The silent era 1915–20: Young ingenue '' (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 placed her under personal contract. "Bessie, because any child can pronounce it. And Love, because we want everyone to love her!" 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.—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). 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.
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. 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 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. 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 she could afford lessons in singing and dancing.
The sound era and stage work 1929–30: Musical comedy star 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. 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."
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." 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.
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
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
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'' (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. On television, Love appeared in dozens of episodes of British
television shows in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. 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, actor
Percy Marmont, 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) and as an "American Lady" in
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 (1976),
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), and ''
Gulliver's Travels (1981), and into the 1980s with roles in Ragtime (1981), Reds (1981), Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981), and her final film The Hunger'' (1983). == Personal life ==