Lillian Gish
Born: 1893-10-14 in Springfield, Ohio, USA
Died: 1993-02-27
Known For: Acting
Biography
Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987. She was a prominent film star of the 1910s and 1920s, particularly associated with the films of director D.W. Griffith, including her leading role in Griffith's seminal Birth of a Nation (1915). Her sound-era film appearances were sporadic, but included memorable roles in the controversial western Duel in the Sun (1946) and the offbeat thriller Night of the Hunter (1955). She did considerable television work from the early 1950s into the 1980s, and closed her career playing, for the first time, opposite Bette Davis in the 1987 film The Whales of August. The American Film Institute (AFI) named Gish 17th among the greatest female stars of all time. She was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1971, and in 1984 she received an AFI Life Achievement Award.
Filmography
2021
- The Flapper as (archive footage)
2019
- I Am Not a Racist as Elsie (archive footage) (uncredited)
2016
- The Women Who Run Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
2014
- Discovering: Robert Mitchum as Self (archive footage)
2011
2010
- Sigrid Holmquist as Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
2009
- Early Directors on Directing as Self
2008
- Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies as Self (archive footage)
1998
- Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists as Lucy - The Girl (archive footage)
1995
- The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies as Self (archive footage)
- Moving Pictures: 'The Night of the Hunter' as Self
1993
- The Making of 'The Birth of a Nation' as Self (Archive footage)
- The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors ... (Thanks)
1988
- Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me as Herself, Archive footage
1987
- The Whales of August as Sarah Webber
- Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood as Self
1986
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Mrs Loftus
- Sweet Liberty as Cecelia Burgess
- Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown as Self (archive footage)
1985
- Night of 100 Stars II as Self
1984
- Lillian Gish as Self
1983
- Hambone and Hillie as Hillie Radcliffe
- Hobson's Choice as Miss Molly Winkle
1982
- Night of 100 Stars as Self
1981
- Thin Ice as Grandmother
1980
- Hollywood as Self
1978
- The Kennedy Center Honors as Self
- A Wedding as Nettie Sloan
- Sparrow as Widow
1977
- The Love Boat as Mrs. Williams
1976
- Twin Detectives as Billy Jo Haskins
1975
- Black Shadows on a Silver Screen as Self (archive footage)
1974
- Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1973
1971
- Film '72 as Self
1970
- Langlois as Self
1969
- Arsenic and Old Lace as Martha Brewster
1968
- The Dick Cavett Show as Self - Guest
1967
- Warning Shot as Alice Willows
- The Comedians as Mrs. Smith
- Lionpower from MGM as Self - Mrs. Smith (archive footage) (uncredited)
- The Comedians in Africa as Self (uncredited)
1966
- Follow Me, Boys! as Hetty Seibert
1963
- Mr. Novak as Maude Phipps
- Mrs. Winchester's House as Narrator
1962
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Bessie Carnby
- The Great Chase
1961
- The Defenders as Louisa Clarendon
- The Spiral Staircase as Mrs. Warren
- The Legend of Rudolph Valentino as Self (archive footage)
1960
- The Unforgiven as Mattilda Zachary
1958
- Orders to Kill as Mrs. Summers
1956
- Tony Awards as Self - Award Accepter
1955
- The Night of the Hunter as Rachel Cooper
- Playwrights '56
- The Alcoa Hour as Esther Crampton
- The Cobweb as Victoria Inch
- Film Fun as (archive footage)
1953
- The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts
1951
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Grandma Moses
1948
- The Philco Television Playhouse as Abby
- The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
- Portrait of Jennie as Mother Mary of Mercy
1946
- Duel in the Sun as Laura Belle McCanles
- Miss Susie Slagle's as Miss Susie Slagle
1943
- Top Man as Beth Warren
1942
- Commandos Strike at Dawn as Mrs. Bergesen
1933
- His Double Life as Alice Chalice
1932
- The Movie Album as (archive footage)
1930
- One Romantic Night as Princess Alexandra
1928
- The Wind as Letty
1927
- The Scarlet Letter as Hester Prynne
- Annie Laurie as Annie Laurie
- The Enemy as Pauli Arndt
1926
- La Bohème as Mimi
1925
- Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
1924
- Romola as Romola
1923
- The White Sister as Angela Chiaromonte
1922
- From Farm to Fame as Lillian Gish
1921
- Orphans of the Storm as Henriette Girard
- Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20) as Herself
1920
- Way Down East as Anna Moore
- Remodeling Her Husband ... (Director)
1919
- Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl as Lucy Burrows
- A Romance of Happy Valley as Jennie Timberlake
- True Heart Susie as Susie May Trueheart
- The Greatest Question as Nellie Jarvis
1918
- Hearts of the World as The Girl - Marie Stephenson
- The Great Love as Susie Broadplains
- Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal
- The Greatest Thing in Life as Jeannette Peret
1917
- Souls Triumphant as Lillian Vale
1916
- Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages as The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
- The Children Pay as Millicent
- Diane of the Follies as Diane
- Sold for Marriage as Marfa
- An Innocent Magdalene as Dorothy Raleigh
- Daphne and the Pirate as Daphne La Tour
- Pathways of Life
- The House Built Upon Sand as Evelyn Dare
1915
- The Birth of a Nation as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
- Enoch Arden as Annie Lee
- Captain Macklin as Beatrice
- His Lesson as Participant in Mob Scene (uncredited)
- The Lost House as Dosia Dale
- The Lily and the Rose as Mary Randolph
1914
- The Sisters as May
- Home, Sweet Home as Payne's Sweetheart
- The Folly of Anne as Anne
- Judith of Bethulia as The Young Mother
- A Duel for Love
- The Tear That Burned as Anita - the Truant
- The Battle of the Sexes as Jane Andrews, the daughter
- The Green-Eyed Devil as Mary Miller
- Lord Chumley as Eleanor Butterworth
- The Hunchback as The Orphan - as an Adult
- The Rebellion of Kitty Belle as Kitty Belle
- Man's Enemy as Grace Lisle
- The Angel of Contention as Nettie - the Angel
- The Quicksands
1913
- The Battle at Elderbush Gulch as Melissa Harlow
- Just Gold as The First Brother's Sweetheart
- So Runs the Way as Fred's Wife
- A Modest Hero as The Wife
- A Misunderstood Boy as The Daughter
- The Mothering Heart as The Wife
- Madonna of the Storm as The Mother
- The Stolen Bride
- Oil and Water as In First Audience (uncredited)
- A Timely Interception as The Farmer's Daughter
- An Indian's Loyalty as The Ranchero's Daughter
- The Unwelcome Guest as At Auction (uncredited)
- The House of Darkness as The Nurse
- The Lady and the Mouse as The First Sister
- The Left-Handed Man as The Old Soldier's Daughter
- The Little Tease as Girl in bandana
- During the Round-Up as The Ranchero's Daughter
- The Conscience of Hassan Bey as The Rugmaker's Daughter
- A Woman in the Ultimate as Verda
- The Blue or the Gray
1912
- Two Daughters of Eve as In Theatre Crowd
- Brutality as At Theatre
- An Unseen Enemy as Eldest Sister
- The One She Loved
- So Near, Yet So Far as A Friend
- The New York Hat as Customer in Shop / Outside Church
- The Informer as Walk on role
- A Cry for Help as The Maid
- The Musketeers of Pig Alley as The Little Lady
- Gold and Glitter as The Young Woman
- In the Aisles of the Wild as The Younger Daughter
- My Baby
- The Painted Lady as Belle at Ice Cream Festival
- The Burglar’s Dilemma as Birthday Wellwisher