# Betty Harte

Betty Harte (1882–1965) was a leading lady during the heyday of the silent film era, starring in nine feature films and 108 short films. She is credited with writing four screenplays. She chose Betty Harte as her professional name in honor of her favorite author, Bret Harte.

## Acting career

Harte appeared on stage with various stock entertainment companies in the eastern United States. While working as a secretary for a newspaper in Los Angeles, California, she was assigned to interview Selig Polyscope Company director Francis Boggs, who liked her appearance and demeanor and quickly signed her to an acting contract. She became the first leading lady of the Selig Polyscope Company's Los Angeles division and appeared in period dramas, swashbucklers, and Westerns.
She starred opposite with the company's flamboyant leading man, Hobart Bosworth, in the films: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908), The Sultan's Power (1909), The Roman (1910) and Across the Plain's (1910). She later excelled at playing Western heroines and co-starred with Thomas Santschi in Pride of the Range (1910) and Through Fire and Smoke (1911). She also co-starred with the famous Western actor and fellow Pennsylvanian Tom Mix in Pride of the Range (1910) and A Romance of the Rio Grande (1911).
Harte was known for doing her own stunts and while filming an underwater scene in Bermuda for Victory Pictures in the film The Mystery of the Poison Pool (1914) she was bitten by an angel fish and narrowly escaped a serious injury.
Two notable films she appeared in were In the Sultan's Power (1909) and The Coming of Columbus (1912). She co-starred with Hobart Bosworth in the short film In the Sultan's Power, which was the first film that was shot entirely on location in California. She co-starred with Marshall Stedman in the feature film The Coming of Columbus, which was a three-reel melodrama that was completely hand-tinted in Paris, France, and was an early all-color feature film.

## Personal life

Harte was born Daisey Mae Light in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, on May 13, 1882, to Theophilus Ozias Light and Agnes Mary Bohn. She had seven siblings, although only three lived to adulthood. By 1900, she was living in Philadelphia, where she was attending private school. She was the cousin of the American stage actress Margaret Illington. On October 17, 1907, she married Frank Hardy in Pasadena, California; sometime before 1917 they divorced. On September 12, 1917, she married Ralph Lewis Kruger. The 1920 census records states Ralph and Betty were living in Los Angeles, California, and Ralph either worked for or owned a motion picture theater and Betty had no occupation listed as she had retired from her film career four years earlier in 1916.
Throughout her life she was a bird collector and studied ornithology and was a student of botany, especially favoring flowers. While under contract with the Selig Polyscope Company she maintained a large bird enclosure on the grounds of their studio in Edendale, California, where she kept various species including mockingbirds and nightingales.
Harte said of her doctrine of success, "The more you travel, the more you see, the more you learn, the better your chance of interpreting even the smallest role correctly." She described herself as "Hollywood's First Movie Queen."
She died on January 3, 1965, in Sunland, California, and is buried in Glen Haven Memorial Park in Sylmar, California.

## Filmography

| Work | Format | Year | Role |
| The Heritage of Hate | Feature | 1916 | Myra (as Betty Hart) |
| The Man from Bitter Roots | Feature | 1916 | Undetermined |
| The Bait | Feature | 1916 | Margot |
| The Buzzard's Shadow | Feature | 1915 | Mrs. Sears (as Betty Hart) |
| Nancy of Stony Isle | short | 1915 | Nancy |
| The Mystery of the Poison Pool | Feature | 1914 | Dorothy |
| The Oath of a Viking | short | 1914 | Lydia - the King's Daughter |
| The Next in Command | Feature | 1914 | Zuleika (as Bettie Hart) |
| A Woman's Triumph | Feature | 1914 | Effie Deans |
| The Pride of Jennico | Feature | 1914 | The Gypsy Maid, Michel |
| A Nest Unfeathered | short | 1914 | The Foreman's Wife |
| Hoodman Blind | Feature | 1913 | Jess / Nance |
| The Ironmaster | short | 1913 | Betty |
| I Was Meant for You | short | 1913 | Susan |
| Bill's Sweetheart | short | 1913 | Little Maverick (as an adult) |
| An Indian Nemesis | short | 1913 | Hope (Col. West's daughter) (as Betty Hart) |
| Where Shore and Water Meet | short | 1913 | Mabel Newman - The Designer |
| Side Tracked by Sister | short | 1913 | Mother |
| The Noisy Six | short | 1913 | Unconfirmed |
| The Good in the Worst of Us | short | 1913 | Sergeant Williams' Wife |
| An Innocent Informer | short | 1913 | The Moonshiner's Daughter |
| Master and Man | short | 1913 | Ethel Pierce - Seymour's Fiancee (as Bettie Harte) |
| A Pair of Boots | short | 1912 | Unconfirmed |
| The Girl of the Mountains | short | 1912 | Tess Sutton - the Old Miner's Daughter |
| The Vintage of Fate | short | 1912 | Maria |
| Kings of the Forest | short | 1912 | Sona - Fritz's Wife |
| Her Educator | short | 1912 | The Kid |
| His Wedding Eve | short | 1912 | The Nurse |
| The Fisherboy's Faith | short | 1912 | Amanda's City Friend |
| Getting Atmosphere | short | 1912 | The Ingénue |
| How the Cause Was Won | short | 1912 | Mabel Moody |
| An Assisted Elopement | short | 1912 | Jeanette Wilson |
| The Pirate's Daughter | short | 1912 | Almita - the Pirate's Daughter |
| The Substitute Model | short | 1912 | Mary Carr - the Little Sister |
| The Man from Dragon Land | short | 1912 | Samantha - the Widow's Servant |
| The Polo Substitute | short | 1912 | Margaret Bush |
| The Girl and the Cowboy | short | 1912 | Nell Carter - The Belle of Three Pines |
| The Vow of Ysobel | short | 1912 | Ysobel |
| The Vision Beautiful | short | 1912 | The Serf |
| A Reconstructed Rebel | short | 1912 | Louise Yancey (as an adult) |
| Brains and Brawn | short | 1912 | Molly Jones |
| Me an' Bill | short | 1912 | Young Kitty |
| The Junior Officer | short | 1912 | Ethel's Maid |
| The 'Epidemic' in Paradise Gulch | short | 1912 | Miss Williams - the Schoolteacher |
| The Girl of the Lighthouse | short | 1912 | Jenna Jensen - the Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter |
| Bounder | short | 1912 | Ruby Blackwell |
| The Ace of Spades | short | 1912 | The Woman |
| The Shrinking Rawhide | short | 1912 | Mercedes |
| The Danites | short | 1912 | Nancy Williams |
| Disillusioned | short | 1912 | Marjorie Spofford |
| The Little Stowaway | short | 1912 | Dot - The Little Stowaway |
| Diplomat Interrupted | short | 1912 | Jessie Scott |
| The Secret Wedding | short | 1912 | Bessie Whalen |
| The Mate of the Alden Bessie | short | 1912 | Undetermined Secondary Role (unconfirmed) |
| A Modern Rip | short | 1912 | Rip's Daughter |
| The Little Widow | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| George Warrington's Escape | short | 1911 | Fanny Mountain |
| A Romance of the Rio Grande | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| The Maid at the Helm | short | 1911 | Elizabeth Barker |
| A Frontier Girl's Courage | short | 1911 | Mary Wilson |
| An Evil Power | short | 1911 | Alice Morgan |
| Blackbeard | short | 1911 | Senorita Lopez |
| The Bootlegger | short | 1911 | Mattie Fancher |
| In the Days of Gold | short | 1911 | Juanita Lopez |
| Old Billy | short | 1911 | Mrs. Dane |
| The Coquette | short | 1911 | Mabel - the Coquette |
| Captain Brand's Wife | short | 1911 | Ada Jackson - Captain Brand's Wife |
| Making a Man of Him | short | 1911 | Sallie Morgan - Bertie's Wife |
| Out-Generaled | short | 1911 | Bessie Darrow |
| The Artist's Sons | short | 1911 | Model No. 1 |
| Shipwrecked | short | 1911 | Annie Jackson |
| A Cup of Cold Water | short | 1911 | The Padre's Ward |
| The Heart of John Barlow | short | 1911 | Lucy Barlow |
| How Algy Captured a Wild Man | short | 1911 | Maud Lorimer |
| Through Fire and Smoke | short | 1911 | Betty St. Clair - the Factory Girl |
| The Blacksmith's Love | short | 1911 | Undetermined Secondary Role (unconfirmed, uncredited) |
| The Regeneration of Apache Kid | short | 1911 | Mary Worthington - the Colonel's Daughter |
| Their Only Son | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| Slick's Romance | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| The Knight Errant | short | 1911 | Yvette |
| The Profligate | short | 1911 | Mercedes - Pauline's Sister |
| It Happened in the West | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| The White Medicine Man | short | 1911 | Mlle. Julie |
| The New Faith | short | 1911 | The Slave Girl |
| A Sacrifice to Civilization | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| Told in the Sierras | short | 1911 | Sallie Winton - Jake's Wife |
| Range Pals | short | 1911 | Danny |
| Where There's a Will, There's a Way | short | 1911 | Miss Hay |
| The Herders | short | 1911 | Wana |
| The Still Alarm | short | 1911 | Cad Wilber |
| The Haven of Refuge | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| The Spy | short | 1911 | Unconfirmed |
| Pride of the Range | short | 1910 | Unconfirmed |
| Justinian and Theodora | short | 1910 | Theodora |
| A Tale of the Sea | short | 1910 | Bill's Sweetheart / Tom's Wife |
| The Schoolmaster of Mariposa | short | 1910 | Miss Williams |
| In the Great Northwest | short | 1910 | Julie - the Factor's Daughter |
| Davy Crockett | short | 1910 | Unconfirmed |
| The Common Enemy | short | 1910 | Unconfirmed |
| Across the Plains | short | 1910 | Unconfirmed |
| The Roman | short | 1910 | Unconfirmed |
| The Courtship of Miles Standish | short | 1910 | Unconfirmed |
| The Christian Martyrs | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| Pine Ridge Feud | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| On the Little Big Horn or Custer's Last Stand | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| On the Border | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| Up San Juan Hill | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| The Stampede | short | 1909 | Mabel - The Ranch Owner's Daughter |
| The Leopard Queen | short | 1909 | Jessie Ownes - the Captain's Daughter |
| In the Sultan's Power | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| In the Badlands | short | 1909 | Isabel Walton - the Colonel's Daughter |
| Boots and Saddles | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| The Tenderfoot | short | 1909 | Unconfirmed |
| The Spirit of '76 | short | 1908 | Unconfirmed |
| Damon and Pythias | short | 1908 | Unconfirmed |
| Rip Van Winkle | short | 1908 | Unconfirmed |
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | short | 1908 | Unconfirmed |

## Screenplays

* The Bridge of Sighs (1915) – scenario
* The Little Stowaway (1912) – short, scenario
* Their Only Son (1911) – short
* The Spy (1911) – short
A scenario is a sketch or outline of a story, which gives the reader an idea of events without including all the details.

## Picture gallery

* Betty Harte and Hobart Bosworth in The Roman (1910)
* Betty Harte starring in Fighting for Eternal Peace - Movie Poster (1918)
* Betty Harte and Wheeler Oakman in How the Cause Was Won (1912)
* Betty Harte and Baby Lillian Wade - ca. 1914
* Betty Harte - in The Mystery of the Poison Pool (1914)
* Do You Know Betty Harte of the Movies (1912)
* Betty Harte and Bob Leonard in The Politician (1908)
* Betty Harte - color photo card - ca. 1910
* Betty Harte - Dame Industrious (1916)