View source for Bessie Love

{{short description|American actress (1898–1986)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Bessie Love
| alt           = Portrait of Bessie Love
| image         = Bessie Love by Albert Witzel.jpg
| caption       = Love in 1918
| birth_name    = Juanita Horton
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1898|9|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Midland, Texas]], U.S.<ref name="photoplay" />
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1986|4|26|1898|9|10|mf=y}}<ref name="latimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-04-29-mn-2262-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=Bessie Love, Silent Screen Actress Discovered in 1915, Dies at 87|first=Burt A.|last=Folkart|date=29 April 1986|access-date=20 June 2014}}</ref>
| death_place   = London, England
| citizenship   = {{hlist|American|British}}
| occupation    = {{hlist|Actress|writer}}
| years_active  = 1915–1983
| resting_place = Breakspear Crematorium, London, England
| spouse        = {{marriage|[[William Hawks]]|1929|1936|end=div}}
| children      = 1
| relatives     = {{Plain list|* [[Howard Hawks]] (brother-in-law)
* [[Kenneth Hawks]] (brother-in-law)
* [[Mary Astor]] (sister-in-law)
* [[Athole Shearer]] (sister-in-law)}}
| height        = {{height|ft=5|in=0|out=cm}}<ref name="photoplay">{{cite book|title=Stars of the Photoplay|url=https://archive.org/details/starsofphotoplay00phot/page/n149|date=1924|location=Chicago|publisher=[[Photoplay]] magazine}}</ref>
| awards        = {{Plain list|* [[WAMPAS Baby Stars|WAMPAS Baby Star]]<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/PantomimeMarch111922/page/n23|magazine=Pantomime|page=24|date=March 11, 1922|volume=2|issue=10|title=Pantomime Paragraphs from Hollywood|first=Myrtle|last=Gebhart}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Liebman|first=Roy|title=Wampas Baby Stars: A Biographical Dictionary, 1922–1934|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|date=2000|isbn=0-7864-0756-5|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|page=7}}</ref>
* [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]<ref name="walkoffame" />}}
| signature     = Autograph Bessie Love.svg
}}

'''Bessie Love''' (born '''Juanita Horton'''; September 10, 1898{{spaced ndash}}April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in [[silent film|silent]] and early [[sound film]]s.<ref name="variety">{{cite magazine|title=Silent Film Star Bessie Love Dies in London at 87|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 30, 1986|pages=4, 36|location=Los Angeles|volume=323|issue=1}}</ref> Her acting career spanned nearly seven decades—from silent film to sound film, including theatre, radio, and television—and her performance in ''[[The Broadway Melody]]'' (1929) earned her a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1930 |website=Oscars.org |title=The 2nd Academy Awards {{!}} 1930 |access-date=March 4, 2019}}</ref>

== Early life ==
[[File:Bessie Love as a child.jpg|thumb|Horton as a child in Texas]]
Love was born Juanita Horton in [[Midland, Texas]],<ref name="photoplay" /> to John Cross Horton and Emma Jane Horton (''{{nee}}'' Savage).{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=69}} Her father was a cowboy and bartender,<ref name="radiotimes">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Radio Times]]|date=December 11, 1969|pages=52–55|first=Daniel|last=Yergin|others=Photographed by [[Tony Ray-Jones|Tony Ray Jones]]|title=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}}</ref> while her mother worked in and managed restaurants.<ref name="nostranger">{{cite magazine|title=Love's No Stranger|magazine=[[The Sunday Times Magazine]]|date=September 18, 1977|location=London|first=George|last=Perry}}</ref> She attended school in Midland until she was in the eighth grade,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Midland-s-first-star-burned-7571543.php|title=Midland's first star burned bright in Hollywood sky|date=January 17, 2007|newspaper=[[Midland Reporter-Telegram]]|first=Georgia|last=Temple}}</ref> when her family moved to Arizona, New Mexico, and then to California, where they settled in Hollywood.<ref name="latimes" /><ref name="filmdope33" /> When in Hollywood, her father became a [[chiropractor]],<ref name="radiotimes" /> and her mother worked at the [[Jantzen|Jantzen's Knitwear and Bathing Suits]] factory.<ref>{{cite news|title=My First Film Job|first=Bessie|last=Love|date=July 10, 1962|newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|page=8}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== The silent era ===

==== 1915–20: Young ingenue ====
[[File:Bessie Love as Hulda in The Flying Torpedo.jpg|thumb|Love as Hulda, the Swedish maid, in ''[[The Flying Torpedo]]'' (1916), her second onscreen appearance]]
In June 1915, while a student at [[Los Angeles High School]], Horton went to the set of a film to meet with actor [[Tom Mix]], who had recommended that she visit him if she wanted to "get into pictures".{{sfn|Love|1977|p=25}} However, when Mix was unavailable, she was advised to meet with pioneering film director [[D.W. Griffith]],{{sfn|Love|1977|p=25}} who placed her under personal contract.<ref name="dunham" /> When it was decided that her given name was too long for theater marquees and too difficult to pronounce,<ref name="nostranger" /> Griffith's associate [[Frank E. Woods|Frank Woods]] gave Horton the stage name Bessie Love:<ref name="filmdope33">{{cite magazine|magazine=Film Dope|last=Surowiec|first=Catherine A.|title=Bessie Love|issue=36|date=Feb 1987|pages=33–36}}</ref>{{sfn|Love|1977|p=25}} "Bessie, because any child can pronounce it. And Love, because we want everyone to love her!"<ref name="nostranger" /> Love dropped out of high school to pursue her film career, but she completed her diploma in 1919.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturemag18moti/page/n199|page=104|title=Little Whisperings from Everywhere in Playerdom|magazine=Motion Picture Magazine|date=September 1919|volume=18|issue=8}}</ref>

Griffith gave her a small role in his ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916). Although ''Intolerance'' was her first performance to be filmed, it was her ninth film to be released.<ref name="nostranger" /> The first films Love made were with Griffith's [[Fine Arts Film Company|Fine Arts]] company, yet ''Intolerance'' was the only film that he formally directed.{{efn|At Fine Arts, other directors would direct the films, but Griffith would direct the final rehearsal before filming.<ref name="dunham" />}}

Her "first role of importance"<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Bessie Love's Popularity Growing|page=1233|magazine=[[The Moving Picture World]]|date=March 1, 1919|url=https://archive.org/details/movwor39chal/page/1232}}</ref>—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). This string of appearances and supporting roles led to her first starring role, in ''[[A Sister of Six (1916 film)|A Sister of Six]]'' (1916).<ref name="dunham" /> In her early career, she was likened to [[Mary Pickford]],{{sfn|Side|1980|p=[https://archive.org/details/kindergartenofmo0000slid/page/84 84]}} and was called "Our Mary" by Griffith.{{sfn|Side|1980|pp=[https://archive.org/details/kindergartenofmo0000slid/page/12 12]–13}}

In early 1918, Love left Fine Arts for a better contract with [[Pathé Exchange|Pathé]].<ref name="dunham" /> After the Pathé films were unsuccessful,<ref name="dunham" /> she signed a nine-film contract with [[Vitagraph Studios|Vitagraph]] later that year,{{efn|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 (1919 film)|Over the Garden Wall]]'', and ''[[A Fighting Colleen]]''; and 1920's ''[[Pegeen (film)|Pegeen]]''.}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew18moti_7/page/3146|magazine=Motion Picture News|title=Vitagraph|page=3146|date=November 30, 1918}}</ref> all of which were directed by [[David Smith (director)|David Smith]]. Her performances often received positive reviews, but her films often were shown at smaller [[movie theater]]s, which impacted the growth of her career.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Photo-Play Journal|date=April 1919|page=36|title=The Silent Trend|first=Bert D.|last=Essex|url=https://archive.org/details/photoplayjournal03cent/page/n221}}</ref>

==== 1921–28: Dramatic actress ====
Upon the completion of her Vitagraph contract, Love became a free agent. She took an active role in the management of her career, and was represented by Gerald C. Duffy, the former editor of ''[[Picture Play (magazine)|Picture-Play Magazine]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Photo-Play Journal|date=February 1919|title=Cinema Truth in Flashes|page=46|url=https://archive.org/details/photoplayjournal03cent/page/n115}}</ref>

[[File:Bessie Love and Victory Bateman in Human Wreckage.jpg|thumb|With [[Victory Bateman]] in ''[[Human Wreckage]]'' (1923)]]
Love sought roles that were different from the little girls she had portrayed earlier in her career when under contract to studios. She played Asian women in ''[[The Vermilion Pencil]]'' (1922) and ''[[The Purple Dawn]]'' (1923); a drug-addicted mother in ''[[Human Wreckage]]'' (1923); a woman accused of murder in ''[[The Woman on the Jury]]'' (1924); an underworld flapper in ''[[Those Who Dance (1924 film)|Those Who Dance]]'' (1924); and versions of her real-life self in ''[[Night Life in Hollywood]]'' (1922), ''[[Souls for Sale]]'' (1923), and ''[[Mary of the Movies]]'' (1923).

As a film star, she was expected to entertain studio executives at parties, so she learned to sing, dance, and play the ukulele.<ref>{{cite news|title=Stagestruck? Who, Me?|first=Bessie|last=Love|date=November 20, 1967|newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|page=8}}</ref> She gradually honed these skills and later performed them onscreen and on the stage.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/photoplayjournal03cent/page/n79|title=Hobnobbing with Bessie Love|magazine=Photo-Play Journal|pages=11, 56|date=February 1919}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ukuleles Are Popular Among Hollywood Stars: Alfred Santell, Irene Rich, and Bessie Love Among Exponents|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun|The Sun]]|location=Baltimore, MD|date=2 Nov 1930|page=MR3|quote=Bessie Love and the uke have always been associated.}}</ref> Because of her performance in ''[[The King on Main Street]]'' (1925), Love is credited with being the first person to dance [[Charleston (dance)|the Charleston]] on film,<ref>In ''The King on Main Street'':
* {{cite news|newspaper=[[The Harvard Crimson]]|title=Crimson Playgoer: The Metropolitan Opens Its Doors to an Unlimited Public and a Very Fair Opening Attraction|date=October 21, 1925|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1925/10/21/crimson-playgoer-pwith-the-coming-of/|quote=Bessie Love too, who does a very jazzy version of the Charleston}}
* {{cite magazine|magazine=Theatre Magazine|date=January 1926|quote=...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{{spaced ndash}}which is by way of being a miracle, for ordinarily a film dance looks as silly as the capering of goats.|title=The King on Main Street}}</ref> popularizing it in the United States. Her technique was documented in instructional guides,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Everybody's Doing It Now; Bessie Love Shows You How|magazine=Photoplay|date=October 1925|url=https://archive.org/details/photoplay2829movi/page/n455|pages=32–3}}</ref> including a series of photographs by [[Edward Steichen]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/community/photos/raw/articles/2009/07/19/edward_steichen_exhibits_showcase_breadth_of_photographers_career/?page=full|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|title=Steichen: A man for all styles{{spaced ndash}}Exhibits showcase breadth of his career|first=Mark|last=Feeney| author-link=Mark Feeney |date=July 19, 2009}}</ref> She subsequently performed the dance the following year in ''[[The Song and Dance Man]]''.<ref>In ''The Song and Dance Man'':
* {{cite magazine|magazine=The Film Daily|volume=35|issue=30|title=Newspaper Opinions|date=February 5, 1926|page=8|url=https://archive.org/details/filmdaily3536newy|quote=The picture is well worth viewing, however, if for no other reason than to watch Bessie Love dance the Charleston.}}
* {{cite magazine|magazine=The Cornell Daily Sun|volume=XLVI|issue=134|date=25 March 1926|url=https://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/cornell?a=d&d=CDS19260325.2.42&srpos=&st=0&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------#|title=Stage and Screen|page=4|quote=Bessie Love is well cast as the girl{{spaced ndash}}she surely can do the Charleston.}}
* {{cite news|newspaper=[[Reading Eagle|Reading Times]]|title=George M. Cohan's 'Song and Dance Man' Comes to State|date=March 22, 1926|page=8|location=Reading, Pennsylvania|quote=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 fortune in the musical comedy field.}}
* {{cite news|newspaper=[[The Gettysburg Times]]|location=Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|page=6|title=Lincoln Way Theatre|date=August 31, 1926|quote=See Bessie Love, the screen's Charleston champ, strut her stuff!}}</ref>

In 1925, she starred in ''[[The Lost World (1925 film)|The Lost World]]'', a science fiction adventure based on [[The Lost World (Conan Doyle novel)|the novel of the same title]] 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''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Military Mary|first=Bessie|last=Love|date=1929|oclc=37148006}}</ref> A year later, she starred in ''[[The Matinee Idol (1928 film)|The Matinee Idol]]'', a romantic comedy directed by a young [[Frank Capra]]. Despite these successes, Love's career was on the decline.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/newmoviemagazine01weir/page/n31|pages=28, 124|work=The New Movie Magazine|title=Snappy Comebacks|first=Walter|last=Winchell| author-link=Walter Winchell |date=December 1929}}</ref> She lived frugally so she could afford lessons in singing and dancing.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/picturep31stre/page/n375|magazine=Picture Play|page=116|title=Must a Star 'Go Hollywood'?|first=Myrtle|last=Gebhart|volume=31|issue=2|date=October 1929}}</ref>

=== The sound era and stage work ===

==== 1929–30: Musical comedy star ====
[[File:Bessie Love RHL.jpg|thumb|Love, photographed by [[Ruth Harriet Louise]] to promote ''[[The Broadway Melody]]'' (1929)]]
Love toured with a musical revue for sixteen weeks,<ref name="goodafternoon">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/md3ljrggTaY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20201205011500/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3ljrggTaY&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite episode |title=Judith Chalmers talks to American-born actress Bessie Love|series=Good Afternoon|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3ljrggTaY|location=London |publisher=Thames TV|date=October 17, 1977}}{{cbignore}}</ref> which was so physically demanding that she broke a rib.<ref>{{cite news|title=Parties Here and Parties There|last=Kingsley|first=Grace|author-link=Grace Kingsley |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, Calif|date=7 Apr 1929|page=J5}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Leslie|last=Wilkinson|title=What Are They Doing Now? Part 14: Leslie Wilkinson Meets Bessie Love|magazine=Photoplay Film Monthly|date=March 1972}}</ref> The experience she gained on the [[vaudeville]] stage singing and dancing in three performances a day prepared her for the introduction of [[sound film]]s.<ref name="star">{{cite news|title=Star Remains with Vitaphone|last=Kingsley|first=Grace |work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 12, 1928|page=A10}}</ref> She appeared in the successful sound [[musical film|musical]] [[short film]] ''[[The Swell Head]]'' in early 1928, and was signed to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] later that year.<ref name="star" />

In 1929, she appeared in her first feature-length sound film, 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 five-year contract with MGM and an increase in her weekly salary from {{currency|500}} to $3,000 ({{Inflation|US|3000|1929|r=-3|fmt=eq}})—$1,000 more than her male co-star [[Charles King (musical actor)|Charles King]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/shatteredsilents00walk/|title=The Shattered Silents: How the Talkies Came to Stay|first=Alexander|last=Walker|page=[https://archive.org/details/shatteredsilents00walk/page/139 139]|publisher=William Morrow and Company, Inc.|location=London|year=1979|isbn=0-688-03544-2|chapter='The English accent doesn't mean a thing out here'}}</ref>

She appeared in several other early musicals, including 1929's ''[[The Hollywood Revue|The Hollywood Revue of 1929]]'' and 1930's ''[[Chasing Rainbows (1930 film)|Chasing Rainbows]]'', ''[[Good News (1930 film)|Good News]]'', and ''[[They Learned About Women]]''. Her success in these musicals earned her the title "the screen's first musical comedy star."<ref name="dunham">{{cite journal|journal=[[Films in Review]]|date=February 1959|first=Harold|last=Dunham|pages=86–99|volume=10|issue=2|title=Bessie Love: Her Career Began with ''Intolerance'' and Is by No Means Over}}</ref>

==== 1931–43: Semi-retirement ====
However, the success of musical films waned, again putting her career in decline. Love is quoted as saying of her career: "I guess I'm through. They don't seem to want me any more."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Strange as It May Seem|page=92|first=Walter|last=Ramsey|volume=39|issue=2|date=March 1930|magazine=Motion Picture|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicture39moti/page/n221}}</ref> She shifted focus to her personal life, marrying in December 1929.

She semi-retired from films, and traveled with a musical revue that included clips from her films ''The Broadway Melody'', ''The Hollywood Revue'', and ''Chasing Rainbows''.{{sfn|Love|1977|p=127}} While on tour, she learned she was pregnant with her daughter, who was born in 1932. Love stopped her stage work to raise her daughter. In 1935, Love moved to England,{{sfn|Love|1977|p=131}} briefly returning to the United States in 1936 to obtain a divorce.{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=67}}<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Titusville Herald|date=September 28, 1936|page=1|volume=72|issue=90|title=Bessie Love Back|location=[[Titusville, Pennsylvania]]}}</ref>

During World War II in Britain, when it was difficult to find employment as an actress, Love worked as the script supervisor on the film drama ''[[San Demetrio London]]'' (1943). She also worked for the [[American Red Cross]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Edward G. Rises to Defend Hollywood – Flying Bombs – Addenda|first=C.A.|last=Lejeune|newspaper=New York Times|date=August 13, 1944|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/13/archives/robinson-sets-london-straight-edward-g-rises-to-defend-hollywood.html|page=X3}}</ref>

==== 1944–83: Working actress ====
Towards the end of the war, Love began acting again, this time primarily in the theater and on BBC radio as a member of their [[Radio Drama Company|Drama Repertory Company]];<ref>{{cite book|title=British Radio Drama, 1922–1956|last=Gielgud|first=Val|author-link=Val Gielgud |location=London|publisher=George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd|page=194|year=1957}}</ref> she also played small roles in British films, often as an American tourist.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT35|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=November 23, 1946|page=36|title=In Short|volume=58|issue=47}}</ref> Stage work included such productions as ''Love in Idleness'' (1944){{sfn|Love|1977|p=136}} and ''[[Born Yesterday (play)|Born Yesterday]]'' (1947).{{sfn|Love|1977|p=136}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theatrememorabilia.co.uk/london-garrick-theatre-born-yesterday-laurence-olivier-719.html|title=London Garrick Theatre{{spaced ndash}}Born Yesterday{{spaced ndash}}Laurence Olivier|access-date=June 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218231402/http://www.theatrememorabilia.co.uk/london-garrick-theatre-born-yesterday-laurence-olivier-719.html|archive-date=February 18, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT3|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=November 30, 1946|page=4|title='Born Yesterday' Hit in Glasgow Opening Before London Deb|volume=58|issue=48}}</ref> She wrote and performed in ''The Homecoming'', a semiautobiographical play, which opened in Perth, Scotland in 1958.<ref>{{cite news|title=Silent Film Star a Playwright|date=April 21, 1958|newspaper=[[Tri-City Herald]]|location=[[Pasco, Washington]]|page=2}}</ref><ref name="glasgowherald">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=THxAAAAAIBAJ&pg=2325,6363264|newspaper=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Glasgow Herald]]|date=April 22, 1958|title=Little Action in New Play|page=3}}</ref> Film work included ''[[The Barefoot Contessa]]'' (1954) with [[Humphrey Bogart]], and [[Ealing Studios]]' ''[[Nowhere to Go (1958 film)|Nowhere to Go]]'' (1958), and ''[[Next to No Time]]'', 1958. She had supporting roles in ''[[The Greengage Summer]]'' (1961) starring [[Kenneth More]], the [[James Bond]] thriller ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' (1969), and [[John Schlesinger]]'s ''[[Sunday Bloody Sunday (film)|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]'' (1971). In addition to playing the mother of [[Vanessa Redgrave]]'s titular character in ''[[Isadora (film)|Isadora]]'' (1968), Love also served as dialect coach to the actress.{{sfn|Love|1977|p=140}}

On television, Love appeared in dozens of episodes of British [[television show]]s in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. In October 1963, she became the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' when host [[Eamonn Andrews]] surprised her at the stage door of ''[[Never Too Late (play)|Never Too Late]]'' after its London opening.<ref name="ppg">{{cite news|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=October 30, 1963|last=Connolly|first=Mike|author-link=Mike Connolly (columnist)|title=In Hollywood|page=6|location=Pittsburgh}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} Guests included ''[[London Scrapbook]]'' director [[Derrick De Marney]],<ref name="gettylife" /> her ''[[Forget Me Not (1922 film)|Forget Me Not]]'' (1922) co-star [[Gareth Hughes]],<ref>{{cite AV media|title=Gareth Hughes|language=cy|date=2000|oclc=1023435485}}</ref> actor [[Percy Marmont]],<ref name="gettylife" /> her friend and ''[[Those Who Dance (1924 film)|Those Who Dance]]'' (1924) co-star [[Blanche Sweet]],<ref name="gettylife" /> and her daughter Patricia.<ref name="gettylife">{{cite episode|title=Bessie Love|url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/eamonn-andrews-pres-prog-which-looks-at-the-life-of-news-footage/BBC_LLV5517S|via=Getty Images|series=This Is Your Life|series-link=This Is Your Life (British TV series)|date=October 24, 1963|first=Eamonn|last=Andrews|author-link=Eamonn Andrews|network=BBC}}</ref>

Love appeared in [[John Osborne]]'s play ''West of Suez'' (1971),<ref name="dispatch">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zN0bAAAAIBAJ&pg=4609,4766742|newspaper=[[The Dispatch (Lexington)|The Dispatch]]|volume=91|issue=99|location=Lexington, NC|date=August 28, 1972|page=21|first=Zander|last=Hollander |author-link=Zander Hollander |title=Bessie Love—74 Years Young and Still Acting}}</ref><ref name="heilpern">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/apr/29/theatre.biography |work=The Guardian |title=A sense of failure |last=Heilpern |first=John |author-link=John Heilpern |date=April 28, 2006}}</ref> and as "Aunt Pittypat" in a large-scale musical version of ''Gone with the Wind'' (1972)<ref name="scarlett">{{cite news |title=Scarlett Sings, Atlanta Burns |last=Bryden |first=Ronald |work=The New York Times |date=May 21, 1972}}</ref> and as an "American Lady" in ''[[Vampyres (film)|Vampyres]]'' (1974). She also played [[Maud Cunard]] in the TV miniseries ''[[Edward & Mrs. Simpson]]'' in 1978. Her film work continued through the seventies with movies like ''[[The Ritz (film)|The Ritz]]'' (1976), ''[[Sunday Bloody Sunday (film)|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]'' (1971), and ''[[Gulliver's Travels (1977 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'' (1981), and into the 1980s with roles in ''[[Ragtime (film)|Ragtime]]'' (1981), ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]'' (1981), ''[[Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981 film)|Lady Chatterley's Lover]]'' (1981), and her final film ''[[The Hunger (1983 film)|The Hunger]]'' (1983).

== Personal life ==
Love was an early resident of the [[Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles|Laurel Canyon]] celebrity enclave, purchasing her first property in 1917, and a second in 1920, a log cabin that had previously operated as a roadhouse and which later became home to musician [[Frank Zappa]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Real News of Reel People |last=Film Colonist |newspaper=The Daily Argus-Leader |location=Sioux Falls, South Dakota |date=October 25, 1919 |page=26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bessie Love Buys Laurel Canyon 'Log Cabin' for Home |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19200925-02.2.16&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Herald]] |date=September 25, 1920 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Rolling Stone Interview: Frank Zappa |last=Hopkins |first=Jerry |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=July 20, 1968 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=11–14 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-rolling-stone-interview-frank-zappa-81967/}}</ref>

[[File:Wedding portrait of Bessie Love and William Hawks.jpg|thumb|Wedding portrait of Love and Hawks]]
Love married then-stockbroker [[William Hawks]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/howardhawksgreyf0000mcca/page/106/|isbn = 978-0-8021-1598-0|title = Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood|year = 1997|last1 = McCarthy|first1 = Todd| publisher=Grove Press }}</ref> at St. James' Episcopal Church in [[South Pasadena, California]] on December 27, 1929.{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=67}}{{sfn|Love|1977|p=125}} [[Blanche Sweet]] was her matron of honor;<ref name="varwed"/> [[Bebe Daniels]], [[Carmel Myers]], [[Norma Shearer]], and Hawks's sister-in-law [[Mary Astor]] were among her bridesmaids; and [[Irving Thalberg]] and Hawks's brother [[Howard Hawks|Howard]] served as ushers. [[Adrian (costume designer)|Adrian]] had designed a wedding dress for Love,<ref>{{cite journal |title=How The Little Ingenue Can Be Smart, Too |journal=Screenland |date=June 1929 |volume=XIX |issue=2 |pages=54–55 |url=https://archive.org/details/screenland19unse/page/n157/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref> but she instead wore a silk charmeuse gown by [[Howard Greer]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/86952761_bessie-love-wedding-gown-and-photograph|title=Bessie Love Wedding Gown and Photograph|date=17 July 2020|website=Julien's Auctions in CA}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/modernscreen56unse/page/n859/|magazine=Modern Screen|date=October 1933|author-link=Howard Greer|first=Howard|last=Greer|title=I've Dressed Them All...!|pages=40–42}}</ref> The ceremony was attended by such celebrities as [[Cecil Beaton]], [[Ronald Colman]], [[Cecil B. DeMille]], [[Hedda Hopper]], [[Laura La Plante]], [[Harold Lloyd]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/newmoviemagazine01weir/page/n277/mode/1up|title=The New Movie Magazine (Dec 1929-May 1930)|date=December 1929|publisher=Tower Magazines}}</ref> [[Anita Loos]], [[Ramon Novarro]], and [[William Powell]],<ref name="beaton">{{cite book|title=Diaries: 1922–1939, The Wandering Years|last=Beaton|first=Cecil|authorlink=Cecil Beaton|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|location=Boston|lccn=62-8059|date=1961|chapter=America 1929–1931}}</ref> and it was mobbed by a crowd of 25,000.<ref name="varwed">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety97-1930-01/page/n5/|title=L.A.'s Big Show: Marriage of Bessie Love|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=6|date=January 1, 1930|volume=97|issue=12}}</ref> The wedding and reception were documented by the press and by Beaton in his ''Diaries'', where he wrote that Love "looked like a terrified bird" but "radiated love".<ref name="beaton" />

Following their wedding, the couple lived at the Havenhurst Apartments in Hollywood,<ref>{{cite census | url=https://archive.org/details/californiacensus00reel134rs/page/n392| title=Hawks, William B| year=1930| location=Assembly Dist 55, Los Angeles, California| roll=134| page=11A| line=6| enumdist=19-64| access-date=December 29, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite census | url=https://archive.org/details/californiacensus00reel134rs/page/n392| title=Hawks, Bessie L| year=1930| location=Assembly Dist 55, Los Angeles, California| roll=134| page=11A| line=7| enumdist=19-64| access-date=December 29, 2019}}</ref> and their only child, Patricia, was born in 1932.{{efn|The exact birthday of Patricia Hawks is February 19, 1932. She studied dance at the [[Rambert Dance Company|Ballet Rambert]],{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=67}} had bit parts in films in 1952,<ref>{{cite news|date=September 6, 1951|page=18|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|title=Hollywood|author-link=Sheilah Graham|first=Sheilah|last=Graham}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b5b3cf6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116003415/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b5b3cf6|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 16, 2017|title=''She's Working Her Way through College'' (1952)|website=BFI}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/KatyKeene61952/page/n21|title=Stuff About Stars|page=21|issue=6|magazine=Katy Keene|date=June 1952}}</ref> and appeared in a [[West End theatre|West End]] production of ''[[Candide (operetta)#European premieres|Candide]]'' later that decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Patricia-Hawks/|title=Patricia Hawks|website=Broadway World}}</ref> She married actor Julian Pepper,{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=67}} with whom she had two children, Edmund and Hannah.{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=67}}}}{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=67}} Four years later, the couple divorced.{{sfn|Kidd|1986|p=67}}

Love moved to England with her daughter in 1935,{{sfn|Love|1977|p=131}} a year before her divorce was final. Her life in England kept her out of the eye of her American fans, which resulted in the American press erroneously reporting her as dead multiple times.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Bessie Love|url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/tony-bilbow-intvs-actress-star-of-silent-films-bessie-news-footage/BBC_LPR5480F|via=Getty Images|series=Late Night Line-Up|series-link=Late Night Line-Up|date=June 29, 1968|first=Tony|last=Bilbow|author-link=Tony Bilbow|network=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Strangler Kills Former Actress|newspaper=New York Times|date=July 10, 1947|page=44|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/07/10/archives/strangler-kills-former-actress-woman-49-is-choked-to-death-with-a.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=May 28, 1967|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=Los Angeles High Will Mark 95th Birthday|first=Charles E. Jr. |last=Davis|page=A5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=An Error Corrected|last=Love|first=Bessie|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 24, 1967|page=A4|quote=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.}}</ref> Love became a British subject in the late 1960s.<ref name="dispatch" /> Love was a Christian Scientist.<ref name="nostranger" /><ref name="dispatch" />

=== Later years and death ===
After several years of declining health,<ref name="latimes" /><ref name="nytobit" /> Love died at the [[Mount Vernon Hospital]]<ref name="nytobit">{{cite news|title=Bessie Love, 87, an Actress from Silent-Film to TV Eras|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=28 April 1986|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/28/obituaries/bessie-love-87-an-actress-from-silent-film-to-tv-eras.html}}</ref><ref name="globit">{{cite news|title=Career of U.S.-Born Actress Went from Silent Films to TV|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|location=Toronto, Canada|date=29 April 1986|page=D19}}</ref> in [[Northwood, London|Northwood]], London, from natural causes on April 26, 1986.<ref name="latimes" /><ref name="nytobit" /><ref name="globit" />

== Legacy ==
===Honors===
[[File:Hollywood Walk of Fame stars - Bessie Love.jpg|thumb|right|Love's star on [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6777 Hollywood Blvd.]]
For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Love was honored with a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] in 1960 at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref name="walkoffame">[http://www.walkoffame.com/bessie-love Hollywood Walk of Fame]. Retrieved January 19, 2017</ref>

===Cinema===
In [[Damien Chazelle]]'s 2022 film ''[[Babylon (2022 film)|Babylon]]'', fellow Academy Award nominee [[Margot Robbie]] wears overalls with nothing underneath, which pays homage to a famous photo of Love.<ref>{{cite news|title='Babylon': A Guide to the Characters and Their Real-Life Counterparts|last=Kenigsberg|first=Ben|newspaper=New York Times|date=December 28, 2022|page=C6|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/23/movies/babylon-cast-real-life-counterparts.html}}</ref>

===Portraiture===
Portraits of Love are preserved in public and private collections, including those of the [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian]] [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] in [[Washington, D.C.]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.93.424|title=Marie Dressler and Bessie Love|website=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref> and the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw50129|title=Bessie Love (née Horton)|website=National Portrait Gallery}}</ref>

Cartoonist [[Alex Gard]] created a caricature of Love for [[Sardi's]], the famed restaurant in Manhattan's [[Theater District, Manhattan|Theater District]].<ref name="archivesnypl" /><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/sardisstoryoff00sard/page/172|title=Sardi's: The Story of a Famous Restaurant|chapter=Caught Off Guard|page=[https://archive.org/details/sardisstoryoff00sard/page/172 172]|url=https://archive.org/details/sardisstoryoff00sard|url-access=registration|date=1953|lccn=53-5500|oclc=1036888925|first1=Vincent Sr. |last1=Sardi|first2=Richard|last2=Gehman|location=New York|publisher=Henry Holt and Company}}</ref> It is now part of the [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts#Billy Rose Theatre Division|Billy Rose Theatre Division]] of the [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]].<ref name="archivesnypl">{{cite web|url=http://archives.nypl.org/the/21510|website=The New York Public Library|title=Inventory of Sardi's Caricatures}}</ref> A [[Alberto Vargas|Vargas]] illustration of Love as a young woman appeared in ''[[Playboy]]''<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/playboy-history/Playboy%201978/12%20-%20December%201978/page/176/mode/1up?view=theater|magazine=Playboy|date=December 1978|page=176|title=Viva Vargas!}}</ref> – published in December 1978 when Love was 80 years old.

Despite her demure public image, Love was photographed in the nude by [[James Abbe]]<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2016/oct/18/fops-and-flappers-wild-fashions-1920s-in-pictures|title=Fops and Flappers: Wild Fashions of the 1920s – in Pictures|date=18 Oct 2016}}</ref> and [[Clarence Sinclair Bull]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bessie-love-vintage-sexy-busty-risque-1832862833|title=Bessie Love vintage sexy busty risque 20s C.S. Bull pre-code topless nude photo!|website=WorthPoint}}</ref> and in sheer fabric by Edwin Bower Hesser,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Shadowland0503Images/page/n45|magazine=Shadowland|title=Bessie Love|date=November 1921|page=46}}</ref> who had also photographed [[Jean Harlow]] in a similar fashion.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bombshelllifedea0000sten_m8l3/page/32/mode/2up?q=hesser&view=theater|page=32|title=Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow|last=Stenn|first=David|date=1993|publisher=Doubleday |isbn=0385421575}}</ref> These images have been shown in exhibitions of these artists' work.

===Interviews and archives===
Love periodically was interviewed by film historians, and was featured in the television documentary series ''[[The Hollywood Greats]]'' (1978)<ref name="greats">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Radio Times|The Radio Times]]|publisher=BBC|title=''The Hollywood Greats'' (10 August 1978)|issue=2856|page=45|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/88064672b6bb4030b922de8db3c99d59|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809111013/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/88064672b6bb4030b922de8db3c99d59|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 9, 2019|date=August 3, 1978}}</ref> and ''[[Hollywood (British TV series)|Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film]]'' (1980),<ref name="Brownlow">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/dT2u804FwEY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20121225164501/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT2u804FwEY&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite episode|last1=Brownlow|first1=Kevin|author-link1=Kevin Brownlow|last2=Gill|first2=David|author-link2=David Gill (film historian)|series=Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT2u804FwEY |access-date=1 September 2014 |title=The Man with the Megaphone|series-link=Hollywood (1980 TV series)|publisher=Thames Video Production|date=1980|number=10}}{{cbignore}}</ref> both about early filmmaking in Hollywood. She also loaned materials from her personal collection to museums.{{efn|Love contributed to the exhibition ''300 années de cinématographie, 60 ans de cinéma'' at the [[Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris]] in 1955.<ref>{{cite journal|page=242|title=Film Museums I Have Known and (Sometimes) Loved|first=David|last=Robinson|author-link=David Robinson (film critic)|journal=Film History|volume=18|issue=3|date=2006|issn=0892-2160|doi=10.2979/FIL.2006.18.3.237|s2cid=191596293}}</ref>}} In 1962, she began contributing articles about her experiences to ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]''.<ref>Twenty-one articles were published over eighteen years:
* First article: {{cite magazine|title=An Aryan in Sulphur Canyon|last=Love|first=Bessie|magazine=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|date=May 9, 1962|page=8}}
* Final article: {{cite magazine|title=The second time around|last=Love|first=Bessie|magazine=The Christian Science Monitor|date=October 20, 1980|page=21}}</ref> In 1977, she published an autobiography entitled ''From Hollywood with Love''.{{sfn|Love|1977}}

== On screen, stage, and radio ==
{{Main|Bessie Love filmography}}

== See also ==
* [[List of actors with Academy Award nominations]]
* [[List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars]]
* [[List of caricatures at Sardi's]]
* [[List of people in Playboy 1970–1979]]

== References ==
'''Notes'''
{{Notelist}}

'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Works cited'''
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Kidd|first=Charles|title=Debrett Goes to Hollywood|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-312-00588-7|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/debrettgoestohol00kidd/page/67|chapter=Howard Hawks and Mary Astor|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/debrettgoestohol00kidd}}
* {{cite book |last=Love |first=Bessie |year=1977 |title=From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love |location=London |publisher=Elm Tree Books |oclc=734075937 }}
* {{cite book |last=Side |first=Anthony |year=1980 |title=The Kindergarten of the Movies: A History of the Fine Arts Company |location=Metuchen, NJ & London |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-1358-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/kindergartenofmo0000slid |url-access=registration }}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sisterlinks|d=Q240238|c=Category:Bessie Love|wikt=no|n=no|s=no|b=no|v=no}}
* {{IMDb name|0522281|Bessie Love}}
* {{TCMDb name|116687{{!}}20143|Bessie Love}}
* {{Discogs artist|2122125}}
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1470 Literature on Bessie Love]

{{Portal bar|Biography|Film|Television|Theatre|Radio}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Bessie}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Texas]]
[[Category:American Christian Scientists]]
[[Category:American expatriate actresses]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American radio actresses]]
[[Category:American silent film actresses]]
[[Category:American stage actresses]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:American ukulele players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles High School alumni]]
[[Category:Actors from Midland, Texas]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous actors]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]]