Biografía

He believed that to live well, you must dress well...and never in the same outfit. His closets held 30 tuxedos, 200 sports jackets, and 500 suits.

He was a guest at the house of Tyrone Power on May 19, 1946 and engaged in an energetic although drunken game of hide and seek. Fellow guests included Primula Niven, wife of actor David Niven. Thinking she was rushing into a dark closet, Prim opened the door to the basement, rushed in and fell down all the stairs, sustaining injuries which would later lead to her death.

His evil laugh as the Joker on Batman (1966) was created by accident. Shortly after being cast, Romero met with producers to discuss his role on the series. While waiting to meet with them, he happened to see conceptual art of the Joker's costuming. Romero felt that the pictures looked absurd and, as a result, spontaneously broke out into a playfully loud and manic laughter. A producer overheard that laughter and responded by informing Romero, "That's it! That's your Joker's laugh!".

He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6615 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 1719 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Refused to shave off his trademark mustache when he played the role of the Joker on Batman (1966). Close observation shows the white clown makeup was applied right over his much-loved mustache.

Why [producer William Dozier] wanted me for Batman (1966), I'll never know, because I asked his wife, Ann Rutherford, "Why did Bill think of me for this part?". She said, "I don't know, Butch. He said he saw you in something, and he said, 'He's the one I want to play the Joker'." I haven't the slightest idea what it was he saw me in, because I had never done anything like it before.

I was very surprised when [producer William Dozier] called me and said he was doing a series called Batman (1966) and the important characters were the villains. They had done the first two with the Riddler and the Penguin with Frank Gorshin and Burgess Meredith, and now they were ready to do the third, and the villain was the Joker. He said, "I would like you to play the part." So I said I would like to read the script and know what it is all about. He said, "Come on over to the studio, and I will show you the film of the first episode." Of course, it was great. I said, "Let me read this Joker part, and if it is as good as the first one, hell yes, I will do it." So I read the script, and I thought it was a gas, and I said, "Sure, I'll do it.".

I was never stereotyped as just a Latin lover in any case because I played so many parts in so many pictures. I was more of a character actor than a straight leading man. I did many kinds of characters -- Hindus, Indians, Italians. There were very few pictures where I ended up with the girl.

I had enormous fun playing the Joker on Batman (1966). I ended up doing something like 20 episodes of Batman, as well as the full-length feature film version [Batman (1966)]. There was certainly nothing hard about that assignment! Even the makeup sessions weren't too bad. It took about an hour-and-a-half to put the full makeup on, including the green wig. I didn't mind it at all.

I thought it was very humanitarian of Sean Penn and Madonna to marry each other. That way, they make only two people miserable instead of four.