FRANCIS X. BUSHMAN - AUTOGRAPH NOTE ON PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED - HFSID 80661

FRANCIS X. BUSHMAN
"The handsomest man in the world" is shown in this 5x7 sepia photograph, inscribed for a fan
Autograph Note on Photograph Signed: "Francis X. Bushman" on image. Sepia, 5x7 overall, image 3¾x5½ (two surfaces). Mount stamped Baker Art Gallery, Columbus, O[hio] at lower right margin. On verso of mount, Bushman has written an ANS: "Love/F.X.B." No place, no date. "To Miss Draper". In full: "with best wishes/for a happy married life/'The best of everything'" A former sculptor's model, Francis Xavier Bushman (1883-1966) had a beautiful physique which, combined with his handsome looks, propelled him to stardom in pre-20s silents. Known as "the handsomest man in the world" and the first film actor to be called "King of the Movies", he starred in 115 silent films between 1911 and 1914, including his most famous role, Messala in Ben-Hur (1925). Bushman made more than a million dollars a year during the silent era, but lost his fortune in the Crash of 1929. After 1930, he appeared in feature films sporadically, but became a star of radio soap operas. Bushman, who later appeared in David and Bathsheba (1951), Sabrina (1954), The Story of Mankind (1957) and Twelve to the Moon (1960), made his last film, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, in 1966, the year of his death. Image slightly faded and silvered, touching signature. Lightly soiled at blank margins. Mount is lightly worn at upper and lower edges. Pinhead-size stain on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.