European Film Star Postcards: Neil Hamilton

15 February 2024

Neil Hamilton

Neil Hamilton (1899-1984) was an American screen actor, who was a popular Hollywood actor in the 1920s and early 1930s. Later he had a fruitful career in television, in particular as Commissioner Gordon in the Batman TV series.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4605/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Paramount.

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 517. Photo: Paramount.

French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 376.

Colleen Moore's boss

James Neil Hamilton was born in 1899 in Lynn Massachusetts.

Hamilton began his career as a model and came to acting through this. At first, he played in some repertory theatres and got his first film role in The Beloved Impostor (1918).

His breakthrough came in 1923 with The White Rose, directed by D. W. Griffith. He also starred the following year in Griffith's social drama Isn't Life Wonderful (D.W. Griffith, 1924), which was about the difficult living conditions in 1920s Germany and was also largely filmed in Germany and Austria.

Other appearances followed, for example as Nick Carraway opposite Warner Baxter and Lois Wilson in the first - now lost - film version of The Great Gatsby (Herbert Brenon, 1926), or opposite Victor McLaglen in John Ford's drama Mother Machree (1928) about an Irish immigrant family in America.

In the late 1920s, he signed a studio contract with Paramount Pictures, where he was one of the most popular leading actors, e.g. as Crown Prince Alexander in The Patriot (Ernst Lubitsch, 1928), starring Emil Jannings. Yet, he also acted at other companies such as First National/Warner, e.g. as Colleen Moore's boss in the flapper comedy Why Be Good? (William A. Seiter, 1929).

French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 391. Photo: Paramount.

American Arcade card. Photo: Paramount.

German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 1434/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Paramount-Film.

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3799/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount.

Colleen Moore and Neil Hamilton in Why Be Good (1929)

British postcard, no. 9. Photo: First National Pictures. Colleen Moore and Neil Hamilton in Why Be Good? (William A. Seiter, 1929).

Tarzan's antagonist

Neil Hamilton made the transition to talkies without any problems and continued his acting career until the early 1970s. He co-acted with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Richard Barthelmess in the Flying Aces war drama The Dawn Patrol (Howard Hawks, 1930), and twice he acted as Dr. Jack Petrie in two Fu Manchu films, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (Rowland V. Lee, 1929), and The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (Rowland V. Lee, 1930), both starring Warner Oland.

He played the lover of such stars as Joan Crawford in Laughing Sinners (Harry Beaumont, 1931) or Constance Bennett in What Price Hollywood? (George Cukor, 1932).

In the first two Tarzan films with Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzan the Ape Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934), he played his antagonist Harry Holt, who is killed at the end of the second film.

However, Neil Hamilton's success began to wane in the mid-1930s, he was given only a few leading roles and increasingly found himself in insignificant B-movies. In hindsight, Hamilton said this happened because he had insulted a studio executive. In 1936-1937 he went to the UK to make five films there. Yet, it was television that brought him new popularity, where he played numerous guest roles and also hosted the talent show Hollywood Screen Test between 1948 and 1953.

In the 1960s, Hamilton played the role of Commissioner James Gordon in the popular television series Batman (1966–1968), which brought him new notoriety. Hamilton appeared in all 120 episodes of the series as well as in the film version, Batman (Leslie H. Martinson, 1966). Neil Hamilton had his last role in a television film in 1971, after which he retired to private life. He was married to Elsa Cozetta Whitmer for over 62 years from 1922 until his death, they had one child. Neil Hamilton died of asthma in 1984 in Escondido, California at the age of 85. After his cremation, his ashes were later scattered into the Pacific Ocean.

Spanish postcard by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, in the Series Estrellas del cine, no. 160. Photo: Paramount.

Italian postcard by Cinema-Illustrazione, Milano, series 2, no. 11. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Joan Crawford and Neil Hamilton in Laughing Sinners (Harry Beaumont, 1931).