From the S&S archives: Cesar Romero's got the formula for bliss

MADRID — Cesar Romero has the distinction of being one of the few movie stars to live in Hollywood for 34 years without taking part in a command performance at the divorce court.

"One reason for this," he admits, "is that I've never been married."

The Latin from Manhattan who danced his way through the big musicals of the 30s and 40s with Betty Grable et al has dated many of the glamour girls, but he's always managed to follow the advice of another noted ladies' man, J. Durante, who warned, "Say it with mink, but never with ink."

"I've gone around with a lot of them,' Romero recalled with a nostalgic twist of his mustache, "and perhaps the most remarkable thing is that most of them are still my friends."

Upon arrival in Madrid, his flashing smile was somewhat obscured by a distinguished home-grown beard ("It's better than all that glue") for an upcoming epic titled "Valley of the Swords".

Sharing the lens with him will be two other veterans of the kleig lights, Linda Darnell and Broderick Crawford.

Since the demise of the musicals ("TV killed them just like the movies killed vaudeville"), Romero has played everything but baseball.

His most recent roles were a priest, a Cuban refugee and a comedy. ("I don't give a damn long as they pay me my salary.")

Although he has spoken Spanish since childhood, and the movie "Captain from Castille" with Tyrone Power was one of his favorites, the veteran of the 30 years' war in Hollywood revealed this is his first visit to Spain.

"These late dinner hours are murder," he groaned.

Another picture he remembers with particular pleasure ("I had the best part") was "Ocean's 11", made at Las Vegas with the Frank Sinatra stock company. "I'm not a member of the clan, but they're all friends of mine." As for the actual filming, Romero says it could only be described as "relaxed." There were no early calls, he added, "because some of the cast couldn't move in the mornings."

But Romero isn't bitter, ("This business has been good to me") and he doesn't worry about his spot in the Hollywood heavens too much. "If I was going to be a great actor, I would have done it 20 years ago. I don't want to play Shakespeare, and I couldn't if I tried."