A cool and beautiful brunette, Barbara Bedford (born Violet Rose) appeared opposite William S. Hart in one of her earliest films, The Cradle of Courage (1920). It was not a large part, but director Maurice Tourneur liked her and cast her later that year as Cora Munro in his beautiful version of The Last of the Mohicans. Cora's death scene made her a star -- at least for a little while. Hart used her again, this time as his leading lady in Tumbleweeds (1925), the great cowboy's last film, and there were several roles opposite the rising star John Gilbert. She should have made the transition to talkies with ease, but a surprisingly throaty voice proved completely at odds with her ingenue image. The result was a trip down Poverty Row studios (Chesterfield, @Peerless}, and Monogram) in bit parts. She turned up in Our Gang shorts as Alfalfa's mother and was billed as "USO Manager" in The Clock (1945), her final credited film. Bedford was at one time married to actor Alan Roscoe, who had co-starred as Uncas in The Last of the Mohicans.
by Hans J. Wollstein
biography
