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