Bessie Love

Bessie Love ( born September 10, 1898 in Midland, Texas, † April 26, 1986 in London, England; actually Juanita Horton ) was an American actress whose career stretched from the early silent film days until the early 1980s. It became known as the first musical star of the talkies.

Career

Bessie Love began her career in 1915 and made ​​it in the following year by rolling to the side of Douglas Fairbanks and William S. Hart, to attract the attention of audiences and critics. David Wark Griffith gave her the role of "Bride of Cana" in his monumental movie intolerance. The actress did not make the leap to Topstar however. In every good role was followed by numerous appearances in B- movies. In 1922 she was chosen as one of the first WAMPAS Baby Stars. In 1925, she thereto in the movie The King of Main Street, a Charleston on the canvas.

1929, now under contract with MGM, Bessie Love managed a comeback. It took over one of the two main female roles in the musical The Broadway Melody, who created a new genre with the slogan "All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing". Her portrayal of a young dancer 's unhappy love Bessie Love won a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. After some less successful performances in musicals she explained in 1931 their withdrawal from the film business. The next year she was more or less successfully on various stages and vaudeville, so among other things, the New York Palace. Since 1935, the actress moved completely over to England and lived for the rest of her life in London. Numerous appearances in British films as well as on stage and television kept their names in the minds of viewers. In addition, Bessie Love wrote some pieces and stage shows, including the drama Homecoming of 1958.

Her most famous performances of the later years included the role as a mother of Isadora Duncan alongside Vanessa Redgrave in Karel Reisz's Isadora and a small part in John Schlesinger's Sunday, Bloody Sunday. In 1972, she had a great success as Aunt Pittypat in the stage version of Gone with the Wind. Your last performances she had seen in 1981 in Reds by Warren Beatty and desire from the year 1983. She died at the age of 87 years. She was with the theatrical agent and later film producer William Hawks, brother of Howard Hawks, married.

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, height 6777 Hollywood Boulevard, recalls the actress.

Awards

• Academy Awards 1930 ( April ): nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Broadway Melody

Filmography (selection)