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.
Filmography
The Spoilers
as Helen Chester
The Crisis
as Virginia Carvel
The Heart of Texas Ryan
as Texas Ryan
Blackbeard
as Conchita
The Law North of 65
as Jeanne
Twisted Trails
as Sunshine West
When the West Was Young
as Nellie Halton
Cheap Kisses
as Maybelle Wescott
Lassoing a Lion
as Mary Valjon
His Fighting Blood
as Hope McTrigger
The Red Blood of Courage
as Lydia Duane
The Fork in the Road
as Elsa - the Innkeeper's Daughte
The Great Experiment
as Ritta
The Two Natures Within Him
as Mary Bishop
The Girl of Gold
as Ada Tremaine
The Mate of the Alden Bessie
as The Captain's Daughter
Alone in the Jungle
as Helen Brown
The Way of a Man with a Maid
as Gladys
The Usurper
as Margaret Quentin
A Man of Honor
as Christabel Beaumont