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Bessie Love

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Photo of Bessie Love

Stage Name

Birth Name

Bessie Love Juanita Horton
   
           Dancer, Singer and silent / Talkie film star Bessie Love was born in Texas, but moved to Hollywood as a little girl with her Cowboy/Chiropractor father and mother. It was a slow start for the family and Bessie's mother sent her to Biograph Pictures with the hopes of her becoming an actress and make some extra money for the family. D.W. Griffith saw that she had some acting ability as well as being good looking and hired her to do a few bit parts in his Films. Later she then moved to Vitagraph & starred in a number of Comedy-Dramas. Later she moved to Vitagraph Films and starred in a few comedies.

    In 1922, Bessie was honored as a 'Wampas Baby Star', (the first year of the award.) Bessie was one of the few who would succeed from the silent Films to the talkies. She has been recorded as doing the first "On Screen Charleston" in the 1925 film "King on Main Street.", and gave one of her greatest performances of her career in "the Dress Parade (1927)." Bessie won an Academy Award for her part in "Broadway Melodies of 1929" and was nominated for an Oscar in 1930. However, by 1931, her star had faded and she moved to England.
Bessie Love Autograph
    During W.W.II, she entertained our troops and did some touring with the USO shows as well. By the 1950s She started playing small roles in Movies such as "No Highway In The Sky" (1951). She played in a handful of low-budget films during the 1950s through the 1970s. In the 1980s she appeared in the big-budget "Ragtime" stage production in 1981 which starred James Cagney and later that year in "Reds" (1981) which starred Warren Beatty. Five years later she passed away at the age 87 on April 26th, 1986.
 

Birth Place

Birth Date

Spouse

Offspring

Midland, TX. 9/10/1898 - 4/26/1986 n/a n/a
       
 

Dance Types

Dance Partners

Music Titles

Charleston Anita Page A Thing Like That (1929) (Clip)
Tap Charles King      
      Gus Shy      
      John Gilbert      
      Mary Doran      
 

Night Clubs

Theaters

Stage

n/a n/a 1981 - Ragtime
    1981 - Reds
     
     
 
Video Clips (pop-up)

Films

Television

Publications

not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1915 - Birth of a Nation [DVD] n/a 1/1918 - Motion Picture Mag
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1916 - Aryan       5/1918 - Motion Picture Mag
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1916 - Intolerance (full film)       1919 - Filmen Mag #19
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1916 - Mystery of the Leaping Fish       10/1927 - Vanity Fair Mag.
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1916 - Reggie Mixes       10/19/1929 - State News
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1920 - Those Who Dance       5/16/1931 - Film Weekly
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1921 - Sea Lion, the (full film)       $ From Hollywood with Love
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1924 - Broadway Melody            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1924 - Sundown            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1925 - King on Main Street*            
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1925 - Lost World, the (full film) [DVD]            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1927 - Dress Parade            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1928 - Sally of the Scandals            
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1929 - Broadway Melody of 1929 [DVD]            
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1929 - Hollywood Revue of 1929 (w/ Anita Page)            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1929 - The Idle Rich (Nagel)            
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1930 - Good News (w/ Gus Shy)            
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1930 - They Learned About Women            
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1931 - Round About Hollywood            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1951 - No Highway in the Sky [DVD]            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1954 - Barefoot Contessa [DVD] (Gardner)            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1961 - Roman Spring of Mrs Stone [DVD]            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1964 - Children of the Damned [DVD]            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1966 - Promise Her Anything [DVD]            
Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window.
1968 - Isadora [DVD] (Duncan) preview            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1971 - Catlow [DVD]            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1973 - Polyanna [DVD]            
not Viewable thru a Youtube Video Pop-up window. 1983 - The Hunger [DVD]            
NOTE: N/A
February 16, 2013
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