Belle Bennett

Belle Bennett (born Ara Belle Bennett; April 22, 1891 – November 4, 1932) was a stage and screen actress who started her career as a child as a circus performer. She later performed in theater and films.

Belle Bennett
Bennett in 1923
Born	Ara Belle Bennett (1891-04-22)April 22, 1891 Milaca, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	November 4, 1932(1932-11-04) (aged 41) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1909–1931
Spouses	Howard Ralph Macy ​ ​ (m. 1908; div. 1913)​ Jack Oaker ​ (divorced)​ Fred Windemere ​ (m. 1924)​
Children	3

Early life and career

Bennett was born in Milaca, Minnesota, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Bennett. Her father, "Billie," managed a tent-and-wagon show that toured the Midwestern United States.

Motion pictures

Bennett was working as a film actress by 1913, and she was cast in numerous one-reel shorts by small east coast film companies. She appeared in minor movies like A Ticket to Red Horse Gulch (Mutual 1914). She starred in several full-length films by the Triangle Film Corporation, including The Lonely Woman (1918). She also appeared in United States Motion Picture Corporation's film Flesh and Spirit (1922).

In The Lonely Woman (1918)

She made the move to Hollywood before Samuel Goldwyn selected her from 73 actresses for the leading role in Stella Dallas (1925). While she was filming the movie, her son, 16-year-old William Howard Macy, died. Macy had posed as Bennett's brother for some time, owing to her fear that her employers might find out her true age. She was actually 34 rather than 24, which she had claimed to be. Because of the loss of her son, Bennett became close to her co-stars Lois Moran and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who were also 16 at the time.

Stars of the Photoplay, 1930

After playing the mother role in Stella Dallas, Bennett was typecast for the remainder of her film career. She later appeared in Mother Machree (1928), The Battle of the Sexes (1928), The Iron Mask (1929), Courage (1930), Recaptured Love (1930) and The Big Shot (1931).

Marriages

Bennett was married three times. Her first husband was Howard Ralph Macy of La Crosse, Wisconsin. They had a son together, William Howard Macy. After Billy's death, she adopted at least one other child, Theodore Macy, who was 22 when she died.

Jack Oaker, a sailor at the submarine base in San Pedro, California, was married to her when she worked with the Triangle Film Corporation in 1918.

On November 27, 1924, she married film director Fred Windemere, and she remained with him until her death.

Death

Bennett died on November 4, 1932, in Hollywood, California. Her attending physician registered her cause of death as general carcinomatosis.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Bennett posthumously was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame during the initial ceremonies in 1960. She received a motion pictures star, located at 1511 Vine Street.

Partial filmography

• Who Is the Savage? (1913)
• Through the Sluice Gates (1913)
• A Ticket to Red Horse Gulch (1914)
• Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1914)
• Mignon (1915)
• Fires of Rebellion (1917)
• The Devil Dodger (1917)
• The Fuel of Life (1917)
• The Charmer (1917)
• Bond of Fear (1917)
• Ashes of Hope (1917)
• Because of a Woman (1917)
• The Last Rebel (1918)
• The Lonely Woman (1918)
• The Atom (1918)
• Reckoning Day (1918)
• The Mayor of Filbert (1919)
• Your Best Friend (1922)
• Flesh and Spirit (1922)
• Hello, 'Frisco (1924)
• His Supreme Moment (1925)
• Playing with Souls (1925)
• If Marriage Fails (1925)
• Stella Dallas (1925)
• East Lynne (1925)
• The Lily (1926)
• Fourth Commandment (1926)
• The Way of All Flesh (1927)
• Wild Geese (1927)
• The Devil's Skipper (1928)
• The Power of Silence (1928)
• Mother Machree (1928)
• The Sporting Age (1928)
• The Battle of the Sexes (1928)
• The Iron Mask (1929)
• Their Own Desire (1929)
• My Lady's Past (1929)
• Molly and Me (1929)
• Courage (1930)
• Recaptured Love (1930)
• The Big Shot (1931)

References

• Los Angeles Times, Found Unconscious, July 25, 1918, p. I10.
• Los Angeles Times, Death Takes Star of Stella Dallas, November 5, 1932, p. A1.
• Ankerich, Michael G. Broken Silence: Conversations With 23 Silent Film Stars. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC. 1993. p. 215

Further reading

• Michael G. Ankerich (2017). Hairpins and Dead Ends: The Perilous Journeys of 25 Actresses Through Early Hollywood. BearManor. ISBN 978-1-62933-201-7.

External links

• Belle Bennett at IMDb
• Belle Bennett at the Internet Broadway Database
• Belle Bennett at AllMovie
• Belle Bennett at Find a Grave
• Belle Bennett profile, virtual-history.com