Bessie Love
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Roles are weighted by involvement: director 1.0, screenwriter 0.7, lead 0.8, supporting 0.4, crew 0.1.
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
The Hunger (1983)
as Lillybelle
Vampyres (1974)
as American Lady
Ragtime (1981)
as Old Lady - T.O.C.
Reds (1981)
as Mrs. Partlow
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
as Mrs. Eubanks
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)
as The Bride of Cana (Judean Story)
The Lost World (1925)
as Paula White
The Broadway Melody (1929)
as Harriet 'Hank' Mahoney
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
as Bunny
The Magic Box (1952)
as Bride's Mother in Wedding Group
Children of the Damned (1964)
as Mrs. Robbin
No Highway in the Sky (1951)
as Plane Passenger (uncredited)
Isadora (1968)
as Mrs. Duncan
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
as Self
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (2018)
as Self (archive footage)
The Ritz (1976)
as Maurine
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
as Answering Service Lady
Catlow (1971)
as Mrs. Frost
I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967)
as American tourist (uncredited)
Soul-Fire (1925)
as Teita
The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
as Art Gallery Customer
St. Elmo (1923)
as Edna Earle
The Pistol (1965)
as Martha Burroughs
Battle Beneath the Earth (1967)
as Matron
Cupid Forecloses (1919)
as Geraldine Farleigh
Promise Her Anything (1966)
as Pet Shop Customer
Touch and Go (1955)
as Mrs Baxter
A Daughter of the Poor (1917)
as Rose Eastman
Good News (1930)
as Babe
Mousey (1974)
as Mrs. Richardson
Nowhere to Go (1958)
as Harriet P. Jefferson
Gulliver's Travels (1977)
as (voice)
They Learned About Women (1930)
as Mary
Souls for Sale (1923)
as Self - Celebrity Actress (uncredited)
The Silent Watcher (1924)
as Mary, his wife
Polly Ann (1917)
as Polly Ann
The Good Bad-Man (1916)
as Amy
Next to No Time (1958)
as Becky Wiener
Too Young to Love (1960)
as Mrs. Busch
The Weak and the Wicked (1954)
as Prisoner
Journey Together (1945)
as Mrs. Mary McWilliams
Gentle Julia (1923)
as Julia
The Purple Dawn (1923)
as Mui Far
The Ghost Patrol (1923)
as Effie Kugler
The Flying Torpedo (1916)
as Hulda
Those Who Dance (1924)
as Veda Anargas
Torment (1924)
as Marie
See America Thirst (1930)
as Ellen
The Girl in the Show (1929)
as Hattie Hartley
The Heiress at Coffee Dan's (1916)
as Waffles
Nina, the Flower Girl (1917)
as Nina
Bulldog Courage (1922)
as Gloria Phillips
Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978)
as Lady Cunard
Gareth Hughes (2000)
as Self (archive footage)
The King On Main Street (1925)
as Mary Young
Stranded (1916)
as The Girl
Young April (1926)
as Victoria
Pegeen (1920)
as Pegeen O'Neill
Human Wreckage (1923)
as Mary Finnegan
Three Who Paid (1923)
as John Caspar / Virginia Cartwright
Round About Hollywood (1931)
as Self
Mary of the Movies (1923)
as Herself (uncredited)
The Village Blacksmith (1922)
as Rosemary Martin
The Honor of Rameriz (1921)
as The Geologist's Wife
A Son of His Father (1925)
as Nora Shea
Dynamite Smith (1924)
as Violet
Conspiracy (1930)
as Margaret Holt
The Woman on the Jury (1924)
as Grace Pierce
A Little Sister of Everybody (1918)
as Celeste Janvier
The Wild Affair (1965)
as Marjorie's Mother
The Song and Dance Man (1926)
as Leola Lane
Atlantic Ferry (1941)
as Begonia Baggot
Sundown (1924)
as Ellen Crawley
Carolyn of the Corners (1919)
Actor
Deserted at the Altar (1922)
as Anna Moore (The Country Girl)
Dress Parade (1927)
as Janet Cleghorne
The Midlanders (1920)
as Aurelie Lindstrom
The Idle Rich (1929)
as Helen Thayer
Bonnie May (1920)
as Bonnie May
Forget Me Not (1922)
as Ann, The Girl
The Wampas Baby Stars of 1922 (1922)
as Self
The Matinee Idol (1928)
as Ginger Bolivar
A Sister of Six (1916)
as Prudence
The Sea Lion (1921)
as Blossom Nelson
London Scrapbook (1942)
as Herself
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)
as The Little Fish Blower
The Aryan (1916)
as Mary Jane Garth
The Dawn of Understanding (1918)
as Sue Prescott
The American (1927)
as Jane Wilton
The Wishing Ring Man (1919)
as Joy Havenith
Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (1928)
as Mitzi Lavelle
Chasing Rainbows (1930)
as Carlie Seymour
New Brooms (1925)
Actor
The Vermilion Pencil (1922)
as Hyacinth
Wee Lady Betty (1917)
as Wee Lady Betty
Over the Garden Wall (1919)
as Peggy Gordon
Rubber Tires (1927)
as Mary Ellen Stack
The Eternal Three (1923)
as Hilda Gray
The Enchanted Barn (1919)
as Shirley Hollister
I Think They Call Him John (1964)
as Narrator (voice)
A Fighting Colleen (1919)
as Alannah Malone
Lovey Mary (1926)
as Lovey Mary
Night Life in Hollywood (1922)
as Self
The Spirit of the Lake (1921)
Actor
Hell-to-Pay Austin (1916)
as Briar Rose Dawson
The Great Adventure (1918)
as Rags
Morals for Women (1931)
as Helen Hutson
The Swamp (1921)
as Mary
Sally of the Scandals (1928)
as Sally Rand
Going Crooked (1926)
as Marie
Alice Guy-Blaché (1997)
as Self
Acquitted (1916)
as Helen Carter
The Sawdust Ring (1917)
as Janet Magie
Slave of Desire (1923)
as Pauline Gaudin
The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous (1923)
as Bernice
How Could You, Caroline? (1918)
as Caroline Rogers
Tongues of Flame (1924)
as Lahleet
Reggie Mixes In (1916)
as Agnes
A Harp in Hock (1927)
as Nora Banks
Penny of Top Hill Trail (1921)
as Penny
The Little Boss (1919)
as Peggy Winston (The Little Boss)
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12 (1922)
as Self
A Yankee Princess (1919)
as Patsy O'Reilly
The Swell Head (1928)
Actor
Cheerful Givers (1917)
as Judy