Belle Bennett

American actress (1891–1932)

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.

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.

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). 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. 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). 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.