~Bessie Love~

Born: September 10, 1898 in Midland, TX, USA
Died: April 26, 1986 in London, England, UK
~Silent Filmography~
Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (1928) .... Mitzi Lavelle
... aka Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (UK)
Sally of the Scandals (1928) .... Sally Rand
The Matinee Idol (1928) .... Ginger Bolivar
Dress Parade (1927) .... Janet Cleghorne
Amateur Night (1927) (uncredited) (unconfirmed) .... Undetermined Role
A Harp in Hock (1927) .... Nora Banks
... aka The Samaritan
Rubber Tires (1927) .... Mary Ellen Stack
... aka Ten Thousand Reward
The American (1927)
... aka The Flag Maker
Going Crooked (1926) .... Marie
Young April (1926) .... Victoria
Meet the Prince (1926)
Lovey Mary (1926) .... Lovey Mary
... aka Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
The Song and Dance Man (1926) .... Leola Lane
The King on Main Street (1925) .... Mary Young
New Brooms (1925) .... Geraldine Marsh
A Son of His Father (1925) .... Nora Shea ... Movie Still Code: 809-X
Soul-Fire (1925) .... Teita
The Lost World (1925) .... Miss Paula White
Tongues of Flame (1924) .... Lahleet
Sundown (1924) .... Ellen Crawley
Dynamite Smith (1924) .... Violet
The Silent Watcher (1924) .... Mary, his wife
Those Who Dance (1924) .... Veda Carney
The Woman on the Jury (1924) .... Grace Pierce
Torment (1924) .... Marie - Still Code: 208
Gentle Julia (1923) .... Julia
Slave of Desire (1923) .... Pauline Gaudin
St. Elmo (1923/I) .... Edna Earle
The Eternal Three (1923) .... Hilda Gray
Human Wreckage (1923) .... Mary Finnegan
Purple Dawn (1923) .... Mui Far
The Ghost Patrol (1923) .... Effie Kugler
Three Who Paid (1923) .... John Caspar/Virginia Cartwright
... aka Three Men to Pay
Souls for Sale (1923) ...  Herself - Celebrity Actress (uncredited)
The Village Blacksmith (1923) .... Rosemary Martin, the Daughter
Deserted at the Altar (1922) .... Anna Moore (the country girl)
Bulldog Courage (1922) .... Gloria Phillips
Forget Me Not (1922) .... Ann, The Girl
The Vermilion Pencil (1922) .... Hyacinth
The Sea Lion (1921) .... Blossom Nelson
The Swamp (1921) .... Mary
The Spirit of the Lake (1921)
The Honor of Ramirez (1921)
Penny of Top Hill Trail (1921) .... Penny
Bonnie May (1920) .... Bonnie May
The Midlanders (1920) .... Aurelie Lindstrom
Pegeen (1920) .... Pegeen O'Neill

A Fighting Colleen (1919) .... Alannah Malone
Over the Garden Wall (1919) .... Peggy Gordon
Cupid Forecloses (1919) .... Geraldine Farleigh
The Little Boss (1919) .... Peggy Winston (The Little Boss)
A Yankee Princess (1919) .... Patsy O'Reilly
The Wishing Ring Man (1919) .... Joy Havenith
Carolyn of the Corners (1919) .... Carolyn May Cameron
The Enchanted Barn (1919) .... Shirley Hollister
The Dawn of Understanding (1918) .... Sue Prescott
A Little Sister of Everybody (1918) .... Celeste Janvier
How Could You, Caroline? (1918) .... Caroline Rogers
The Great Adventure (1918) .... Rags
Polly Ann (1917) .... Polly Ann
... aka Pernickety Polly Ann
Wee Lady Betty (1917) .... Wee Lady Betty
The Sawdust Ring (1917) .... Janet Magie
Cheerful Givers (1917) .... Judy
A Daughter of the Poor (1917) .... Rose Eastman
... aka The Heart of the Poor (USA: reissue title)
... aka The Spitfire
Nina, the Flower Girl (1917) .... Nina
The Heiress at Coffee Dan's (1916) .... Waffles
A Sister of Six (1916) .... Prudence
Hell-to-Pay Austin (1916) .... Briar Rose Dawson
... aka Love in the West
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) .... The Bride of Cana (Judean Story)
... aka Intolerance (USA: short title)
... aka Intolerance: A Sun-Play of the Ages (USA: copyright title)
Stranded (1916/I) .... The Girl
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916) .... The Little Fish Blower
Reggie Mixes In (1916) .... Agnes
... aka Facing the Music
The Good Bad Man (1916) .... Amy
... aka Passing Through
The Aryan (1916) .... Mary Jane Garth
The Flying Torpedo (1916) .... Hulda
Acquitted (1916) .... Helen Carter
Georgia Pearce (1915)
~(above) Ann Pennington, Jacqueline
Logan & Bessie Love~
~Los Angeles Times, 1986~
Bessie Love was a demure actress who managed to stretch her career from the silent screen well into
the era of television despite a lengthy series of pedestrian roles.

D.W. Griffith, the director of "Intolerance," "Birth of a Nation" and other silent epics, fancied her
brazenness and cast her as the bride of Cana in the Judean segment of his four-part treatment of
prejudice.

Griffith renamed her Bessie Love "because nobody east of the Rockies knows how to pronounce
Juanita." The success of his 1915 film made her an overnight star.

She was cast in a series of parts she once described as "sunbonnet girl next door" in "Nina the Flower
Girl," "The Great Adventure," "The Yankee Princess," "Human Wreckage" and three dozen more before
becoming a self-professed "sequined and spangled showgirl" in "The Broadway Melody." That 1928
production was the first talking picture ventured by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, also believed to be
the industry's first sound musical, brought her an Academy Award nomination.

In 1929 she married film producer William B. Hawks, brother of director Howard Hawks, at St. James
Episcopal Church in Pasadena.

After her divorce in 1935, she moved to London, where she was seen in the television miniseries
"Edward and Mrs. Simpson" and such films as "Isadora" in 1968 and "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" in 1971.
Her final picture was "Ragtime" in 1981.

— Burt A. Folkart in the Los Angeles Times April 29, 1986
.