Francis X. Bushman

Francis Xavier Bushman ( born January 10, 1883 in Baltimore, Maryland; † August 23, 1966 in Pacific Palisades, California ) was an American film actor. He was the first major male movie star who was known to the audience under his real name.

Life

Bushman began his career already as a minor on the vaudeville stage and fell rapidly through its athletic appearance on ( he ran wrestling, boxing and weightlifting. ) He turned for Essanay and Metro nearly 200 films, including more than 175 by 1920 and 17 alone in his debut 1911. Mostly he played the hero in love stories, dramas, comedies, detective and spy films. In 1916 he was co-director with a film version of Romeo and Juliet, in which he played Romeo.

1918 Bushman was the center of a scandal when his affair was made public with his fellow actor and frequent co-star Beverly Bayne. At this time, Bushman was married for 16 years and had five children, which the studio had kept secret for fear of a loss of popularity of their stars.

Bushman is known today for his portrayal Messalas as abysmally evil villains in the first big screen adaptation of Ben Hur (1925 ). Bushman was much bigger and more athletic than lead actor Ramón Novarro, so that they were digging holes, into which, Messala ' in scenes together had turned. That Bushmans career ended slowly after this great success is attributed to the negative influence of Louis B. Mayer, the Bushman allegedly did not like, because the latter had denied him access to his wardrobe.

At the peak of his career Bushman was " Most beautiful man in the world " touted on movie posters as and as "king of the movie" - this title is also engraved on his grave stone. Bushman was paid handsomely, but lost in the great crash of 1929 all of its assets. At the same time, his fame faded, but it still took until his death in minor roles, among them 1954 of Mr. Tyson in Sabrina.

Late success was the role of John Marshall, the father of twins, on the CBS radio show Those We Love, which ran from 1938 to 1945. In television series, he had frequent guest appearances on television series such as Peter Gunn, Perry Mason, Dr. Kildare and Batman, in which he played his last role: a collector of silent films.

Bushman was in 1960 when the remake of Ben Hur triumphed at the film award ceremonies, along with Novarro with an honorary Golden Globe honored for his services to the silent film.

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is reminiscent of Francis X. Bushman.