941 ) with Alice Faye, Springtime In The Rockies ( 1942 ) with Betty Grable, Coney Island ( 1943 ) , also 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 ) . Coincidentally, in five separate movies, he played a character named 'Duke,' which included the role of Duke Santos in the original Ocean's Eleven ( 1960 ) .
Romero, nicknamed 'Butch,' returned from military service with the Coast Guard in 1946, and Twentieth Century Fox decided to send him and his close friend, handsome Tyrone Power, with whom it was rumored he had an affair, to Latin America on a good-will tour. In Buenos Aires, Juan Peron presented Cesar with an elaborate scabbard holding a knife which was used as a letter opener, and gave both actors a miniature sword. Then, on Oct. 1, Romero and Power lunched with Juan's soon to be immortalized wife, Eva. The actors returned to Hollywood together to film Captain From Castile, in which the still dazzling Romero gave his best performance as the ruthless Spanish explorer and conquerer, Hernando Cortes.
Famous, also, as a 'confirmed bachelor,' the 'Latin from Manhattan' was Hollywood's most professional and popular escort. It was well known in Hollywood that the likable Cesar was gay, and it was assumed that after he dropped off his beautiful date, he would end up in the arms of a current male lover.
In 1953, Romero starred in a 39-episode TV serial, Passport To Danger, and he continued to do guest spots on dozens of shows. Once, Romero danced with Carmen Miranda on The Milton Berle Show. Bedecked in glittering sequins and colorful fruits, Carmen forgot her panties while changing between acts, and when Cesar twirled her above his head, she exposed herself to millions of dumbfounded TV viewers across the country. Enduringly popular, Romero, though wealthy, continued to work steadily throughout the 1950s and 1960s, acting in films every single year. He appeared in five movies in 1965 alone. Romero had a great sense of humour. Once, after taping a talk show featuring him and a beauty queen, the technician began removing their clip-on microphones, Romero quipped, 'You can do the young lady first. The young queen before the old queen.'
In the 1960s, while most of Romero's contemporaries from Hollywood's golden era began to die or retire, he became an idol to a whole new generation, reborn as the 'Joker' in television's Batman series. Because Romero refused to shave his famous moustache for the role, 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 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, the still handsome and popular man was cast as Peter Stavros, Jane Wyman's love interest on the popular Falcon Crest TV series.
Romero said of his many beautiful female co-stars, 'They had individuality and a flair for glamour ... years ago the gals were real stars. There was an excitement to the business then.'
The elegant Cesar Romero, loved and adored by his friends and fans, fell ill with bronchitis and pneumonia and died of complications from a blood clot on New Year's Day, 1994.
Sources: Hollywood Players—The Thirties, by James Robert Parish and William T. Leonard; Movie Time by Gene Brown; Celebrity Register Edited by Cleveland Amory with Earl Blackwwell; Hollywood Gays by Boze Hadleigh; Cesar Romero Web sites.
Steve Starr is the author of 'Picture Perfect-Deco Photo Frames 1926-1946,' published by Rizzoli International Publications, 1991. A designer, artist, and movie star historian, he is the owner of Steve Starr Studios, specializing in original Art Deco artifacts and photo frames, and celebrating its 38th anniversary in 2005.
Starr's personal collection of over 950 gorgeous frames is filled with images of Hollywood's most elegant luminaries. His column on movie stars of the 1920's, 1930's, and 1940's, named STARRLIGHT, appears in various publications and in the Windy City Times the first week of each month.
Email Steve at SSSChicago@ameritech.net . View some of his beautiful frames and read a selection of his movie star stories at www.SteveStarrStudios.com . Visit the Steve Starr Satellite Studio in the Edgewater Antique Mall, 6314 North Broadway Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 773-262-2525 open daily 11-6.
Photo of Steve Starr June 25, 2002, by Albert Aguilar
Steve Starr presents an exhibition of 100 spectacular Art Deco frames filled with images of movie stars who contributed to musicals, at the Harold Washington Library Center, just below the Winter Garden on the 8th floor, extended through July 31, 2005. Admission is free. For further information call the Library Center at 312-747-4850 or Steve Starrr Studios at 773-463-8017.
