Emerson Romero

Emerson Irving Romero (August 19, 1900 – October 16, 1972) was a Cuban-American silent film actor who worked under the screen name Tommy Albert. Romero developed the first technique to provide captions for sound films, making them accessible for the deaf and hard of hearing; his efforts inspired the invention of the captioning technique used in films and movies today.

Early life and education Emerson Irving Romero was born August 19, 1900, in Havana, Cuba. He was a first cousin to film and television star Cesar Romero.

Romero spent one year studying at Columbia University in New York City and transferred to Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. After studying at Lafayette for two years, Romero was compelled to leave after his father had financial difficulties.

Acting career After leaving Lafayette College, Romero found work at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His older brother Dorian started a film company in Cuba, the Pan-American Film Corporation, and encouraged Romero to consider acting. Romero starred in a full-length film written by Dorian named A Yankee in Havana. In addition to acting, he also helped shoot film on location, edit films, and write subtitles. The films he starred in while in Cuba were commercially unsuccessful but Romero's acting skills drew attention from director Richard Harlan, who encouraged Romero to move to Hollywood in 1926. The effect was similar to the title cards of silent movies, interspersing action scenes with images of text. He rented the films to deaf schools and clubs. The films were of bad visual quality, in an attempt to prevent bootlegging; in addition, Romero's technique ruined the soundtrack of the film for anyone who was able to hear.

They had two children.