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