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Two-piece long underwear

Long underwear, also called long johns, or thermal underwear, is a style of two-piece underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It offers an advantage over the one-piece union suit in that the wearer can choose to wear either the top, bottom or both parts depending on the weather. Long underwear is also less commonly known as long handles. It is commonly worn by people in cold countries.

Modern long underwear has largely supplanted the union suit. In the United States, it is usually made from a cotton or cotton-polyester-blend fabric with a box-weave texture, although some varieties are also made from flannel, particularly the union suit, while many newer varieties are made from polyester, such as the Capilene trade name.

European manufacturers use wool blends or even 100% wool, usually Merino or other high-quality wool. Some models might include a thin layer of polyester to transport moisture away from the skin. Wool, in addition to being fire retardant, provides highly effective insulation and will keep its insulating properties even when wet, as opposed to cotton.

The type known as "thermal underwear" is made from two-ply fabric of either a wool layer and an artificial fibre, only wool or – again mostly in the U.S. – two layers of only artificial fibres, which uses trapped body heat to insulate against cold air.

An adjustable two-piece design is credited to Canadian Frank Stanfield, a native of Truro, Nova Scotia, who patented his design on 7 December 1915. In 1898, Stanfield and his brother John had developed a product called Stanfield's Unshrinkable Underwear for Stanfield's, their garment manufacturing company.^[1]

Etymology of "long johns"[link]

The manufacturing foundations of long johns may lie in Derbyshire, England, at John Smedley's Lea Mills, located in Matlock. The company has a 225-year heritage and is said to have created the garment, reputedly named after the late-19th-century heavyweight boxer John L. Sullivan; the company still produces long johns.

In 2004, Michael Quinion, a British etymologist and writer, postulated that the "john" in the item of apparel may be a reference to Sullivan, who wore a similar-looking garment in the ring. This explanation, however, is uncertain and the word's origin is ultimately unknown.^[2]

See also[link]

Fashion portal

References[link]

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Cesar Romero
Romero as photographed by Allan Warren in 1973.
Born	Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. (1907-02-15)February 15, 1907 New York City, New York, United States
Died	January 1, 1994(1994-01-01) (aged 86) Santa Monica, California, United States
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Nationality	American
Other names	Butch, Latin from Manhattan
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1933–90

Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and as The Joker in television's Batman series.

Early life[link]

Romero as part of the deck crew aboard the USS Cavalier.

Romero was born in New York to a Spanish father who was an importer-exporter of sugar refining machinery and a Cuban mother who was a concert singer. That lifestyle, however, changed dramatically when his parents lost their sugar import business and suffered losses in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Fortunately, Romero's Hollywood earnings allowed him to support his large family, all of whom followed him to the West Coast, years later. Romero lived on and off with various family members, especially his sister, for the rest of his life.

In October 1942, he voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and served in the Pacific Theater. He reported aboard the Coast Guard-manned assault transport USS Cavalier in November, 1943. According to a press release from the period he saw action during the invasions of Tinian and Saipan. The same article mentioned that he preferred to be a regular part of the crew and was eventually promoted to the rank of Chief Boatswain's Mate.^[1]

Career[link]

In Public Enemy's Wife (1936)

Romero played "Latin lovers" in films from the 1930s until the 1950s, usually in supporting roles. He starred as The Cisco Kid in six westerns made between 1939 and 1941. Romero danced and performed comedy in the 20th Century Fox films he starred in opposite Carmen Miranda and Betty Grable, such as Week-End in Havana and Springtime in the Rockies, in the 1940s.

In The Thin Man (1934), Romero played a villainous supporting role opposite the film's main star William Powell. Many of Romero's films from this early period saw him cast in small character parts, such as Italian gangsters and East Indian princes. He also appeared in a comic turn as a subversive opponent to Frank Sinatra and his crew in Ocean's 11.

20th Century Fox, along with mogul Darryl Zanuck, personally selected Romero to co-star with Tyrone Power in the Technicolor historical epic Captain from Castile (1947), directed by Henry King. While Power played a fictionalized character, Romero played Hernán Cortés, a historical conquistador in Spain's conquest of the Americas.

Television[link]

Among his many television credits, Romero appeared several times on NBC's The Martha Raye Show in the middle 1950s. He played the role of Don Diego de la Vega's uncle in a number of Season Two Zorro episodes.^[2] In 1958, he guest starred as Ramon Valdez, a South American businessman, who excels at doing the Cha-Cha with Barbara Eden in her syndicated romantic comedy, How to Marry a Millionaire in the episode "The Big Order". He performed the mambo with Gisele MacKenzie on her NBC variety show, The Gisele MacKenzie Show. Also in 1957, he guest-starred on The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour on the first episode of the seventh season ("Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana"). He also played a card sharp on an episode of Wagon Train, "The Honorable Don Charlie Story" 1958.

On January 16, 1958, Romero appeared on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.^[3] In 1965, Romero played the head of THRUSH in France in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Never Never Affair").

Romero (standing) in his role as The Joker in Batman

From 1966 to 1968, Romero played The Joker in ABC's television series, Batman. He refused to shave his mustache and so it was covered with white makeup when playing the supervillain throughout the series' run, and in the spinoff 1966 film.

In the 1970s, Romero portrayed the absent father of the Freddie Prinze character Chico Rodriguez in Chico and the Man, and later Peter Stavros in the television series Falcon Crest (1985–1987). Among Romero's guest star work in the 1970s was a recurring role on the western comedy Alias Smith and Jones, starring Pete Duel and Ben Murphy. Romero played Señor Armendariz, a Mexican rancher feuding with Patrick McCreedy (Burl Ives), the owner of a ranch on the opposite side of the border. He appeared in three episodes. He also appeared as Count Dracula on Rod Serling's Night Gallery, and guest-starred in an episode of Bewitched.

Apart from these television roles, Romero appeared as A.J. Arno, a small-time criminal who continually opposes Dexter Riley (played by Kurt Russell) and his schoolmates of Medfield College in a series of films by Walt Disney Productions in the 1970s. He also appeared in a sixth-season episode of The Golden Girls, where he played a suitor named Tony Delvechio for Sophia who disappoints her when she tells him "I love you" after a night of passion and he doesn't return the sentiment.

Personal life[link]

Romero always claimed his grandfather on his mother's side was Cuban poet and patriot José Martí.

Romero never married, but made regular appearances on the Hollywood social circuit in the company of attractive actresses; however, he was almost always described in interviews and articles as a "confirmed bachelor". ^[4][5]

Romero died in 1994 from bronchitis and pneumonia. His ashes were interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery in South Los Angeles community of Inglewood, California.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Biography portal

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cesar Romero

• Cesar Romero at the Internet Movie Database
• Cesar Romero at the Internet Broadway Database
• Cesar Romero at Find a Grave
• Cesar Romero at Virtual History
• Cesar Romero in "Jean Boone - Interview with Cast of Batman, The Movie (1966)" from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image
• Steve Starr (2006). "Cesar Romero". Entertainment Magazine Online. http://emol.org/film/archives/romero/index.html. Retrieved 2007-05-20.