Bessie Love
Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898 – April 26, 1986) was an American motion picture actress who achieved prominence playing innocent young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent films and early talkies.[4] Her acting career spanned eight decades—from silent film to sound film, including theater, radio, and television—and her performance in The Broadway Melody (1929) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.[5]
Bessie Love | |
---|---|
Love, c. 1918 | |
Born | Juanita Horton September 10, 1898 Midland, Texas, U.S.[1] |
Died | April 26, 1986 87)[2] | (aged
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1915–83 |
Height | 5 ft 0 in (152 cm)[1] |
Spouse(s) | [3] |
Children | 1[3] |
Early life
Love was born Juanita Horton in Midland, Texas[1] to John Cross Horton and Emma Jane Horton (née Savage).[6] Her father was a cowboy and bartender,[7] while her mother worked in and managed restaurants.[8] She attended school in Midland until she was in the eighth grade,[9] when her family moved to Arizona, New Mexico, and then to Hollywood.[2] When in Hollywood, her father became a chiropractor,[7] and her mother worked at the Jantzen's Knitwear and Bathing Suits factory.[10]
Career
The silent era
In June 1915, while a student at Los Angeles High School, Horton went to the set of a Western film to meet with actor Tom Mix, who had recommended that she visit him if she ever wanted to "get into pictures".[11] However, when Mix was unavailable, she was advised to meet with pioneering film director D. W. Griffith,[11] who gave Horton the stage name "Bessie Love" and a small role in his Intolerance (1916). Although Intolerance was her first performance to be filmed, it was her ninth film to be released.[8] Love dropped out of high school to pursue her film career, although she completed her diploma in 1919.[12]
Her "first role of importance"[13]—in the second of her films to be released—was in The Flying Torpedo (1916). She later appeared opposite William S. Hart in The Aryan and with Douglas Fairbanks in The Good Bad-Man, Reggie Mixes In, and The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (all 1916). In her early career, she was often compared to Mary Pickford,[14] and was even called "Our Mary" by Griffith.[15]
In 1918, Love signed a nine-film contract with Vitagraph.[lower-alpha 1][16] She took an active role in the management of her career, upgrading her representation to Gerald C. Duffy, the former editor of Picture-Play Magazine,[17] and publicizing herself by playing the ukulele and dancing for members of the military.[18] Even glowing reviews of her films criticized the venues in which they were shown, citing this as a reason she was not a more awarded actress.[19]
As her roles got larger, so did her popularity. In 1922, Love was chosen as a WAMPAS Baby Star.[20][21] In 1923, she starred in Human Wreckage with Dorothy Davenport and produced by Thomas Ince.
Because of her performance in The King on Main Street (1925), Love is credited with being the first person to dance the Charleston on film,[22] popularizing it in the United States. Her technique was documented in instructional guides,[23] including a series of photographs by Edward Steichen.[24] She subsequently performed the dance the following year in The Song and Dance Man.[25]
In 1925, she starred in The Lost World, a science fiction adventure based on the novel of the same name by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1927, she appeared in the successful Dress Parade, and was so impressed by her experiences on location that she wrote the unpublished novel Military Mary.[26] A year later, she starred in The Matinee Idol, a romantic comedy directed by a young Frank Capra. Despite these successes, Love's career was on the decline.[27] She lived frugally so that she could afford lessons in singing and dancing.[28]
The sound era and stage work
Love toured with a musical revue for sixteen weeks,[29] which was so physically demanding that she broke a rib.[30] The experience she gained on the vaudeville stage singing and dancing in three performances a day prepared her for the introduction of sound films.[31] She was signed to MGM in 1928.[31]
In 1929, she appeared in her first feature-length "talkie", the musical The Broadway Melody. Her performance earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the success of the film resulted in a 5-year contract with MGM and an increase in her weekly salary from US$500 to $3,000 (equivalent to $44,000 in 2018)—$1,000 more than her male co-star Charles King.[32] This success was later deemed one of "the most notable comebacks" of the WAMPAS Baby Stars, alongside Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce and Gloria Stuart in Titanic.[33]
She appeared in several other early musicals, including 1929's The Hollywood Revue of 1929 and 1930's Chasing Rainbows, Good News, and They Learned About Women. However, the public tired of musicals, putting her career in decline. In 1930, Love is quoted as saying, "I guess I'm through. They don't seem to want me any more."[34]
She semi-retired, and focused on raising her daughter, born in 1932. In 1935, Love moved to England and did stage work and occasional films there. She also performed on BBC Radio as a member of their Drama Repertory Company.[35] Love briefly returned to the United States in 1936 to obtain a divorce.[3][36]
During World War II in Britain, when Love found acting work hard to come by, she was the "continuity girl" on the film drama San Demetrio London (1943), an account of a ship badly damaged in the Atlantic but whose crew managed to bring her to port. She also worked for the American Red Cross.[37]
After the war, she resumed work on the stage and played small roles in films, often as an American tourist.[38] Stage work included such productions as Love in Idleness (1944)[39] and Born Yesterday (1947).[39][40][41] She wrote and performed in The Homecoming, a semiautobiographical play, which opened in Perth, Scotland in 1958.[42][43] Film work included The Barefoot Contessa (1954) with Humphrey Bogart, and Ealing Studios' Nowhere to Go (1958). She also played small roles in The Greengage Summer (1961) starring Kenneth More, the James Bond thriller On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and in John Schlesinger's Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971). In addition to playing the mother of Vanessa Redgrave's titular character in Isadora (1968), Love also served as dialect coach to the actress.[44]
In October 1963, Love was the subject of This Is Your Life, when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in central London.[45][46]
Love appeared in John Osborne's play West of Suez,[47][48] and as "Aunt Pittypat" in a large-scale musical version of Gone with the Wind (1972).[49] She also played Maud Cunard in the TV miniseries Edward & Mrs. Simpson in 1978. Her film work continued in the 1980s with roles in Ragtime (1981), Reds (1981), Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981), and—her final film—The Hunger (1983).
Personal life
Love married agent William Hawks at St. James' Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, California on December 27, 1929.[50] Mary Astor (William's sister-in-law), Carmel Myers, and Norma Shearer were among her bridesmaids, with William's brother Howard Hawks and Irving Thalberg serving as ushers. Following their marriage, Love and Hawks lived at the Havenhurst Apartments in Hollywood; and, in 1932, they had their only child, Patricia.[lower-alpha 2] Four years later, the couple divorced.[3]
After she moved to England, the American press erroneously reported Love as dead multiple times.[55][56][57] She became a British subject in the late 1960s.[47]
Love was a Christian Scientist.[8][47]
Later years and death
After several years of declining health,[2][58] Love died at the Mount Vernon Hospital[58][59] in Northwood, London from natural causes on April 26, 1986.[2][58][59] Her ashes are interred at Breakspear Crematorium in Ruislip, Hillingdon, England.[60][61]
Legacy
Love was periodically interviewed by film historians and loaned materials from her personal collection to museums.[lower-alpha 3] In 1962, she began contributing articles about her experiences to The Christian Science Monitor.[63] In 1977, she published an autobiography entitled From Hollywood with Love.[64]
She was interviewed in the television documentary series The Hollywood Greats (1978)[65] and Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980),[66] both about early filmmaking in Hollywood.
For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Love was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard.[67]
On screen, stage, and radio
Silent films: 1916–1928
Year | Title | Role | Studio(s) / Distributor(s) | Preservation status | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1916 | Acquitted | Helen Carter | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | |
The Flying Torpedo | Hulda | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | ||
The Aryan | Mary Jane Garth | Triangle | Incomplete | ||
The Good Bad-Man | Amy | Fine Arts / Triangle | Extant | ||
Reggie Mixes In | Agnes | Fine Arts / Triangle | Extant | ||
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish | The Little Fish Blower | Triangle | Extant | Short film | |
Stranded | The Girl | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | ||
Intolerance | The Bride | Triangle | Extant | ||
Hell-to-Pay Austin | Briar Rose "Nettles" Dawson | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | ||
A Sister of Six | Prudence | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | ||
The Heiress at Coffee Dan's | Waffles | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | ||
1917 | Nina, the Flower Girl | Nina | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | |
A Daughter of the Poor | Rose Eastman | Fine Arts / Triangle | Incomplete | ||
Cheerful Givers | Judy | Fine Arts / Triangle | Lost | ||
The Sawdust Ring | Janet Magie | New York Motion Picture Corporation / Triangle | Extant | ||
Wee Lady Betty | Wee Lady Betty | Triangle | Lost | ||
Polly Ann | Polly Ann | Triangle | Lost | ||
1918 | The Great Adventure | Rags | Pathé Exchange | Extant | |
How Could You, Caroline? | Caroline Rogers | Pathé Exchange | Lost | ||
A Little Sister of Everybody | Celeste Janvier | Anderson-Brunton / Pathé Exchange | Lost | ||
The Dawn of Understanding | Sue Prescott | Vitagraph | Lost | ||
1919 | The Enchanted Barn | Shirley Hollister | Vitagraph | Lost | |
Carolyn of the Corners | Carolyn May Cameron | Pathé Exchange | Lost | ||
The Wishing Ring Man | Joy Havenith | Vitagraph | Lost | ||
A Yankee Princess | Patsy O'Reilly | Vitagraph | Lost | ||
The Little Boss | Peggy Winston, the little boss | Vitagraph | Lost | Love also wrote the scenario | |
Cupid Forecloses | Geraldine Farleigh | Vitagraph | Extant | ||
Over the Garden Wall | Peggy Gordon | Vitagraph | Lost | ||
A Fighting Colleen | Alannah Malone | Vitagraph | Lost | ||
1920 | Pegeen | Pegeen O'Neill | Vitagraph | Lost | |
The Midlanders | Aurelie Lindstrom | Andrew J. Callaghan Productions / Federated Film Exchanges | Incomplete | ||
Bonnie May | Bonnie May | Andrew J. Callaghan Productions / Federated Film Exchanges | Lost | ||
1921 | Penny of Top Hill Trail | Penny | Andrew J. Callaghan Productions / Federated Film Exchanges | Lost | |
The Honor of Rameriz | The Geologist's Wife | Pathé Exchange | Unknown | Short film Series: Santschi Series | |
The Spirit of the Lake | Pathé Exchange | Unknown | |||
The Swamp | Mary | Robertson–Cole | Extant | ||
The Sea Lion | Blossom Nelson | Associated Producers | Extant | ||
1922 | The Vermilion Pencil | Hyacinth | Robertson–Cole | Lost | |
Forget Me Not | Ann, the girl | Metro Pictures | Lost | ||
Bulldog Courage | Gloria Phillips | Russell Productions / State Rights | Extant | ||
The Village Blacksmith | Rosemary Martin, the daughter | Fox Film | Incomplete | ||
Night Life in Hollywood | Herself | A.B. Maescher Productions / Arrow Film Corporation | Unknown | ||
Deserted at the Altar | Anna Moore, the country girl | Phil Goldstone | Unknown | ||
1923 | The Little Knight | Bernice | Arthur Trimble Productions / Anchor | Extant | Short film Series: The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous |
The Love Charm | Bernice | Arthur Trimble Productions / Anchor | Unknown | ||
The Crown of Courage | Bernice | Arthur Trimble Productions / Anchor | Unknown | ||
Three Who Paid | John Caspar / Virginia Cartwright | Fox Film | Lost | ||
The Ghost Patrol | Effie Kugler | Universal Pictures | Lost | ||
Souls for Sale | Herself | Goldwyn Pictures | Extant | ||
The Purple Dawn | Mui Far | Aywon / State Rights | Lost | ||
Mary of the Movies | Herself | Columbia / Robertson–Cole / Film Booking Offices | Incomplete | ||
Human Wreckage | Mary Finnegan | Thomas H. Ince Corporation / Film Booking Offices | Lost | ||
The Eternal Three | Hilda Gray | Goldwyn Pictures | Lost | ||
St. Elmo | Edna Earle | Fox Film | Lost | ||
Slave of Desire | Pauline Gaudin | Goldwyn Pictures | Extant | ||
Gentle Julia | Julia | Fox Film | Lost | ||
1924 | Torment | Marie | Tourneur / Associated First National | Lost | |
The Woman on the Jury | Grace Pierce | Associated First National | Lost | ||
Those Who Dance | Veda Carney | Thomas H. Ince Corporation / Associated First National | Lost | ||
The Silent Watcher | Mary Roberts | First National Pictures | Lost | ||
Dynamite Smith | Violet | Thomas H. Ince Corporation / Pathé Exchange | Lost | ||
Sundown | Ellen Crawley | First National Pictures | Lost | ||
Tongues of Flame | Lahleet | Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures | Lost | ||
1925 | The Lost World | Paula White | First National Pictures | Extant | |
Soul-Fire | Teita | Inspiration Pictures / First National Pictures | Extant | ||
A Son of His Father | Nora Shea | Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures | Lost | ||
New Brooms | Geraldine Marsh | Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures | Lost | ||
The King on Main Street | Gladys Humphreys | Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures | Extant | ||
1926 | The Song and Dance Man | Leola Lane | Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures | Incomplete | |
Lovey Mary | Lovey Mary | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Incomplete | ||
Young April | Victoria | Producers Distributing Corporation | Extant | ||
Going Crooked | Marie Farley | Fox Film | Extant | ||
1927 | The American | Jane Wilton | Natural Vision Pictures | Lost | Never released theatrically |
Rubber Tires | Mary Ellen Stack | Producers Distributing Corporation | Extant | ||
A Harp in Hock | Nora Banks | DeMille Pictures / Pathé Exchange | Lost | ||
Dress Parade | Janet Cleghorne | Pathé Exchange | Extant | ||
1928 | The Matinee Idol | Ginger Bolivar | Columbia Pictures | Extant | |
Sally of the Scandals | Sally Rand | Film Booking Offices | Extant | ||
Anybody Here Seen Kelly? | Mitzi Lavelle | Universal Pictures | Lost | ||
Sound films: 1928–1983
All of Love's sound films are extant.
Year | Title | Role | Studio(s) / Distributor(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1928 | The Swell Head | Warner Vitaphone | Short film | |
1929 | The Broadway Melody | Hank Mahoney | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress |
The Idle Rich | Helen Thayer | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 | Herself | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
The Girl in the Show | Hattie Hartley | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
1930 | Chasing Rainbows | Carlie Seymour | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
They Learned About Women | Mary Collins | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
Conspiracy | Margaret Holt | RKO Pictures | ||
Good News | Dixie O'Day | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Missing Technicolor ending | |
See America Thirst | Ellen | Universal Pictures | ||
1931 | Morals for Women | Helen Huston | Tiffany Pictures | |
1936 | I Live Again | Kathleen Vernon | G.B. Morgan Productions / National Provincial Film Distributors | |
1941 | Atlantic Ferry | Begonia Baggot | Warner Brothers | |
1945 | London Scrapbook | Herself | Spectator Short Films | Short film |
Journey Together | Mrs. Mary McWilliams | RKO Pictures | ||
1951 | No Highway in the Sky | Aircraft passenger | Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. | Uncredited |
The Magic Box | Wedding group member | British Lion Films | ||
1954 | The Weak and the Wicked | Prisoner | ||
The Barefoot Contessa | Mrs. Eubanks | Figaro / United Artists | ||
Beau Brummell | Maid | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Uncredited | |
1955 | Touch and Go | Mrs. Baxter | Ealing Studios / J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors / Universal Pictures | |
1957 | The Story of Esther Costello | Matron in art gallery | Romulus Films / Columbia Pictures | |
1958 | Next to No Time | Becky Wiener | Montpelier / British Lion Film Corporation | |
Nowhere to Go | Harriet P. Jefferson | Ealing Studios / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
1959 | Too Young to Love | Mrs. Busch | Welbeck Films Ltd. / J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors | |
1961 | The Greengage Summer[68] | American tourist | PKL Productions / Victor Saville-Edward Small Productions / Columbia Pictures | |
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone | Bunny | Warner Bros. / Seven Arts / Warner-Pathé Distributors / Warner Bros. Pictures | ||
1963 | The Wild Affair | Marjorie's mother | Bryanston Films / British Lion Films | |
Children of the Damned | Mrs. Robbins, Mark's grandmother | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
1964 | I Think They Call Him John | Narrator | Samaritan Films | Short film |
1965 | Promise Her Anything | Pet shop customer | Seven Arts Productions / Paramount Pictures | |
1967 | Battle Beneath the Earth | Matron | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
I'll Never Forget What's'isname | American tourist | J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors | ||
1968 | Isadora | Mrs. Duncan | Universal Pictures | |
1969 | On Her Majesty's Secret Service | Baccarat player | Eon-Danilag Productions | Uncredited |
1971 | Sunday Bloody Sunday | Answering service lady | Vectia / United Artists | |
Catlow | Mrs. Frost | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | ||
1974 | Vampyres | American lady | Cambist Films / Cinépix Film Properties Inc. | |
1976 | The Ritz | Maurine | Warner Bros. | |
1977 | Gulliver's Travels | Arrow Films / Sunn Classic Pictures | Voice | |
1981 | Reds | Mrs. Partlow | Barclays Mercantile / Industrial Finance / JRS Productions / Paramount Pictures | |
Ragtime | Old T.O.C. lady | Paramount Pictures | ||
Lady Chatterley's Lover | Flora | Cannon Films / Columbia Pictures | ||
1983 | The Hunger | Lillybelle | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / MGM/UA Entertainment Co | |
Television
Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1946 | Mr. Know-All[69] | ||
1947 | You Can't Take It with You[70] | Penelope Sycamore | Television film |
1948 | The Front Page[71] | Mrs. Grant | Television film |
1952 | Mystery Story[72][73] | Grace Jones | |
1953 | The Hero[74] | Harriet Quinn | |
1954, 1957, 1958 | BBC Sunday-Night Theatre[75][76][77][78] | Various | 7 episodes |
1954 | Queen's Folly[79] | Mrs. Temple | |
1955 | London Playhouse | Mrs. Goren | Episode: "The Glorification of Al Toolum"[80] |
1956 | The Male Animal[81] | Myrtle Keller | Television film Love performed the role in the stage production at the New Wimbledon Theatre in 1949[82] |
1957, 1960 | ITV Television Playhouse | Various | 3 episodes |
1957, 1959 | ITV Play of the Week | Various | 3 episodes |
1958 | Long Distance[83][84] | Mrs. MacLean | Television short |
1959 | Saturday Playhouse | Mrs. Stykeley-Mosher | Episode: "Golden Rain"[85] |
1960 | Emergency – Ward 10 | Mrs. Broom | Episode: "Mrs. Broom" |
Don't Do It, Dempsey! | Mrs. Glenton | Episode: "Visiting Firemen"[86] | |
International Detective | Various | 2 episodes[87] | |
1961 | Harpers West One | Customer | 1 episode |
1962 | Zero One | Mrs. Glorny | Episode: "Gunpoint to Shannon"[88][89] |
Man of the World | Mrs. Van Kempson | Episode: "Portrait of a Girl"[87] | |
The Andromeda Breakthrough | Mrs. Neilson | Episode: "Gale Warning"[90][91] | |
BBC Sunday-Night Play | Mrs. Marshall | Episode: "Means to an End" | |
1963 | This Is Your Life[45][46] | Herself | Reality documentary |
The Sentimental Agent | Mamie | Episode: "Never Play Cards with Strangers"[87] | |
1964 | Story Parade | Mrs. Arquette | Episode: "A Kiss Before Dying"[92] |
1965 | The Wednesday Play | Martha Burroughs | Episode: "The Pistol"[93] |
1966 | The Poppy Is Also a Flower | Television film; uncredited | |
1968 | ITV Playhouse | Mrs. Teitelbaum | Episode: "Bon Voyage"[87] |
Late Night Line-Up[94] | Herself | ||
1969 | Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) | Mrs. Trotter | Episode: "When Did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?"[87] |
Omnibus | Episode: "Where Are You Going to My Pretty Maid?"[7][95] | ||
British Film Comedy | Becky | Episode: "Next to No Time"[96] | |
1970 | W. Somerset Maugham | American lady | Episode: "Jane"[97] |
Kate | Lady Hartford-Cape | Episode: "A Good Spec"[87] | |
1971 | Great Day[87] | Herself | |
Public Eye | Chrissy Husack | Episode: "The Beater and the Game"[87] | |
From a Bird's Eye View | Old Lady | Episode: "Family Tree" | |
1973 | Pollyanna[98] | Mrs. Snow | Miniseries |
1974 | Mousey | Mrs. Richardson | Television film |
1975 | Shades of Greene | St. Louis Woman | Episode: "Cheap in August"[4] |
1976 | Katy[99][100][101] | Mrs. Finch | 3 episodes |
1977 | Good Afternoon![29] | Herself | |
1978 | Edward & Mrs. Simpson | Maud Cunard | Miniseries |
The Hollywood Greats[65] | Herself | Documentary series | |
1980 | Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film[66] | Herself | Documentary series |
Stage
Year | Title | Role | Venue / Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1928 | Burlesque[102] | Bonny | San Francisco | |
Merry Ann Idea[29][103][104] | Touring production | A one-woman, Fanchon and Marco stage revue | ||
1930 | Whispering Friends[105][106] | El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood | ||
1931 | Variety show[87] |
|
||
1936 | Stop and Go[87] | Touring production | A C. B. Cochran revue | |
1936 | Lucky Stars[107][108] | Touring production | ||
1944 | Love in Idleness[109][110][111] | Miss Dell |
|
Replaced Peggy Dear |
1945 | Zenobia[112] | The Actress | Granville Theatre, Walham Green | |
Say It With Flowers[112] | Julie | Granville Theatre, Walham Green | ||
1947 | Born Yesterday[113] | Mrs. Hedges | Garrick Theatre, London | |
1948 | Native Son[114] | Miss Emmet | Bolton's Theatre Club, London | |
1949 | Death of a Salesman[115] | Laughing Woman | Phoenix Theatre, London | |
The Male Animal[82] | Myrtle Keller | New Wimbledon Theatre, London | Love also performed the role on television in 1956[81] | |
1951 | The Glass Menagerie[116] | Amanda Wingfield | Touring production | |
1953 | The Season's Greetings[117] | Lucy Barlow | Q Theatre, London | |
1954 | The Wooden Dish[118][119] | Bessie Bockser | Phoenix Theatre, London | |
Mother Is a Darling[120] | Dulcie Lander | New Theatre, Bromley | ||
1955 | The Children's Hour[121] | Mrs. Lily Mortar | Arts Theatre, London | |
South[122][123][124] | Mrs. Priolieau | Arts Theatre, London | ||
A Girl Called Jo[125] | Mrs. Kirke | Piccadilly Theatre, London | ||
1956 | Someone to Talk To[126] | Miss Froslyn | Duchess Theatre, London | |
1958 | The Homecoming[43][127] | Babe Love | Perth Theatre, Perth, Scotland | Written by Love |
1959 | Orpheus Descending[128] | The Nurse | Royal Court Theatre, London | |
1960 | Visit to a Small Planet[129] | Reba Spelding | Westminster Theatre, London | |
1961 | South[110] | Mrs. Priolieau | Criterion Theatre, London | |
1962 | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes[130][131] | Mrs. Ella Spofford |
|
|
1963 | Never Too Late[132] | Grace Kimborough | Prince of Wales Theatre, London | |
1964 | Saint Joan of the Stockyards[133] | A Worker | Queen's Theatre, London | |
In White America[134][135] | The White Woman | Arts Theatre, London | ||
1966 | The Silence of Lee Harvey Oswald[136] | Marguerite Oswald | Hampstead Theatre Club, London | |
1968 | Sweet Bird of Youth[137] | Aunt Nonnie | Palace Theatre, Watford | |
1970 | Harvey[138] | Mrs. Gaffney | Touring production | |
1971 | The Heiress[139] | Lavinia Penniman | Touring production | |
1971 | West of Suez[47][48][140] | Mrs Dekker | Royal Court Theatre, London | |
1972 | Gone with the Wind[49] | Aunt Pittypat | Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London | |
1979 | The Woman I Love[141] | Aunt Bessie Merryman | Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne | |
Radio
Date | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
August 31, 1942 | Ladies' Man[142] | Anita |
November 26, 1943 | Entertainment Annual[143] | |
October 3, 1944 | News Headlines[144] | Host |
October 8, 1944 | Variety Band-Box[145] | Host |
January 30, 1946 | Vic Oliver Introduces...[146] | |
January 19, 1947 | Scrapbook for 1925[147] | |
March 6, 1954 | Theatre Royal[148] | |
December 12, 1954 | Saturday-Night Theatre[149] | |
June 16, 1955 | Melville's Choice[150] | |
July 30, 1955 | Saturday-Night Theatre[149] | |
April 18, 1957 | Woman's Hour[151] | Narrator |
August 8, 1957 | Desert Island Discs[152] | Herself |
December 29, 1961 | I Remember[153] | Herself |
December 31, 1963 | Hollywood Memories[154] | Herself |
March 21, 1966 | Illumination[155] | Sister Constance Soulsby |
July 13, 1968 | Afternoon Theatre[156] | |
March 28, 1970 | Saturday-Night Theatre[157][158] | |
September 18, 1975 | Afternoon Theatre[156] | |
August 23, 1977 | Spoon River[159] | |
September 12, 1977 | Star Sound[160] | Herself |
March 5, 1978 | Afternoon Theatre[156] | |
References
- Notes
- All nine films with Vitagraph were made: 1918's The Dawn of Understanding; 1919's The Enchanted Barn, The Wishing Ring Man, A Yankee Princess, The Little Boss, Cupid Forecloses, Over the Garden Wall, and A Fighting Colleen; and 1920's Pegeen.
- The exact birthday of Patricia Hawks is February 19, 1932. She studied dance at the Ballet Rambert,[3] had some bit parts in films in 1952,[51][52][53] and appeared in a West End production of Candide later that decade.[54] She married actor Julian Pepper,[3] with whom she had two children, Edmund and Hannah.[3]
- Love contributed to the exhibition 300 années de cinématographie, 60 ans de cinéma at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1955.[62]
- Citations
- Stars of the Photoplay. Chicago: Photoplay magazine. 1924.
- Folkart, Burt A. (April 29, 1986). "Bessie Love, Silent Screen Actress Discovered in 1915, Dies at 87". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
- Kidd 1986, p. 67.
- "Silent Film Star Bessie Love Dies in London at 87". Variety. Vol. 323 no. 1. Los Angeles. April 30, 1986. pp. 4, 36.
- "The 2nd Academy Awards | 1930". Oscars.org. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
- Kidd 1986, p. 69.
- Yergin, Daniel (December 11, 1969). "1915, a schoolgirl named Juanita Horton was about to meet D.W. Griffith in Babylon, Hollywood. He made her one of the great stars of the silent movies". Radio Times. Photographed by Tony Ray Jones. pp. 52–55.
- Perry, George (September 18, 1977). "Love's No Stranger". The Sunday Times Magazine. London.
- Temple, Georgia (January 17, 2007). "Midland's first star burned bright in Hollywood sky". Midland Reporter-Telegram.
- Love, Bessie (July 10, 1962). "My First Film Job". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 8.
- Love 1977, p. 25.
- "Little Whisperings from Everywhere in Playerdom". Motion Picture Magazine. Vol. 18 no. 8. September 1919. p. 104.
- "Bessie Love's Popularity Growing". The Moving Picture World. March 1, 1919. p. 1233.
- Side 1980, p. 84.
- Side 1980, pp. 12–13.
- "Vitagraph". Motion Picture News. November 30, 1918. p. 3146.
- "Cinema Truth in Flashes". Photo-Play Journal. February 1919. p. 46.
- "Hobnobbing with Bessie Love". Photo-Play Journal. February 1919. pp. 11, 56.
- Essex, Bert D. (April 1919). "The Silent Trend". Photo-Play Journal. p. 36.
- Gebhart, Myrtle (March 11, 1922). "Pantomime Paragraphs from Hollywood". Pantomime. Vol. 2 no. 10. p. 24.
- Liebman 2000, p. 7.
- In The King on Main Street:
- "Crimson Playgoer: The Metropolitan Opens its Doors to an Unlimited Public and a Very Fair Opening Attraction". The Harvard Crimson. October 21, 1925.
Bessie Love too, who does a very jazzy version of the Charleston
- "The King on Main Street". Theatre Magazine. January 1926.
…it is memorable … for the fact that Bessie Love gives a perfect exhibition of the Charleston, proving that it can be danced with extreme grace and agility, and yet without a single hint of wriggling vulgarity. We hereby award Miss Love the palm as the greatest Charleston expert on the screen if not on the stage – which is by way of being a miracle, for ordinarily a film dance looks as silly as the capering of goats.
- "Crimson Playgoer: The Metropolitan Opens its Doors to an Unlimited Public and a Very Fair Opening Attraction". The Harvard Crimson. October 21, 1925.
- "Everybody's Doing It Now; Bessie Love Shows You How". Photoplay. October 1925. pp. 32–3.
- Feeney, Mark (July 19, 2009). "Steichen: A man for all styles – Exhibits showcase breadth of his career". The Boston Globe.
- In The Song and Dance Man:
- "Newspaper Opinions". The Film Daily. Vol. 35 no. 30. February 5, 1926. p. 8.
The picture is well worth viewing, however, if for no other reason than to watch Bessie Love dance the Charleston.
- "Stage and Screen". The Cornell Daily Sun. Vol. XLVI no. 134. March 25, 1926. p. 4.
Bessie Love is well cast as the girl – she surely can do the Charleston.
- "George M. Cohan's 'Song and Dance Man' Comes to State". Reading Times. Reading, Pennsylvania. March 22, 1926. p. 8.
Bessie Love, the diminutive film favorite and the screen's foremost exponent of the 'Charleston,' is happily cast as the small time performer who eventually wins fame and for tune in the musical comedy field.
- "Lincoln Way Theatre". The Gettysburg Times. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. August 31, 1926. p. 6.
See Bessie Love, the screen's Charleston champ, strut her stuff!
- "Newspaper Opinions". The Film Daily. Vol. 35 no. 30. February 5, 1926. p. 8.
- Love, Bessie (1929). Military Mary. OCLC 37148006.
- Winchell, Walter (December 1929). "Snappy Comebacks". The New Movie Magazine. pp. 28, 124.
- Gebhart, Myrtle (October 1929). "Must a Star 'Go Hollywood'?". Picture Play. Vol. 31 no. 2. p. 116.
- "Judith Chalmers talks to American-born actress Bessie Love". Good Afternoon. London: Thames TV. October 17, 1977.
- Wilkinson, Leslie. "What Are They Doing Now? Part 14: Leslie Wilkinson Meets Bessie Love". Photoplay Film Monthly.
- Kingsley, Grace (September 12, 1928). "Star Remains with Vitaphone". Los Angeles Times. p. A10.
- Walker, Alexander (1978). The Shattered Silents: How the Talkies Came to Stay. London: Elm Tree Books. p. 139.
- Liebman 2000, p. 219.
- Ramsey, Walter (March 1930). "Strange as It May Seem". Motion Picture. Vol. 39 no. 2. p. 92.
- Gielgud, Val (1957). British Radio Drama, 1922–1956. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. p. 194.
- "Bessie Love Back". Titusville Herald. 72 (90). Titusville, Pennsylvania. September 28, 1936. p. 1.
- "Bessie Love". AllMovie Guide. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- "In Short". Billboard. Vol. 58 no. 47. November 23, 1946. p. 36.
- Love 1977, p. 136.
- "London Garrick Theatre – Born Yesterday – Laurence Olivier". Archived from the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
- "'Born Yesterday' Hit in Glasgow Opening Before London Deb". Billboard. Vol. 58 no. 48. November 30, 1946. p. 4.
- "Silent Film Star a Playwright". Tri-City Herald. Pasco, Washington. April 21, 1958. p. 2.
- "Little Action in New Play". The Glasgow Herald. April 22, 1958. p. 3.
- Love 1977, p. 140.
- Connolly, Mike (October 30, 1963). "In Hollywood". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. p. 6.
- Bessie Love's appearance on This Is Your Life
- Hollander, Zander (August 28, 1972). "Bessie Love—74 Years Young and Still Acting". The Dispatch. 91 (99). Lexington, NC. p. 21.
- Heilpern, John (April 28, 2006). "A sense of failure". The Guardian.
- Bryden, Ronald (May 21, 1972). "Scarlett Sings, Atlanta Burns". The New York Times.
- Love 1977, p. 125.
- Graham, Sheilah (September 6, 1951). "Hollywood". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 18.
- "She's Working Her Way through College (1952)". BFI.
- "Stuff About Stars". Katy Keene. No. 6. June 1952. p. 21.
- "Patricia Hawks". Broadway World.
- "Strangler Kills Former Actress". New York Times. July 10, 1947. p. 44.
- Davis, Charles E., Jr. (May 28, 1967). "Los Angeles High Will Mark 95th Birthday". Los Angeles Times. p. A5.
- Love, Bessie (July 24, 1967). "An Error Corrected". Los Angeles Times. p. A4.
Would you be kind enough to print that I am not dead? I have many friends out home and they might be hurt to think I had not let them know.
- "Bessie Love, 87, an Actress from Silent-Film to TV Eras". The New York Times. April 28, 1986.
- "Career of U.S.-born actress went from silent films to TV". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Canada. April 29, 1986. p. D19.
- "Bessie Love". Find a Grave. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- "Bessie Love". NNDB.
- Robinson, David (2006). "Film Museums I Have Known and (Sometimes) Loved". Film History. 18 (3): 242. ISSN 0892-2160.
- Twenty-one articles were published over eighteen years:
- First article: Love, Bessie (May 9, 1962). "An Aryan in Sulphur Canyon". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 8.
- Final article: Love, Bessie (October 20, 1980). "The second time around". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 21.
- Love 1977.
- "The Hollywood Greats (10 August 1978)". The Radio Times. No. 2856. BBC. August 3, 1978. p. 45 – via BBC Genome Project.
- Brownlow, Kevin; Gill, David (1980). "The Man with the Megaphone". Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film. Episode 10. Thames Video Production. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved January 19, 2017
- Love 1977, p. 155.
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- "You Can't Take It with You (18 May 1947)". The Radio Times. No. 1231. BBC. May 16, 1947. p. 31 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "The Front Page (15 August 1948)". The Radio Times. No. 1296. BBC. August 13, 1948. p. 26 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Mystery Story (17 August 1952)". The Radio Times. No. 1501. BBC. August 15, 1952. p. 38 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Television: American". The Stage. No. 3, 722. London. August 14, 1952. p. 11.
- "The Hero (15 February 1953)". The Radio Times. No. 1527. BBC. February 13, 1953. p. 14 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Sunday Night Theatre: 'View Friendship and Marriage' (29 June 1958)". The Radio Times. No. 1807. BBC. June 27, 1958. p. 9 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Sunday Night Theatre: 'Indoor Sport' (4 September 1955)". The Radio Times. No. 1660. BBC. September 2, 1955. p. 14 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Sunday Night Theatre: 'Our Town' (3 February 1957)". The Radio Times. No. 1734. BBC. February 1957. p. 14 – via BBC Genome Project.
- Falk, Quentin (1992). Albert Finney in Character: A Biography. Robson Books. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-86051-823-5.
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- "The Male Animal (3 May 1956)". The Radio Times. No. 1694. BBC. April 27, 1956. p. 38 – via BBC Genome Project.
- Wearing 2014a, p. 448.
- "Long Distance (30 May 1958)". The Radio Times. No. 1802. BBC. May 23, 1958. p. 21 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Our View: 'Long Distance'". The Stage. No. 4, 025. London. June 5, 1958. p. 8.
- "Saturday Playhouse: 'Golden Rain' (28 February 1959)". The Radio Times. No. 1841. BBC. February 20, 1959. p. 25 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Don't Do It, Dempsey!: 'Visiting Firemen' (9 May 1960)". The Radio Times. No. 1904. BBC. May 6, 1960. p. 10 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Checklist 85 – Bessie Love". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 39 no. 456. London. January 1, 1972. p. 43.
- "Zero One: 'Gunpoint to Shannon' (12 December 1962)". The Radio Times. No. 2039. BBC. December 6, 1962. p. 33 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "TV-Radio Production Centres". Variety. Vol. 225 no. 3. Los Angeles. December 13, 1961. p. 3.
- "The Andromeda Breakthrough: 'Gale Warning' (5 July 1962)". The Radio Times. No. 2016. BBC. June 28, 1962. p. 45 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "On Schedule". Television Mail. Vol. 6 no. 17. London. June 15, 1962. p. 12.
- "Story Parade: 'A Kiss Before Dying' (8 May 1964)". The Radio Times. No. 2112. BBC. April 30, 1964. p. 69 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "The Wednesday Play: 'The Pistol' (16 June 1965)". The Radio Times. No. 2170. BBC. June 10, 1965. p. 42 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Late Night Line-Up (29 June 1968)". The Radio Times. No. 2329. BBC. June 27, 1968. p. 9 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Omnibus: 'Where Are You Going to My Pretty Maid?' (14 December 1969)". The Radio Times. No. 2405. BBC. December 11, 1969. p. 22 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "British Film Comedy (17 June 1969)". The Radio Times. No. 2379. BBC. June 12, 1969. p. 23 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "W. Somerset Maugham: 'Jane' (30 April 1970)". The Radio Times. No. 2424. BBC. April 23, 1970. p. 47 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Pollyanna (14 October 1973)". The Radio Times. No. 2605. BBC. October 11, 1973. p. 35 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Katy: 'Part 5' (23 July 1978)". The Radio Times. No. 2854. BBC. July 20, 1978. p. 21 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Katy: 'Part 6' (30 July 1978)". The Radio Times. No. 2855. BBC. July 27, 1978. p. 23 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Katy (7 November 1976)". The Radio Times. No. 2765. BBC. November 4, 1976. p. 25 – via BBC Genome Project.
- "Bessie Love on Stage". New York Herald Tribune. February 20, 1928. p. 9.
- "Film House Reviews: Loew's State". Variety. May 16, 1928. p. 38.
- "Key City Reports: Seattle". Motion Picture News. August 18, 1928. p. 545.
- "Every House Draws with Class Product". Inside Facts of Stage and Screen. 13 (17). May 2, 1931. p. 2.
- "Duffy Retains Marital Farce". California Daily Bruin. 8 (131). May 1, 1931. p. 4.
- "Lucky Stars". Hippodrome Heritage.
- "American actress Bessie Love (1898–1986) standing in her London home". GettyImages. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
- "Love in Idleness". Drama Online.
- Gaye 1967, pp. 893–4.
- "Obituary of Bessie Love". The Times. London, England. April 28, 1986.
- "Chit Chat". The Stage. No. 3369. London. October 25, 1945. p. 4.
- Wearing 2014a, p. 283.
- "Chit Chat". The Stage. No. 3488. London. February 19, 1948. p. 4.
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- Hopper, Hedda (March 17, 1949). "Looking at Hollywood". Chicago Daily Tribune.
- Parker 1972, p. 97.
- Brown, Ivor (August 1, 1954). "At the Theatre: Sherry Party". The Observer. p. 6.
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- "Addenda and Corriegenda". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 39 no. 456. London. January 1, 1972.
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- Atkinson, Brooks (May 2, 1955). "Theatre: South Abroad: Green's Play of Civil War Seen in London". The New York Times.
- Wearing 2014b, p. 364.
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- "Play by Bessie Love Staged in Scotland". The New York Times. April 22, 1958. p. 38.
- Hope-Wallace, Philip (May 15, 1959). "Tennessee Williams play in familiar vein". The Manchester Guardian.
- "Week in the Theatre". The Stage and Television Today. No. 4116. London. March 3, 1960. p. 17.
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- McCall, Anthony (February 15, 1979). "Production Scene Livens Up". The Stage and Television Today. No. 5105. London. p. 1.
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- Works cited
- Love, Bessie (1977). From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love. London: Elm Tree Books. OCLC 734075937.
- Gaye, Freda, ed. (1967). Who's Who in the Theatre: A Biographical Record of the Contemporary Stage (14th ed.). New York, NY: Pitman Publishing Corporation. OCLC 1036920599.
- Kidd, Charles (1986). "Howard Hawks and Mary Astor". Debrett Goes to Hollywood. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-00588-7.
- Liebman, Roy (2000). Wampas Baby Stars: A Biographical Dictionary, 1922–1934. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0756-5.
- Parker, John (1972). Who's Who in the Theatre (15th ed.). ISBN 978-0-273-31528-5.
- Side, Anthony (1980). The Kindergarten of the Movies: A History of the Fine Arts Company. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1358-8.
- Wearing, J. P. (2014a). The London Stage 1940–1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-9306-1.
- Wearing, J. P. (2014b). The London Stage 1950–1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-9307-8.
External links
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- Bessie Love on IMDb
- Bessie Love at AllMovie
- Bessie Love at the TCM Movie Database
- Bessie Love discography at Discogs
- Bessie Love at Find a Grave
- Literature on Bessie Love