Cesar Romero

Before Heath Ledger, before Jack Nicholson, The Joker was Latino. In the '60s, Cuban-American Cesar Romero was the first actor to portray Batman's mad arch-enemy on TV and in film.

Born Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. in New York, the self-proclaimed "Latin from Manhattan" was a ballroom dancer in the '20s before venturing into theater and movies in the '30s. After playing "Latin lovers" early in his career, Romero gained national recognition for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1939 Western The Cisco Kid and the Lady. He eventually went from the silver screen to TV, starring in a popular series titled Passport to Danger, where he played a sophisticated U.S. diplomatic courier who dodges trouble around the globe.

Tall and handsome, the suave Romero also appeared in the original film version of Ocean's 11, featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. But Romero will always be remembered for playing the mischievous Joker in the campy Batman TV series and movie from the '60s. Unlike Heath Ledger's murderous psychopath from The Dark Knight and Jack Nicholson's gangster-turned-schizo from Batman, Romero portrayed the Joker as a fun-loving criminal who loved to watch his enemies – and friends – succumb to elaborate traps. His look – green hair, white face paint and red lipstick – was faithful to the comic, but Romero refused to shave his moustache, which is easily spotted in close ups.

In the '70s and '80s, Romero continued to make TV appearances on shows like Falcon Crest, Murder, She Wrote and Golden Girls. He died in 1994 at the age of 86.