James Neil Hamilton (September 9, 1899 – September 24, 1984) was an American stage, film and television actor, best remembered for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series of the 1960s. During his motion picture career, which spanned more than a half century, Hamilton performed in over 260 productions. He was a prominent leading man to actresses such as Clara Bow and Joan Crawford in silent and early sound films during the 1920s and early 1930s.

An only child, Hamilton was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. His show business career began when he secured a job as a shirt model in magazine advertisements.

After this, he became interested in acting and joined several stock companies, where he gained experience and training as an actor in professional stage productions. This allowed him to get his first film role, in Vitagraph's The Beloved Impostor (1918). He got his big break in D. W. Griffith's The White Rose (1923). He traveled to Germany with Griffith and made a film about the incredibly harsh conditions in Germany after World War I, Isn't Life Wonderful (1924).

While he was filming America (1924), a soldier's arm was blown off. Actor Charles Emmett Mack recalled: "Neil Hamilton and I went to neighboring towns and raised a fund for him—I doing a song and dance and Neil collecting a coin."

Hamilton was signed by Paramount Pictures in the mid-1920s and became one of its leading men. He often appeared opposite Bebe Daniels. He played one of Ronald Colman's brothers in Paramount's original silent version of Beau Geste (1926) and Nick Carraway in the first film of The Great Gatsby (1926), now a lost film.

He starred with Victor McLaglen in John Ford's Mother Machree (1928), whose title became the catchphrase of Gordon's associate Chief O'Hara (played by Stafford Repp) on the Batman television series almost four decades later. Machree is likely an English representation of the Irish phrase "mo chroí", meaning "my heart", and has identical pronunciation. Also in 1928, he played a character by the name of James Gordon in 1928's Three Week-Ends alongside Clara Bow.

In 1930, Hamilton appeared in the original production of The Dawn Patrol (retitled "Flight Commander" after its remake), playing the squadron commander, who was played by Basil Rathbone in the 1938 remake. Hamilton was billed above newcomer Clark Gable in Laughing Sinners (1931), in which he played a cad who deserts Joan Crawford's brokenhearted character. He originated the role of milksop Harry Holt, Jane's fiancé, in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), where he got top billing. Hamilton reprised the role in the pre-Code sequel Tarzan and His Mate (1934) at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He made five films in England in 1936 and 1937.

"A"-level work in Hollywood dried up for Hamilton by the 1940s, and he was reduced to working in serials, "B" films, and other low-budget projects. He starred as the villain in King of the Texas Rangers (1941), one of the Republic Pictures most successful movie serials.