Joker is one of the most recognizable and iconic fictional characters in pop culture. The character’s origin dates to the publication of DC Comics Batman #1 in the spring of 1940. Joker was introduced as a criminal mastermind and Batman’s archnemesis. As a comic book character, Joker was a psychopath with a sadistic sense of humor, but this portrayal evolved, in part due to regulations by the Comics Code Authority which did not approve of sadism or gory violence. By the 1950s, Joker had become a goofy, thieving prankster.
Cesar Romero was the first actor to bring the character to life on screen in the 1960s television show Batman. Romero was nearly sixty and had a long career in film and television before William Dozier cast him as Joker.
Romero spent an hour a day in the makeup chair, to adopt the character’s clown white face with a slash of red for a mouth. The makeup artists had a challenge. Romero refused to shave off his trademark moustache, so they simply applied extra layers of white makeup. Romero loved playing the Joker, saying “Once you get into that costume and get the wig and makeup on, you change completely. It was a ball to whoop it up, laugh, scream. It was a hammy part.” Romero’s Joker had a hysterical cackle which was inspired by Cesar Romero’s actual laugh. The laugh went on to become one of the defining characteristics of generations of future Jokers in television, movies, cartoons, and video games.
Romero’s Joker first appeared in the 5th episode of the Batman television show, titled “The Joker Is Wild.” The script for that episode was written by Robert Dozier, son of Batman producer William Dozier.
The storyline of “The Joker Is Wild” begins with Joker literally sprung from the Gotham State Penitentiary – by a giant spring.
Before long, Batman and Robin are summoned by Gotham City Police Commissioner Gordon. The superhero duo leaves behind a wholesome afternoon snack of milk and cookies to rush out to the Batmobile in pursuit of the evildoer Joker. After a series Joker’s dastardly deeds, madcap pranks and dustups between the dynamic duo and the bad guys, Joker threatens to unmask Batman and Robin. The program ended on a cliffhanger. Viewers tuned in the next night to see the follow-up episode – “Batman is Riled.” Would Batman and Robin be unmasked? Or would justice prevail? In the end, there was more of Joker’s trickery, but Batman and Robin outsmart him and capture Joker and Queenie, one of his henchmen.
Romero, as Joker, appeared in 20 episodes of the Batman TV show from 1966 to 1968. Among the most memorable Batman episodes of that era is “Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under!” In it, Joker and Batman face off riding long boards in a surfing competition. That episode captures the essence of Romero’s Joker as a campy, wacky villain.
Romero also appeared as Joker in the 1966 movie Batman. In the film, he teamed up with Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman to form the United Underworld. At their United Underworld headquarters, the villains were prone to squabbling and Joker was not above playing practical jokes on his fellow evildoers, saying “a joke a day keeps the gloom away.”
The plot of the movie has Batman and Robin facing off against the United Underworld. The Joker dehydrates the ambassadors to the United World Organization’s Security Council and he and the rest of the villains abscond with the powdered ambassadors. It is only when Batman and Robin recover and rehydrate the ambassadors that the world is saved from the threat of the Joker and the other villains.
Cesar Romero was the first of more than half a dozen actors to play Joker. Among the notable are Jack Nicholson as Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman. Mark Hamill also took a turn at Joker, voicing him in video games and the 2016 animated feature Batman: The Killing Joke.
Other more recent portrayals of Joker include Heath Ledger as Joker in the 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight. Ledger’s Joker was psychopathic and sadistic, setting the stage for the 2019 film Joker, in which Joaquin Phoenix portrayed Joker as a violent, mentally unbalanced, failed circus clown. Taking the character of Joker to a very dark place, the 2019 Joker was the first live action film from the Batman series to receive an R-rating. It was also the first film to explore Joker’s origins in depth.
In the upcoming 2024 sequel, Joker: Folie á Deux, filmgoers can expect to see a reprise of Joaquin Phoenix as Joker. Phoenix’s Joker is one of the most twisted villains on the big screen. Joker has exceeded even his 1940s darker comic book roots and is a far cry from the campy Joker of the 1966-1968 Batman television show, where he was first called the “clown prince of crime.”
To learn more of Joker’s history, see drafts of the scripts for the 1960s Batman television show, including the episodes titled “The Joker Is Wild” and “Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under!” in the William Dozier papers at the American Heritage Center.
Post contributed by AHC Writer Kathryn Billington.
