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