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Arts & Entertainment

Feature: A new biography on Cesar Romero shows the actor’s varied career beyond The Joker

The Penguin, The Joker, and The Riddler hold hands. The Joker is shocking Penguin and Riddler and red electric currents are emanating from their bodies.
Cesar Romero as The Joker in Batman

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Listen 18:59
On FilmWeek, Larry speaks with author Samuel Garza Bernstein about his new biography Cesar Romero: The Joker is Wild.
On FilmWeek, Larry speaks with author Samuel Garza Bernstein about his new biography Cesar Romero: The Joker is Wild.

Actor Cesar Romero is probably best known for his role as The Joker in the 1960s Batman series, a portrayal that would later define the character and cast a large shadow over future screen adaptations. But well before Romero put on the green wig and red lipstick, he had a successful and varied career. He acted alongside the Rat Pack in Ocean’s Eleven and Carmen Miranda in Week-End in Havana. Most of his roles fell into the ‘Latin Lover’ stereotype, a mold he did not fit in his everyday life. Yet, despite on-screen limitations, Romero was still able to imbue each character with a sense of humanity. In the new biography Cesar Romero: The Joker is Wild, author Samuel Garza Bernstein goes in depth about Romero’s life pre-Hollywood, his career pre-Joker, and his 1980s renaissance as an A-list TV actor. On FilmWeek, Larry speaks with Garza Bernstein about Romero’s legacy.

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