Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898 – April 26, 1986) was an American actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned eight 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.
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Bessie Love - Actress, writer
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1. Profile :
*Portrait of Bessie Love
Love, c. 1923, photographed by Roman Freulich
Born Juanita Horton, September 10, 1898, Midland, Texas, U.S.
Died April 26, 1986 (aged 87), London Borough of Hillingdon, UK
Nationality American
Citizenship American, British
Occupation Actress, writer
Years active 1915–1983
Height 5 ft 0 in (152 cm)
Spouse(s)
William Hawks
(m. 1929; div. 1936)'
Children 1
Relatives
Howard Hawks (brother-in-law)
Kenneth Hawks (brother-in-law)
Mary Astor (sister-in-law)
Athole Shearer (sister-in-law)
Awards
WAMPAS Baby Star
Hollywood Walk of Fame
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2. Introduction :
Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898 – April 26, 1986) was an American actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned eight 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.
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3. Early life :
*Horton as a child in Texas
Love was born Juanita Horton in Midland, Texas to John Cross Horton and Emma Jane Horton (née Savage). Her father was a cowboy and bartender, while her mother worked in and managed restaurants. She attended school in Midland until she was in the eighth grade, when her family moved to Arizona, New Mexico, and then to California, where they settled in Hollywood. When in Hollywood, her father became a chiropractor, and her mother worked at the Jantzen's Knitwear and Bathing Suits factory.
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4. Career :
4.1 The silent era :
4.1.1 1915–20: Young ingenue :
*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".
However, when Mix was unavailable, she was advised to meet with pioneering film director D. W. Griffith, who put her under personal contract. When it was decided that her given name was too long for theater marquees and too difficult to pronounce, Griffith's associate Frank Woods gave Horton the stage name Bessie Love: "Bessie, because any child can pronounce it. And Love, because we want everyone to love her!" Love dropped out of high school to pursue her film career, but she completed her diploma in 1919.
Griffith gave her a small role in his Intolerance (1916). Although Intolerance was her first performance to be filmed, it was her ninth film to be released. The first films Love made were with Griffith's Fine Arts company, yet Intolerance was the only film that he formally directed.
Her "first role of importance"—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). In her early career, she was likened to Mary Pickford, and was called "Our Mary" by Griffith.
As her roles got larger, her popularity gradually grew. In early 1918, Love left Fine Arts for a better contract with Pathé. After the Pathé films were unsuccessful, she signed a nine-film contract with Vitagraph later that year, all of which were directed by David Smith. Her performances often received positive reviews, but her films often were shown at smaller movie theaters, which impacted the growth of her career.
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4.1.2 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.
*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); 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. She gradually honed these skills and later performed them onscreen and on the stage. 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, popularizing it in the United States. Her technique was documented in instructional guides, including a series of photographs by Edward Steichen. She subsequently performed the dance the following year in The Song and Dance Man.
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. 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. She lived frugally so that she could afford lessons in singing and dancing.
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4.2 The sound era and stage work :
4.2.1 1929–30: Musical comedy star :
*Love, photographed by Ruth Harriet Louise to promote The Broadway Melody (1929)
Love toured with a musical revue for sixteen weeks, which was so physically demanding that she broke a rib. The experience she gained on the vaudeville stage singing and dancing in three performances a day prepared her for the introduction of sound films. She appeared in the successful sound musical short film The Swell Head in early 1928, and was signed to MGM later that year.
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 US$500 to $3,000 (equivalent to $45,000 in 2019)—$1,000 more than her male co-star Charles King.
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. Her success in these musicals earned her the title "the screen's first musical comedy star."
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4.2.2 1931–43: Semi-retirement :
However, the popularity 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." 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. 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, briefly returning to the United States in 1936 to obtain a divorce.
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.
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4.2.3 1944–83: Working actress :
After the war, Love began acting again, this time primarily in the theater and on BBC Radio as a member of their Drama Repertory Company; she also played small roles in British films, often as an American tourist. Stage work included such productions as Love in Idleness (1944) and Born Yesterday (1947). She wrote and performed in The Homecoming, a semiautobiographical play, which opened in Perth, Scotland in 1958. Film work included The Barefoot Contessa (1954) with Humphrey Bogart, and Ealing Studios' Nowhere to Go (1958), and she had supporting roles in The Greengage Summer (1961) starring Kenneth More, the James Bond thriller On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and 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.
When television became popular, Love appeared in dozens of episodes of British television shows in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. In October 1963, she became the subject of This Is Your Life when host Eamonn Andrews surprised her at the stage door of Never Too Late after its London opening. Guests included London Scrapbook director Derrick De Marney, her Forget Me Not (1922) co-star Gareth Hughes,[55] actor Percy Marmont, her friend and Those Who Dance (1924) co-star Blanche Sweet, and her daughter Patricia.
Love appeared in John Osborne's play West of Suez (1971), and as "Aunt Pittypat" in a large-scale musical version of Gone with the Wind (1972). 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).
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5. Personal life :
*Wedding portrait of Love and Hawks
Love married agent William Hawks at St. James' Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, California on December 27, 1929. Mary Astor (Hawks's sister-in-law), Carmel Myers, and Norma Shearer were among her bridesmaids, with Irving Thalberg and Hawks's brother Howard serving as ushers. Following their wedding, the couple lived at the Havenhurst Apartments in Hollywood, and their only child, Patricia, was born in 1932. Four years later, the couple divorced.
Love moved to England with her daughter in 1935, 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. Love became a British subject in the late 1960s.
Love was a Christian Scientist.
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6. Later years and death :
After several years of declining health, Love died at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood, London from natural causes on April 26, 1986. Her ashes are interred at Breakspear Crematorium in Ruislip, Hillingdon, England.
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7. Legacy :
*Love's star on Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6777 Hollywood Blvd.
Cartoonist Alex Gard created a caricature of Love for Sardi's, the famed restaurant in Manhattan's Theater District. It is now part of the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Portraits of Love are also in the collections of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Love periodically was interviewed by film historians, and was featured in the television documentary series The Hollywood Greats (1978) and Hollywood :
A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980), both about early filmmaking in Hollywood. She also loaned materials from her personal collection to museums. In 1962, she began contributing articles about her experiences to The Christian Science Monitor. In 1977, she published an autobiography entitled From Hollywood with Love.
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.
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8. Bessie Love on screen, stage, and radio
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8.1 Bessie Love performances
*Bessie Love Stars of the Photoplay. Love, c. 1919
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Films 123
Television series 39
Stage performances 36
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8.2 Introduction :
Bessie Love (1898–1986) was an actress whose career began in silent films, and continued into sound films, radio, and television. She was also active in the theatre. Her early career was exclusively in American film; after she moved to England in 1935, she performed in productions made only in the U.K., and British productions made in Europe.
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8.3 Film :
8.3.1 Silent: 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
Hell-to-Pay Austin Briar Rose "Nettles" Dawson Fine Arts / Triangle Lost
Intolerance The Bride Triangle Extant
A Sister of Six Prudence Fine Arts / Triangle Incomplete
The Heiress at Coffee Dan's Waffles Fine Arts / Triangle Lost
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*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
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*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
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*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 Love also wrote the scenario
The Little Boss Peggy Winston, the little boss Vitagraph Lost
Cupid Forecloses Geraldine Farleigh Vitagraph Extant
Over the Garden Wall Peggy Gordon Vitagraph Lost
A Fighting Colleen Alannah Malone Vitagraph Lost
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*1920 Pegeen Pegeen O'Neill Vitagraph Lost
Bonnie May Bonnie May Andrew J. Callaghan Productions / Federated Film Exchanges Lost
The Midlanders Aurelie Lindstrom Andrew J. Callaghan Productions / Federated Film Exchanges Incomplete
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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 Lost
Short film
Series: Santschi Series
The Spirit of the Lake Pathé Exchange Lost
Short film
Series: Santschi Series
The Swamp Mary Robertson–Cole Extant
The Sea Lion Blossom Nelson Associated Producers Extant
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*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 Incomplete
Deserted at the Altar Anna Moore, the country girl Phil Goldstone Extant
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*1923 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 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
Short film
Series: The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous
The Crown of Courage Bernice Arthur Trimble Productions / Anchor Unknown
Short film
Series: The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous
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
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*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
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*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
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*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
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*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
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*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
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8.3.2 Sound: 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 Babe 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 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 lady (T.O.C.) Paramount Pictures
Lady Chatterley's Lover Flora Cannon Films / Columbia Pictures
1983 The Hunger Lillybelle Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / MGM/UA Entertainment Co
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8.3.3 Stage :
Year Title Role Venue / Location Notes Ref.
1928 Burlesque Bonny San Francisco
Merry Ann Idea Touring production A one-woman, Fanchon and Marco stage revue
1930 Whispering Friends El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood
1931 Vaudeville show
Palace Theatre, New York
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8.3.4 Touring production :
1936 Stop and Go Touring production A C. B. Cochran revue
1936 Lucky Stars Touring production
1938 The Women Lyric Theatre, London Understudy
1944 Love in Idleness Miss Dell
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8.3.5 Lyric Theatre, London- Touring production Replaced Peggy Dear
1945 Zenobia The Actress Granville Theatre, Walham Green
Say It With Flowers Julie Granville Theatre, Walham Green
1947 Born Yesterday Mrs. Hedges Garrick Theatre, London
1948 Native Son Miss Emmet Bolton's Theatre Club, London
1949 Death of a Salesman Laughing Woman Phoenix Theatre, London
The Male Animal Myrtle Keller New Wimbledon Theatre, London Also performed the role on television in 1956
1951 The Glass Menagerie Amanda Wingfield Touring production
1953 The Season's Greetings Lucy Barlow Q Theatre, London
1954 The Wooden Dish Bessie Bockser Phoenix Theatre, London
Mother Is a Darling Dulcie Lander New Theatre, Bromley
1955 The Children's Hour Mrs. Lily Mortar Arts Theatre, London
South Mrs. Priolieau Arts Theatre, London Performed the role again in 1961
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8.3.6 A Girl Called Jo Mrs. Kirke Piccadilly Theatre, London
1956 Someone to Talk To Miss Froslyn Duchess Theatre, London
1958 The Homecoming Babe Love Perth Theatre, Perth, Scotland Written by Love
1959 Orpheus Descending The Nurse Royal Court Theatre, London
1960 Visit to a Small Planet Reba Spelding Westminster Theatre, London
1961 South Mrs. Priolieau Criterion Theatre, London Had previously performed the role in 1955
1962 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Mrs. Ella Spofford
Princes Theatre, London
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8.3.7 Strand Theatre, London
1963 Never Too Late Grace Kimborough Prince of Wales Theatre, London
1964 Saint Joan of the Stockyards A Worker Queen's Theatre, London
In White America The White Woman Arts Theatre, London
1966 The Silence of Lee Harvey Oswald Marguerite Oswald Hampstead Theatre Club, London
1968 Sweet Bird of Youth Aunt Nonnie Palace Theatre, Watford
1970 Harvey Mrs. Gaffney Touring production
1971 The Heiress Lavinia Penniman Touring production
1971 West of Suez Mrs Dekker Royal Court Theatre, London ]
1972 Gone with the Wind Aunt Pittypat Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
1979 The Woman I Love Aunt Bessie Merryman Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
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8.3.8 Television :
Year(s) Title Role Notes Ref.
1946 Mr. Know-All
1947 You Can't Take It with You Penelope Sycamore Television film
1948 The Front Page Mrs. Grant Television film
1952 Mystery Story Grace Jones
1953 The Hero Harriet Quinn
1954, 1957, 1958 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre Various 7 episodes [57][58][59][60]
1954 Queen's Folly Mrs. Temple
1955 London Playhouse Mrs. Goren Episode: "The Glorification of Al Toolum"
1956 The Male Animal Myrtle Keller
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8.3.9 Television film :
Love had previously performed the role in the stage production at the New Wimbledon Theatre in 1949
1957, 1960 ITV Television Playhouse Various 3 episodes
1957, 1959 ITV Play of the Week Various 3 episodes
1958 Long Distance Mrs. MacLean Television short
1959 Saturday Playhouse Mrs. Stykeley-Mosher Episode: "Golden Rain"
1960 Emergency – Ward 10 Mrs. Broom Episode: "Mrs. Broom"
Don't Do It, Dempsey! Mrs. Glenton Episode: "Visiting Firemen"
International Detective Various 2 episodes
1961 Harpers West One Customer 1 episode
1962 Zero One Mrs. Glorny Episode: "Gunpoint to Shannon"
Man of the World Mrs. Van Kempson Episode: "Portrait of a Girl"
The Andromeda Breakthrough Mrs. Neilson Episode: "Gale Warning"
BBC Sunday-Night Play Mrs. Marshall Episode: "Means to an End"
1963 This Is Your Life Herself Reality documentary
The Sentimental Agent Mamie Episode: "Never Play Cards with Strangers"
1964 Story Parade Mrs. Arquette Episode: "A Kiss Before Dying"
1965 The Wednesday Play Martha Burroughs Episode: "The Pistol"
1966 The Poppy Is Also a Flower Television film; uncredited
1968 ITV Playhouse Mrs. Teitelbaum Episode: "Bon Voyage"
Late Night Line-Up Herself
1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Mrs. Trotter Episode: "When Did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?"
Omnibus Episode: "Where Are You Going to My Pretty Maid?"
British Film Comedy Becky Episode: "Next to No Time"
1970 W. Somerset Maugham American lady Episode: "Jane"
Kate Lady Hartford-Cape Episode: "A Good Spec"
1971 Great Day Herself
Public Eye Chrissy Husack Episode: "The Beater and the Game"
From a Bird's Eye View Old Lady Episode: "Family Tree"
1973 Pollyanna Mrs. Snow Miniseries
1974 Mousey Mrs. Richardson Television film
1975 Shades of Greene St. Louis Woman Episode: "Cheap in August"
1976 Katy Mrs. Finch 3 episodes
1977 Good Afternoon! Herself
1978 Edward & Mrs. Simpson Maud Cunard Miniseries
The Hollywood Greats Herself Documentary series
1980 Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film Herself Documentary series
Nationwide Herself
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8.3.10 Radio :
Date Title Role Ref.
August 31, 1942 Ladies' Man Anita
October 30, 1942 Paul Temple Intervenes: "The October Hotel" Maisie
November 26, 1943 Entertainment Annual
October 3, 1944 News Headlines Host
October 8, 1944 Variety Band-Box Host
January 30, 1946 Vic Oliver Introduces...
January 19, 1947 Scrapbook for 1925
March 6, 1954 Theatre Royal: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"
December 4, 1954 Saturday-Night Theatre: "The Old Reliable" Adela Cork
June 16, 1955 Melville's Choice
July 30, 1955 Saturday-Night Theatre
April 18, 1957 Woman's Hour Narrator
August 8, 1957 Desert Island Discs Herself
December 29, 1961 I Remember Herself
December 31, 1963 Hollywood Memories Herself
March 21, 1966 Illumination Sister Constance Soulsby
July 13, 1968 Afternoon Theatre
March 28, 1970 Saturday-Night Theatre: "Mrs. Gibbons' Boys" Mrs. Gibbons
September 18, 1975 Afternoon Theatre
August 23, 1977 Spoon River
September 12, 1977 Star Sound Herself
February 27, 1978 The Monday Play: "Dark" by Victor Pemberton Virginia's mother
March 5, 1978 Afternoon Theatre
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8.3.11 Erroneous credits :
Love mistakenly has been identified as being in the cast of The Birth of a Nation (1915) as "a Piedmont girl", but she took steps in her later years to clarify that she was not in the film.
The Internet Movie Database lists Love as appearing in a 1915 film entitled Georgia Pearce. "Georgia Pearce" was actually the stage name used by actress Constance Talmadge for one of her roles in Intolerance, and it is not the name of a film.
Some sources include Love in the cast of Meet the Prince (1926). However, no contemporaneous sources do, and some sources note this as an error.
Love does not include any of the above films in her autobiography's filmography.
THE END.
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24/04/2020. Page-1/2
Bessie Love - Actress, writer
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1. Profile :
Love, c. 1923, photographed by Roman Freulich
Born Juanita Horton, September 10, 1898, Midland, Texas, U.S.
Died April 26, 1986 (aged 87), London Borough of Hillingdon, UK
Nationality American
Citizenship American, British
Occupation Actress, writer
Years active 1915–1983
Height 5 ft 0 in (152 cm)
Spouse(s)
William Hawks
(m. 1929; div. 1936)'
Children 1
Relatives
Howard Hawks (brother-in-law)
Kenneth Hawks (brother-in-law)
Mary Astor (sister-in-law)
Athole Shearer (sister-in-law)
Awards
WAMPAS Baby Star
Hollywood Walk of Fame
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2. Introduction :
Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898 – April 26, 1986) was an American actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned eight 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.
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3. Early life :
Love was born Juanita Horton in Midland, Texas to John Cross Horton and Emma Jane Horton (née Savage). Her father was a cowboy and bartender, while her mother worked in and managed restaurants. She attended school in Midland until she was in the eighth grade, when her family moved to Arizona, New Mexico, and then to California, where they settled in Hollywood. When in Hollywood, her father became a chiropractor, and her mother worked at the Jantzen's Knitwear and Bathing Suits factory.
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4. Career :
4.1 The silent era :
4.1.1 1915–20: Young ingenue :
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".
However, when Mix was unavailable, she was advised to meet with pioneering film director D. W. Griffith, who put her under personal contract. When it was decided that her given name was too long for theater marquees and too difficult to pronounce, Griffith's associate Frank Woods gave Horton the stage name Bessie Love: "Bessie, because any child can pronounce it. And Love, because we want everyone to love her!" Love dropped out of high school to pursue her film career, but she completed her diploma in 1919.
Griffith gave her a small role in his Intolerance (1916). Although Intolerance was her first performance to be filmed, it was her ninth film to be released. The first films Love made were with Griffith's Fine Arts company, yet Intolerance was the only film that he formally directed.
Her "first role of importance"—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). In her early career, she was likened to Mary Pickford, and was called "Our Mary" by Griffith.
As her roles got larger, her popularity gradually grew. In early 1918, Love left Fine Arts for a better contract with Pathé. After the Pathé films were unsuccessful, she signed a nine-film contract with Vitagraph later that year, all of which were directed by David Smith. Her performances often received positive reviews, but her films often were shown at smaller movie theaters, which impacted the growth of her career.
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4.1.2 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.
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); 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. She gradually honed these skills and later performed them onscreen and on the stage. 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, popularizing it in the United States. Her technique was documented in instructional guides, including a series of photographs by Edward Steichen. She subsequently performed the dance the following year in The Song and Dance Man.
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. 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. She lived frugally so that she could afford lessons in singing and dancing.
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4.2 The sound era and stage work :
4.2.1 1929–30: Musical comedy star :
Love toured with a musical revue for sixteen weeks, which was so physically demanding that she broke a rib. The experience she gained on the vaudeville stage singing and dancing in three performances a day prepared her for the introduction of sound films. She appeared in the successful sound musical short film The Swell Head in early 1928, and was signed to MGM later that year.
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 US$500 to $3,000 (equivalent to $45,000 in 2019)—$1,000 more than her male co-star Charles King.
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. Her success in these musicals earned her the title "the screen's first musical comedy star."
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4.2.2 1931–43: Semi-retirement :
However, the popularity 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." 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. 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, briefly returning to the United States in 1936 to obtain a divorce.
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.
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4.2.3 1944–83: Working actress :
After the war, Love began acting again, this time primarily in the theater and on BBC Radio as a member of their Drama Repertory Company; she also played small roles in British films, often as an American tourist. Stage work included such productions as Love in Idleness (1944) and Born Yesterday (1947). She wrote and performed in The Homecoming, a semiautobiographical play, which opened in Perth, Scotland in 1958. Film work included The Barefoot Contessa (1954) with Humphrey Bogart, and Ealing Studios' Nowhere to Go (1958), and she had supporting roles in The Greengage Summer (1961) starring Kenneth More, the James Bond thriller On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and 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.
When television became popular, Love appeared in dozens of episodes of British television shows in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. In October 1963, she became the subject of This Is Your Life when host Eamonn Andrews surprised her at the stage door of Never Too Late after its London opening. Guests included London Scrapbook director Derrick De Marney, her Forget Me Not (1922) co-star Gareth Hughes,[55] actor Percy Marmont, her friend and Those Who Dance (1924) co-star Blanche Sweet, and her daughter Patricia.
Love appeared in John Osborne's play West of Suez (1971), and as "Aunt Pittypat" in a large-scale musical version of Gone with the Wind (1972). 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).
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5. Personal life :
*Wedding portrait of Love and Hawks
Love married agent William Hawks at St. James' Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, California on December 27, 1929. Mary Astor (Hawks's sister-in-law), Carmel Myers, and Norma Shearer were among her bridesmaids, with Irving Thalberg and Hawks's brother Howard serving as ushers. Following their wedding, the couple lived at the Havenhurst Apartments in Hollywood, and their only child, Patricia, was born in 1932. Four years later, the couple divorced.
Love moved to England with her daughter in 1935, 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. Love became a British subject in the late 1960s.
Love was a Christian Scientist.
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6. Later years and death :
After several years of declining health, Love died at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Northwood, London from natural causes on April 26, 1986. Her ashes are interred at Breakspear Crematorium in Ruislip, Hillingdon, England.
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7. Legacy :
Cartoonist Alex Gard created a caricature of Love for Sardi's, the famed restaurant in Manhattan's Theater District. It is now part of the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Portraits of Love are also in the collections of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Love periodically was interviewed by film historians, and was featured in the television documentary series The Hollywood Greats (1978) and Hollywood :
A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980), both about early filmmaking in Hollywood. She also loaned materials from her personal collection to museums. In 1962, she began contributing articles about her experiences to The Christian Science Monitor. In 1977, she published an autobiography entitled From Hollywood with Love.
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.
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8. continued Page on - 2/2
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Page-2/2
8. Bessie Love on screen, stage, and radio
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8.1 Bessie Love performances
*Bessie Love Stars of the Photoplay. Love, c. 1919
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Films 123
Television series 39
Stage performances 36
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8.2 Introduction :
Bessie Love (1898–1986) was an actress whose career began in silent films, and continued into sound films, radio, and television. She was also active in the theatre. Her early career was exclusively in American film; after she moved to England in 1935, she performed in productions made only in the U.K., and British productions made in Europe.
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8.3 Film :
8.3.1 Silent: 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
Hell-to-Pay Austin Briar Rose "Nettles" Dawson Fine Arts / Triangle Lost
Intolerance The Bride Triangle Extant
A Sister of Six Prudence Fine Arts / Triangle Incomplete
The Heiress at Coffee Dan's Waffles Fine Arts / Triangle Lost
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*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
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*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
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*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 Love also wrote the scenario
The Little Boss Peggy Winston, the little boss Vitagraph Lost
Cupid Forecloses Geraldine Farleigh Vitagraph Extant
Over the Garden Wall Peggy Gordon Vitagraph Lost
A Fighting Colleen Alannah Malone Vitagraph Lost
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*1920 Pegeen Pegeen O'Neill Vitagraph Lost
Bonnie May Bonnie May Andrew J. Callaghan Productions / Federated Film Exchanges Lost
The Midlanders Aurelie Lindstrom Andrew J. Callaghan Productions / Federated Film Exchanges Incomplete
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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 Lost
Short film
Series: Santschi Series
The Spirit of the Lake Pathé Exchange Lost
Short film
Series: Santschi Series
The Swamp Mary Robertson–Cole Extant
The Sea Lion Blossom Nelson Associated Producers Extant
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*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 Incomplete
Deserted at the Altar Anna Moore, the country girl Phil Goldstone Extant
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*1923 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 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
Short film
Series: The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous
The Crown of Courage Bernice Arthur Trimble Productions / Anchor Unknown
Short film
Series: The Strange Adventures of Prince Courageous
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
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*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
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*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
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*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
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*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
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*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
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8.3.2 Sound: 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 Babe 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 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 lady (T.O.C.) Paramount Pictures
Lady Chatterley's Lover Flora Cannon Films / Columbia Pictures
1983 The Hunger Lillybelle Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / MGM/UA Entertainment Co
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8.3.3 Stage :
Year Title Role Venue / Location Notes Ref.
1928 Burlesque Bonny San Francisco
Merry Ann Idea Touring production A one-woman, Fanchon and Marco stage revue
1930 Whispering Friends El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood
1931 Vaudeville show
Palace Theatre, New York
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8.3.4 Touring production :
1936 Stop and Go Touring production A C. B. Cochran revue
1936 Lucky Stars Touring production
1938 The Women Lyric Theatre, London Understudy
1944 Love in Idleness Miss Dell
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8.3.5 Lyric Theatre, London- Touring production Replaced Peggy Dear
1945 Zenobia The Actress Granville Theatre, Walham Green
Say It With Flowers Julie Granville Theatre, Walham Green
1947 Born Yesterday Mrs. Hedges Garrick Theatre, London
1948 Native Son Miss Emmet Bolton's Theatre Club, London
1949 Death of a Salesman Laughing Woman Phoenix Theatre, London
The Male Animal Myrtle Keller New Wimbledon Theatre, London Also performed the role on television in 1956
1951 The Glass Menagerie Amanda Wingfield Touring production
1953 The Season's Greetings Lucy Barlow Q Theatre, London
1954 The Wooden Dish Bessie Bockser Phoenix Theatre, London
Mother Is a Darling Dulcie Lander New Theatre, Bromley
1955 The Children's Hour Mrs. Lily Mortar Arts Theatre, London
South Mrs. Priolieau Arts Theatre, London Performed the role again in 1961
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8.3.6 A Girl Called Jo Mrs. Kirke Piccadilly Theatre, London
1956 Someone to Talk To Miss Froslyn Duchess Theatre, London
1958 The Homecoming Babe Love Perth Theatre, Perth, Scotland Written by Love
1959 Orpheus Descending The Nurse Royal Court Theatre, London
1960 Visit to a Small Planet Reba Spelding Westminster Theatre, London
1961 South Mrs. Priolieau Criterion Theatre, London Had previously performed the role in 1955
1962 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Mrs. Ella Spofford
Princes Theatre, London
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8.3.7 Strand Theatre, London
1963 Never Too Late Grace Kimborough Prince of Wales Theatre, London
1964 Saint Joan of the Stockyards A Worker Queen's Theatre, London
In White America The White Woman Arts Theatre, London
1966 The Silence of Lee Harvey Oswald Marguerite Oswald Hampstead Theatre Club, London
1968 Sweet Bird of Youth Aunt Nonnie Palace Theatre, Watford
1970 Harvey Mrs. Gaffney Touring production
1971 The Heiress Lavinia Penniman Touring production
1971 West of Suez Mrs Dekker Royal Court Theatre, London ]
1972 Gone with the Wind Aunt Pittypat Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
1979 The Woman I Love Aunt Bessie Merryman Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
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8.3.8 Television :
Year(s) Title Role Notes Ref.
1946 Mr. Know-All
1947 You Can't Take It with You Penelope Sycamore Television film
1948 The Front Page Mrs. Grant Television film
1952 Mystery Story Grace Jones
1953 The Hero Harriet Quinn
1954, 1957, 1958 BBC Sunday-Night Theatre Various 7 episodes [57][58][59][60]
1954 Queen's Folly Mrs. Temple
1955 London Playhouse Mrs. Goren Episode: "The Glorification of Al Toolum"
1956 The Male Animal Myrtle Keller
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8.3.9 Television film :
Love had previously performed the role in the stage production at the New Wimbledon Theatre in 1949
1957, 1960 ITV Television Playhouse Various 3 episodes
1957, 1959 ITV Play of the Week Various 3 episodes
1958 Long Distance Mrs. MacLean Television short
1959 Saturday Playhouse Mrs. Stykeley-Mosher Episode: "Golden Rain"
1960 Emergency – Ward 10 Mrs. Broom Episode: "Mrs. Broom"
Don't Do It, Dempsey! Mrs. Glenton Episode: "Visiting Firemen"
International Detective Various 2 episodes
1961 Harpers West One Customer 1 episode
1962 Zero One Mrs. Glorny Episode: "Gunpoint to Shannon"
Man of the World Mrs. Van Kempson Episode: "Portrait of a Girl"
The Andromeda Breakthrough Mrs. Neilson Episode: "Gale Warning"
BBC Sunday-Night Play Mrs. Marshall Episode: "Means to an End"
1963 This Is Your Life Herself Reality documentary
The Sentimental Agent Mamie Episode: "Never Play Cards with Strangers"
1964 Story Parade Mrs. Arquette Episode: "A Kiss Before Dying"
1965 The Wednesday Play Martha Burroughs Episode: "The Pistol"
1966 The Poppy Is Also a Flower Television film; uncredited
1968 ITV Playhouse Mrs. Teitelbaum Episode: "Bon Voyage"
Late Night Line-Up Herself
1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Mrs. Trotter Episode: "When Did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?"
Omnibus Episode: "Where Are You Going to My Pretty Maid?"
British Film Comedy Becky Episode: "Next to No Time"
1970 W. Somerset Maugham American lady Episode: "Jane"
Kate Lady Hartford-Cape Episode: "A Good Spec"
1971 Great Day Herself
Public Eye Chrissy Husack Episode: "The Beater and the Game"
From a Bird's Eye View Old Lady Episode: "Family Tree"
1973 Pollyanna Mrs. Snow Miniseries
1974 Mousey Mrs. Richardson Television film
1975 Shades of Greene St. Louis Woman Episode: "Cheap in August"
1976 Katy Mrs. Finch 3 episodes
1977 Good Afternoon! Herself
1978 Edward & Mrs. Simpson Maud Cunard Miniseries
The Hollywood Greats Herself Documentary series
1980 Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film Herself Documentary series
Nationwide Herself
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8.3.10 Radio :
Date Title Role Ref.
August 31, 1942 Ladies' Man Anita
October 30, 1942 Paul Temple Intervenes: "The October Hotel" Maisie
November 26, 1943 Entertainment Annual
October 3, 1944 News Headlines Host
October 8, 1944 Variety Band-Box Host
January 30, 1946 Vic Oliver Introduces...
January 19, 1947 Scrapbook for 1925
March 6, 1954 Theatre Royal: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"
December 4, 1954 Saturday-Night Theatre: "The Old Reliable" Adela Cork
June 16, 1955 Melville's Choice
July 30, 1955 Saturday-Night Theatre
April 18, 1957 Woman's Hour Narrator
August 8, 1957 Desert Island Discs Herself
December 29, 1961 I Remember Herself
December 31, 1963 Hollywood Memories Herself
March 21, 1966 Illumination Sister Constance Soulsby
July 13, 1968 Afternoon Theatre
March 28, 1970 Saturday-Night Theatre: "Mrs. Gibbons' Boys" Mrs. Gibbons
September 18, 1975 Afternoon Theatre
August 23, 1977 Spoon River
September 12, 1977 Star Sound Herself
February 27, 1978 The Monday Play: "Dark" by Victor Pemberton Virginia's mother
March 5, 1978 Afternoon Theatre
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8.3.11 Erroneous credits :
Love mistakenly has been identified as being in the cast of The Birth of a Nation (1915) as "a Piedmont girl", but she took steps in her later years to clarify that she was not in the film.
The Internet Movie Database lists Love as appearing in a 1915 film entitled Georgia Pearce. "Georgia Pearce" was actually the stage name used by actress Constance Talmadge for one of her roles in Intolerance, and it is not the name of a film.
Some sources include Love in the cast of Meet the Prince (1926). However, no contemporaneous sources do, and some sources note this as an error.
Love does not include any of the above films in her autobiography's filmography.
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