CESAR ROMERO, American actor born (d. 1994); Cuban-American film and television actor, known for his portrayal of the Joker in the television series Batman. Though Romero made regular appearances on the Hollywood social circuit, usually in the company of an attractive actress, he never married, and he was almost always described in interviews and articles as a "confirmed bachelor." Romero discussed his sexuality in a series of interviews with author Boze Hadleigh, with the understanding that they would not be published during his lifetime.

Romero wore a man's tennis bracelet inscribed with his favorite nickname: "Butch." The term was reportedly bestowed on Romero by his one-time dancing partner Joan Crawford, who teased Romero by telling him: "You're so butch!" While Romero's sexuality was an "open secret" in Hollywood, the movie-going public was unaware of it and there was never any embarrassing scandal surrounding his male liaisons, which shows the care and finesse with which he conducted his private life for more than 60 years.

In 1989, Romero told Howard Johns in an interview for radio station 2BL in Sydney, Australia, that Tyrone Power was "the only man I ever loved." Romero's response came after Johns's article about Power's homosexuality and the actor's alleged affair with Romero, which was printed in Campaign magazine.

WALLY COX, American actor died on this date (b. 1924); Cox attended CCNY, had four months of Army service, and then attended New York University. He supported his invalid mother and sister by making and selling jewelry, in a small shop, and at parties — where he started doing comedy monologues for the guests, which were well-received enough to lead to regular performances at nightclubs such as the Village Vanguard, beginning in December 1948.

Cox appeared in Broadway musical reviews, night clubs, and early TV comedy-variety programs in the period 1949–1951, creating a huge impact with a starring role as a well-meaning but ineffective policeman on Philco Television Playhouse in 1951. Producer Fred Coe approached Cox about a starring role in a proposed live TV sitcom, Mr. Peepers, which he accepted. Peepers ran on NBC for three years and made Cox a household name in the US.

In his early New York days, he was the roommate of his boyhood friend, Marlon Brando, who encouraged him to study acting with Stella Adler. Cox and Brando remained very close friends for the rest of Cox's life, and Brando is reported to have kept Cox's ashes in his bedroom. Brando was quoted as saying, "Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences, and I am not ashamed." Wally Cox was an alleged long time lover of Brando's. Brando is quoted as saying: "If Wally had been a woman, I would have married him and we would have lived happily ever after." After Cox died, Brando kept his ashes for thirty years; they were eventually scattered with his own.