Bessie Love
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Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton, September 10, 1898 - April 26, 1986) became one of the most recognizable faces of early American cinema. After her family moved to Los Angeles, she was sent to Biograph Studios, where legendary director D.W. Griffith noticed her talent and cast her in several films, including Intolerance (1916). During the silent era, she gained popularity for her lively, wholesome screen presence and worked with major stars such as Douglas Fairbanks. Her career soared in the 1920s, and she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1922, marking her as one of Hollywood’s most promising young actresses. Love made a successful transition to sound films—something many silent stars struggled with. Her performance as Hank Mahoney in The Broadway Melody (1929) earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, cementing her place in film history. In the 1930s, she moved to the United Kingdom, where she continued acting in film, theatre, radio, and later television. Her career ultimately spanned from 1915 to 1983, making her one of the longest‑working performers of her generation. She died on April 26, 1986, in London at age 87.
Known for
Credits
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
as Baccarat Player (uncredited)
The Hunger (1983)
as Lillybelle
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
as Mrs. Eubanks
Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981)
as Flora
Reds (1981)
as Mrs. Partlow
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018)
as Self (archive footage)
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
as The Bride of Cana (Judean Story)
No Highway in the Sky (1951)
as Plane Passenger (uncredited)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
as Self
The Broadway Melody (1929)
as Harriet 'Hank' Mahoney
Ragtime (1981)
as Old Lady - T.O.C.
Vampyres (1974)
as American Lady
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
as Answering Service Lady
Children of the Damned (1964)
as Mrs. Robbin
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
as Bunny
Soul-Fire (1925)
as Teita
The Ritz (1976)
as Maurine
Too Young to Love (1960)
as Mrs. Busch
Catlow (1971)
as Mrs. Frost
The Lost World (1925)
as Paula White
I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967)
as American tourist (uncredited)
Stranded (1916)
as The Girl
The Weak and the Wicked (1954)
as Prisoner
Battle Beneath the Earth (1967)
as Matron
Promise Her Anything (1966)
as Pet Shop Customer
The Magic Box (1952)
as Bride's Mother in Wedding Group
Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (1928)
as Mitzi Lavelle
The Good Bad-Man (1916)
as Amy
Nowhere to Go (1958)
as Harriet P. Jefferson
Gentle Julia (1923)
as Julia
Next to No Time (1958)
as Becky Wiener
Isadora (1968)
as Mrs. Duncan
Gareth Hughes (2000)
as Self (archive footage)
Mary of the Movies (1923)
as Herself (uncredited)
St. Elmo (1923)
as Edna Earle
Nina, the Flower Girl (1917)
as Nina
The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
as Art Gallery Customer
Dress Parade (1927)
as Janet Cleghorne
Cupid Forecloses (1919)
as Geraldine Farleigh
I Think They Call Him John (1964)
as Narrator (voice)
The Woman on the Jury (1924)
as Grace Pierce
A Daughter of the Poor (1917)
as Rose Eastman
Night Life in Hollywood (1922)
as Self
They Learned About Women (1930)
as Mary
The King On Main Street (1925)
as Mary Young
Souls for Sale (1923)
as Self - Celebrity Actress (uncredited)
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12 (1922)
as Self
The Matinee Idol (1928)
as Ginger Bolivar
Pegeen (1920)
as Pegeen O'Neill
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)
as The Little Fish Blower
A Son of His Father (1925)
as Nora Shea
Journey Together (1945)
as Mrs. Mary McWilliams
The Wild Affair (1965)
as Marjorie's Mother
Gulliver's Travels (1977)
as (voice)
Hell-to-Pay Austin (1916)
as Briar Rose Dawson
Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978)
as Lady Cunard
Carolyn of the Corners (1919)
Actor
A Little Sister of Everybody (1918)
as Celeste Janvier
Deserted at the Altar (1922)
as Anna Moore (The Country Girl)
The Heiress at Coffee Dan's (1916)
as Waffles
The Girl in the Show (1929)
as Hattie Hartley
Polly Ann (1917)
as Polly Ann
A Harp in Hock (1927)
as Nora Banks
Torment (1924)
as Marie
The Idle Rich (1929)
as Helen Thayer
Conspiracy (1930)
as Margaret Holt
The Song and Dance Man (1926)
as Leola Lane
Mousey (1974)
as Mrs. Richardson
Round About Hollywood (1931)
as Self
Good News (1930)
as Babe
A Sister of Six (1916)
as Prudence
The Honor of Rameriz (1921)
as The Geologist's Wife
The Dawn of Understanding (1918)
as Sue Prescott
Over the Garden Wall (1919)
as Peggy Gordon
The Wishing Ring Man (1919)
as Joy Havenith
How Could You, Caroline? (1918)
as Caroline Rogers
Atlantic Ferry (1941)
as Begonia Baggot
The Spirit of the Lake (1921)
Actor
The Wampas Baby Stars of 1922 (1922)
as Self
Touch and Go (1955)
as Mrs Baxter
The Eternal Three (1923)
as Hilda Gray
The Silent Watcher (1924)
as Mary, his wife
The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous (1923)
as Bernice
Alice Guy-Blaché (1997)
as Self
Sally of the Scandals (1928)
as Sally Rand
Those Who Dance (1924)
as Veda Anargas
See America Thirst (1930)
as Ellen
Forget Me Not (1922)
as Ann, The Girl
The Pistol (1965)
as Martha Burroughs
Morals for Women (1931)
as Helen Hutson
Slave of Desire (1923)
as Pauline Gaudin
Chasing Rainbows (1930)
as Carlie Seymour
The Ghost Patrol (1923)
as Effie Kugler
Human Wreckage (1923)
as Mary Finnegan
Penny of Top Hill Trail (1921)
as Penny
Bonnie May (1920)
as Bonnie May
The Great Adventure (1918)
as Rags
The Purple Dawn (1923)
as Mui Far
Cheerful Givers (1917)
as Judy
The Midlanders (1920)
as Aurelie Lindstrom
Lovey Mary (1926)
as Lovey Mary
The Sea Lion (1921)
as Blossom Nelson
A Fighting Colleen (1919)
as Alannah Malone
Reggie Mixes In (1916)
as Agnes
The Flying Torpedo (1916)
as Hulda
Three Who Paid (1923)
as John Caspar / Virginia Cartwright
Going Crooked (1926)
as Marie
Acquitted (1916)
as Helen Carter
The Sawdust Ring (1917)
as Janet Magie
The Little Boss (1919)
as Peggy Winston (The Little Boss)
Sundown (1924)
as Ellen Crawley
Young April (1926)
as Victoria
The Enchanted Barn (1919)
as Shirley Hollister
The Swell Head (1928)
Actor
The Aryan (1916)
as Mary Jane Garth
New Brooms (1925)
Actor
The Vermilion Pencil (1922)
as Hyacinth
Rubber Tires (1927)
as Mary Ellen Stack
Wee Lady Betty (1917)
as Wee Lady Betty
Tongues of Flame (1924)
as Lahleet
Dynamite Smith (1924)
as Violet
Bulldog Courage (1922)
as Gloria Phillips
The Village Blacksmith (1922)
as Rosemary Martin
A Yankee Princess (1919)
as Patsy O'Reilly
The Swamp (1921)
as Mary
The American (1927)
as Jane Wilton
London Scrapbook (1942)
as Herself