A male adult in a mid-20th-century-inspired pink suit jacket stands indoors, with even artificial lighting highlighting his attire. A world map is partially visible on the wall behind him. 8:22
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The Joker who laughs even while he loses

Cesar Romero's Joker laughs when he wins, and he keeps laughing in the middle of a fight he is plainly losing. Somehow it never gets old. more

Fans call him the original, the first actor to take the Joker off the comic page and give him a voice, on the 1960s Batman series. He has the white face, the pink suit and a laugh that keeps going long after the joke.

The Clown Prince of Crime starts by stealing a fabulous jewel collection right out from under Batman's nose. Then the utility belt beats him again, and he has had enough. He calls it a "ghastly girdle" and swears "by all that's funny" it will never stop him again. His answer is a utility belt of his own.

A performer in white face makeup, red lips and a dark hairpiece smiles widely in a ruffled clown collar. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
White face paint and a wide red grin set the mood for the Joker's schemes.

One of his gang asks to try it and gets a sharp "Hands off, you fool." Wishing on it is allowed, and the wish is a million bucks and a two-week ocean cruise. The paper has news of the SS Gotham, a new super luxury liner, but a cruise is "mere petty pilfering" to the Joker. "I'll get you the whole ship." Batman, of course, has to go first.

Batman and Robin never walk into a room when they can leap through the doorway, but even they can get caught. The Joker promises the people of Gotham City "the zenith of my career," the unmasking of Batman and Robin. Later, with the hero tied up, he can't resist a pun. "I see you're tied up with other things. No hard feelings."

His sneakiest trap is a bottle of champagne with paralyzing gas hidden in the cork. From his secret hideout he breaks into Gotham's TV with his terms: hand over the SS Gotham, or the Dynamic Duo "gets launched to eternity." Batman answers that the only one going anywhere is the Joker, right back to prison. "Egads," says the Joker, "what sorcery is this?" It's only a precaution in the real utility belt, plus a cork seal that "was not discolored with age," odd for a bottle that old.

Romero plays all of it like a man having the best day of his life. He laughs more than most Jokers, even mid-fight, and his grin can flip to rage and back in a blink. Look closely and the mustache is still there under the white makeup. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

A male adult in a mid-20th-century-inspired pink suit jacket stands indoors, with even artificial lighting highlighting his attire. A world map is partially visible on the wall behind him. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Cesar Romero's Joker laughs when he wins, and he keeps laughing in the middle of a fight he is plainly losing.

Fans still argue about who played the Joker best. Nobody argues about who laughed the most.