Ned Romero

Ned Romero (December 4, 1926 – November 4, 2017) was an American actor and opera singer born in Franklin, Louisiana, the seat of St. Mary Parish. The son of Anna and Sidney Romero, he was of Chitimacha Native American, Spanish, and French ancestry. Romero earned a master's degree in music from Louisiana State University.

Romero launched his performing career in 1943 as an opera singer, working with the San Francisco Opera and in productions in Los Angeles. His stage work extended to musicals, including Kiss Me, Kate, Oklahoma!, and Kismet. On Broadway, he appeared in 3 for Tonight and Kismet, with his Broadway career spanning from 1955 to 1962.

After approximately two decades on the stage, Romero transitioned to television and film. His first television appearance was an opera skit on CBS's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis with Dwayne Hickman, in which he performed a medley of opera arias. He went on to hold regular cast roles on several television series, portraying investigator Bob Ramirez on The D.A., Broken Foot on Born to the Wind, and Sgt. John Rivera on Dan August. Among his most prominent television work was the lead role in the 1975 drama I Will Fight No More Forever, in which he played Chief Joseph. His television credits also include The Munsters, Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Walker: Texas Ranger, Kung Fu, The Six Million Dollar Man, Ironside, The Incredible Hulk, Adam-12, Land of the Lost, Police Woman, Death Valley Days, Emergency!, Custer, Tarzan, Diff'rent Strokes, and an unaired episode of The New Land.

Romero's film roles included Charlie Blackfoot in Hang 'Em High (1968), Chingachgook in both The Last of the Mohicans (1977) and The Deerslayer (1978), and Chief John Jolley in Gone to Texas (1986). His final film role was as an old native man in Expiration Date (2006). His second wife was singer and dancer Jolene Lontere.