Francis X. Bushman, actor

Francis X. Bushman had a life like no other. He was the screen's first great romantic idol, a bodybuilder, an artist's model, a Broadway and stock company actor, a husband (four times), a father (six times), a dog breeder, a songwriter, a vaudeville headliner, a radio performer, a television personality, a senior citizens' advocate. He lived an exaggerated life, both as a free-spending multi-millionaire star and a bankrupt has-been. After all the accolades and criticisms, he was that rare kind of man who had no regrets.

Lon Davis has written a number of books about silent cinema and has made a name for himself with preserving a large part of Hollywood history with his tomes. He doesn't speed his books out and he takes his time to do it right. This is one of those books that I wish more people wrote about silent screen heroes.

Some of the photographs are truly rare because I have never seen many of them. I have a collection of Francis X. Bushman photos and sent them to a magazine recently for publication. Bushman's widow wrote the introduction, a joyous surprise. his entire story is told chronologically and each chapter is devoted to a time period. 1911-1915, 1915-1918, etc.

To get an idea of how in-depth Lon Davis got with his book, he even covers Bushman's television and radio credits and did not stay with just the silver screen. With having to write an awful book review the other day it makes me happy to know I can still balance the reviews with books like this. way to go, Lon!

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