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discussed his sexuality in a series of interviews with author Boze Hadleigh, with the understanding that they would not be published during his lifetime.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.