Francis X Bushman
In
Episodes 31- Death In Slow Motion and 32-
The Riddlers False Notion, The Riddler models his crimes after
famous silent movie scenes.
The thing that makes this episode unique was the appearance of some superstars of the Silent Film era. Francis S. Bushman played Mr Van Jones, a collector of old silent films that had commissioned the Riddler to film a silent film featuring Batman and Robin for $100,000.
It was funny that Neil Hamilton and Francis X Bushman both appeared in the movie " "The Grip of the Yukon" in 1928 then 28 Years later they stood side by side again in "Batman"
Heavy-built major star of the silent era, Bushman was
once known as "the 
handsomest
man in the world." He began acting with stock companies while
still a boy, remaining a stage actor until he entered film in 1911,
beginning with the Essanay company in Chicago. At one time a sculptor's
model, Bushman had a beautiful physique which, combined with his
handsome looks, soon propelled him to stardom in pre '20s silents; he
rushed from one movie set to another, playing romantic leads in
scores of films and becoming immensely popular with female viewers.
His popularity took a nose-dive, however, after it was revealed that
he had been secretly married to actress Beverly Bayne, his costar in
many films including Romeo and Juliet (1916).
He continued to perform in numerous films, leading up to his most famous role as the Roman Massala (Ramon Novarro's screen rival) in the silent Ben-Hur (1926). During the silent era he made more than a million dollars a year, but his fortune was entirely lost in the Crash of 1929. By the early '30s his film career was all but over, though he rebuilt himself financially by becoming a star of radio soap operas.
After 1930 he appeared in films only sporadically, though some of his roles were still of interest. His last appearance was in a schlocky low-budget '60s production, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini . -- All-Movie Guide
Batman was his last on screen appearance and these episodes aired 4 months before his journey to the great studio in the sky.
He passed away August 23, 1966 in Pacific Palisades, California from a heart attack brought on by a fall.
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