Born in New York City. Warner Bros. screenwriter whose career was ended when he was named one of the Hollywood Ten. His screen credits include NORTHERN PURSUIT (1943), THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU (1944), OBJECTIVE, BURMA! and HOTEL BERLIN (both 1945), and RUTHLESS and SMART WOMAN (both 1948). Bessie was sentenced to one year in prison and, unlike most of his fellow victims, never worked in the US film industry again. Nedrick Young did front one of his stories for the 1951 Paramount western, PASSAGE WEST (1951). His son Dan wrote and directed the feature film, HARD TRAVELING (1985), adapted from Bessie's book Bread and a Stone.  Nominated for Writing (Original Story) 1945: OBJECTIVE, BURMA! 1 nomination