Actor Cesar Romero; Joker Role Helped Dispel `Latin Lover' Image

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Cesar Romero, the tall, suave actor who capped a long film career with a popular television role as The Joker on "Batman" in the 1960s, has died at age 86.

Mr. Romero died Saturday night at St. John's Hospital and Health Center. Death resulted from complications related to a blood clot after being hospitalized with severe bronchitis and pneumonia, said a hospital spokesman.

Mr. Romero was often cast as a gigolo or the other man, but he claimed to have escaped the title of Latin Lover.

"When I started in motion pictures in 1934, they said I was going to be the next Valentino," he recalled in 1984. "I was never a leading man, and very seldom did I do a picture where I got the girl. But I was saddled with the label because I had a Latin name. My background is Cuban, but I'm from New York City. I'm a Latin from Manhattan."

With his striking handsomeness and sturdy build, Mr. Romero proved a reliable actor in musicals, comedies, dramas and Westerns. He made his biggest impact with the public as the evil, pun-cracking Joker in the faddish "Batman" series of the 1960s.

Mr. Romero remained active into the '90s, turning up in television movies. An indefatigable partygoer, he was a familiar figure at Hollywood events. He marked his 80th birthday playing Jane Wyman's husband in the long-running TV series "Falcon Crest."

"He was just a dream, a very, very gentle man and a very giving person," said Wyman, a friend of Romero's for more than half a century. "He never turned anybody away who asked something of him. He was absolutely remarkable."

Mr. Romero's first movie role was as a gigolo in "The Thin Man," which starred William Powell and Myrna Loy. Some of the other notable films he appeared in were "Clive of India," "Cardinal Richelieu," "Wee Willie Winkie," "Springtime in the Rockies," "Captain from Castile," "Wife, Husband and Friend," "Tall, Dark and Handsome," "The Lost Continent," "Vera Cruz," "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Donovan's Reef."

Mr. Romero appeared regularly on television as a guest star in series such as "Playhouse 90," "Wagon Train" and "Armstrong Circle Theater." When the film and television roles didn't come, he played dinner theaters and regional stage.

Already in his mid-30s when World War II broke out, Mr. Romero interrupted his long string of films for three years' service in the Coast Guard.

Mr. Romero never married. He explained in 1984: "How could I, when I had so many responsibilities? Could I tell a girl: `Let's get married and you can come and live with my father, my mother, two sisters, a niece and a nephew'? I have no regrets, no regrets."