Bessie starred in at least 200 melodrama, action westerns and crime films. In the 1910 she was visiting the Selig Film studios with a party of friends, when a director saw and liked her red hair because he said it would photograph a beautiful black, so he offered her a minor role, she had no formal training on stage, as did many early film actors, she was talented and soon rose to be one of Selig's most popular stars.
1925
as Ada Tremaine
1924
as Maybelle Wescott
1917
as Mary Moran
1917
as Jeanne
1917
as Texas Ryan
1917
as Madeleine, Mentor's Daughter
1916
as Virginia Carvel
1916
as Sunshine West
1915
as Mary Bishop
1915
as Ritta
1915
as Elsa - the Innkeeper's Daughte
1915
as Lydia Duane
1915
as Mildred Manning
1915
as Hope McTrigger
1915
as Mary Valjon
1914
as Sally Madison
1914
as Nellie Halton
1914
as Dr. Cecil Grantham
1914
as Jean Silver
1914
as Marie Le Groux
1914
as Joan, a Young French-Canadian
1914
as Isobel Deane
1914
as Sally Lattier - the Daughter
1914
as Helen Chester
1914
1914
as Bessie
1913
as Helen Brown
1913
as Starlight
1913
as Mrs. Ed Young
1912
as The Captain's Daughter
1911
as Conchita
1911
as Lat-to-nick