Bessie Barriscale

Bessie Barriscale was an American silent film and stage actress, and a major star for producer Thomas Ince in the late 1910s.

Barriscale was born Elizabeth Barry Scale, in Hoboken, New Jersey to Irish immigrants from County Cork. Her cousins were actresses Edith and Mabel Taliaferro. In the first decade of the 20th century Barriscale worked in the legitimate theater on Broadway and on the road as movies were not popular for stage actors yet. She began her film career in 1913, and worked intensively for New York Motion Picture Company and Triangle Film Corporation until she announced her retirement in the early 1930s. In 1918, Barriscale was contracted by J.L. Frothingham of B.B. Features and the Roberson Cole Company to make sixteen films. B.B. Features was an Arizona corporation. The movies were to be completed, produced, and delivered by January 21, 1921. At this time Miss Barriscales managers insured her life for a half million dollars against eventualities. The total cost of the features totaled more than 1,000,000.

Source: Wikipedia