Lillian Gish (October 14, 1893 - February 27, 1993), was an American actress. Born Lillian Diana de Guiche in Springfield, Ohio, she was the sister of actress Dorothy Gish.
The Gish sisters' mother Mary began acting in order to support the family after her husband abandoned them. When Lillian and Dorothy were old enough, they joined her act. They also took modeling jobs. In 1914, they met Mary Pickford, and she got them contracts with Biograph[?] studios. Their first role was in An Unseen Enemy[?], directed by D.W. Griffith.
Having appeared in over 25 short films and features in her first two years in Hollywood, Lillian became a major star, becoming known as "The First Lady of the Silent Screen". Preferring silent movies, she spurned talkies until MGM finally let her go from her contract in 1928. She acted on the stage for the most part in the 1930s and early 1940s, prefering to care for the aging Griffith and his wife in their later years.
Returning to movies, Gish was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1946 for Duel in the Sun. She appeared in films from time to time for the rest of her life, in 1971 winning a special Academy Award "For superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures." In 1984 she received an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award.
Her last major role was in The Whales of August[?] in 1987, although she had an uncredited role in Bamboozled (in the excerpt of The Birth of a Nation) in 2000.
The Smashing Pumpkins named their first Album Gish after her.
Filmography
- The Birth of a Nation (1915)
- Broken Blossoms (1919)
- The White Sister[?] (1923)
- The Wind (1928)
- Duel in the Sun (1946)
- The Night of the Hunter (1955)
External links
- Official website (http://www.cmgww.com/stars/gish/)
- Extensive filmography (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Gish,+Lillian) at the IMDB