LOVE

Bessie Love Born September 10, 1898, in Midland, TX Died April 26, 1986, in London, England

Comeback, Little Bessie Bessie Love - Actress. In an era that christened screen actresses with names like Louise Lovely, Blanche Sweet, Arline Pretty and Grace Darling, Bessie Love was a delightful blossom in this descriptively named bouquet of talented, sweet young things. She was born Juanita Horton in Texas and grew up in Los Angeles. It was when she was in high school in 1915 that she was discovered by D.W. Griffith and entered the world of movies. Her appearance was as charming as her personality. She was merry, spunky and threw herself into motion pictures wholeheartedly. Her petite good looks complemented such leading men as William S. Hart, Douglas Fairbanks, John Gilbert, Kenneth Harlan, Sessue Hayakawa, Harrison Ford and Johnnie Walker. Early on, she punched the timeclock, as many famous and yet to be famous performers did, to fill the enormous casting call for Intolerance (Wark Producing Corporation, 1916) (as The Bride of Cana in the Judean segment). Bessie had star quality and worked very hard for many years, never losing her fresh and youthful appearance. However, the films she made did not elevate her to the utmost strata of fame that was acheived by other young starlets who worked just as hard, like Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Norma Talmadge, Mae Murray and Gloria Swanson. Bessie stayed in that group of beautiful, hard-working actresses whom top-flight stardom always eluded, such as Viola Dana, Betty Compson, Evelyn Brent and Dorothy Sebastian. As a result she had the type of career characterized by long valleys and brief peaks - what show business likes to call "comebacks." She made a string of entertaining but run-of-the-mill programmers, and would occasionally star in a highly successful film - only to be relegated back to the grind of more programmers. Bessie made over 120 films, including comedies, westerns, melodramas, fantasies and musicals. There is no doubt about it. Bessie Love's special spark illuminated every film that she appeared in, which includes The Aryan (Thomas H. Ince, for Triangle, 1916), with Hart; The Good Bad Man (Fine Arts, for Triangle, 1916), Reggie Mixes In (Fine Arts, for Triangle, 1916) and The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (Fine Arts, for Triangle, 1916), all three with Fairbanks; Sawdust Ring (New York Motion Picture, Corp; Kay Bee, for Triangle, 1917), with Harold Goodwin; A Little Sister of Everybody (Anderson-Brunton Company, 1918), with George Fisher; The Dawn of Understanding (Vitagraph, 1919), with Gilbert; The Little Boss (Vitagraph, 1919), with Wallace MacDonald; The Great Adventure (PathÎ, 1919), with Flora Finch and directed by Alice Guy [BlachÎ]; The Enchanted Barn (Vitagraph, 1919), with J. Frank Glendon; Cupid Forecloses (Vitagraph, 1919), with Wallace MacDonald; The Swamp (Hayakawa Feature Play Company, for R-C Pictures, 1921) and The Vermilion Pencil (R-C Pictures, 1922), both with Hayakawa; The Village Blacksmith (Fox Film Corp, 1922), with Tully Marshall and directed by John Ford; St. Elmo (Fox Film Corp., 1923), with Gilbert and Barbara La Marr; Human Wreckage (Thomas H. Ince Corp., 1923), a lost film produced by Dorothy Davenport; Torment (Associated First National, 1924), with Jean Hersholt and directed by Maurice Tourneur; Tongues of Flame (Universal, 1925), with Thomas Meighan and directed by Joseph Henabery; The Lost World (First National, 1925), with Lloyd Hughes and Wallace Beery; Rubber Tires (Cecil B. DeMille Pictures, 1927) (2 photos), with Harrison Ford and directed by Alan Hale; A Harp in Hock (PathÎ Exchange, 1927), with Junior Coghlan; and The Matinee Idol (Columbia, 1928), with Johnnie Walker and directed by Frank Capra. Her last silent was Sally of the Scandals (FBO, 1928), with Allan Forrest. By the end of the silent era, Bessie, who had certainly paid her dues, was cranking out "Poverty-Row" studio productions. An accomplished dancer and singer, she came back again as an adored musical star in early talkies. The talkies instantly reversed her downward trend and she was ushered through the gates of the prestigious M-G-M studio. For a time she was a top star in these early efforts to wed sound with celluloid, such as The Idle Rich (M-G-M, 1929), written by Clara Beranger and directed by William C. DeMille; Hollywood Revue of 1929 (M-G-M, 1929), with an all-star cast; The Broadway Melody (M-G-M, 1929), with Anita Page and directed by Harry Beaumont [Bessie received an Academy Award nomination for best actress in this film]; Chasing Rainbows (M-G-M, 1930), with Jack Benny and directed by Charles Reisner; Good News (M-G-M, 1930), with Lola Lane; and They Learned About Women (M-G-M, 1930), with Eddie Gribbon. Like the pattern of her silent career, consistent stardom never gelled. After making See America Thirst (Universal, 1930), with Harry Langdon, and Conspiracy (RKO, 1930), with Ned Sparks, Bessie was in the Poverty-Row cellar again. By 1936, Bessie made a complete break with Hollywood and the U.S. She moved to London after a successful stage run there and found both work and contentment. She appeared in British productions for the stage, films, radio and television. She was also inspired to write plays and found a thoroughly appreciative public in the United Kingdom. Even though she enjoyed and thrived in her life as an expatriate, like Bebe Daniels and husband Ben Lyon, she always referred to America as "home." She worked almost up to the end of her life, and, luckily for her fans, she reminisced about her career in an autobiography called From Hollywood With Love (N. Pomfret VT: David and Charles, 1977). {She was also interviewed on film for the Brownlow and Gill Hollywood series.} Energetic sprite Bessie Love came back again in her 80s, appearing in American and British productions, including the television miniseries Edward & Mrs. Simpson (Thames Television, 1980), with Edward Fox and Cynthia Harris, and the feature films Reds (Paramount, 1981), a multiple Academy Award-winning film directed by and starring Warren Beatty, and Ragtime (Paramount, 1981), starring James Cagney [eight nominations, no wins]. Her last film appearance was in The Hunger (M-G-M/UA, 1983), starring David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. The golden age of silent and sound films may not have showcased Bessie Love as she deserved. The revival of her career through the rediscovery of her films will create a new appreciation. Come back, little Bessie - it's about time. When it comes to capturing the spirit and the joy of the art of silent film, perhaps all we need is Love.

Other Resources * The Silent Ladies Web site features a Bessie Love photo gallery. * The Internet Movie Database has a Bessie Love filmography. Return to: * The Silent Artists Index * The Silents Majority Home Page ------------------------------------