Lillian Gish
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.
Known For
Credits
- 2014 · And the Oscar Goes To... as Self (archive footage)
- 2008 · Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies as Self (archive footage)
- 2007 · Cannes: All Access as Self (archive footage)
- 2005 · VM Show Vol. 2 as Rachel Cooper (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2002 · D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery 1909-1913 as
- 2002 · Charles Laughton Directs 'The Night of the Hunter' as Self (archive footage)
- 1995 · Moving Pictures: 'The Night of the Hunter' as Self
- 1987 · The Whales of August as Sarah Webber
- 1986 · Sweet Liberty as Cecelia Burgess
- 1985 · Night of 100 Stars II as Self
- 1983 · Hambone and Hillie as Hillie Radcliffe
- 1982 · Night of 100 Stars as Self
- 1980 · Hollywood as Self
- 1978 · The Kennedy Center Honors as Self
- 1978 · A Wedding as Nettie Sloan
- 1977 · The Love Boat as Mrs. Williams
- 1974 · Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1973 · The American Film Institute Salute to ... as Self
- 1970 · Langlois as Self
- 1969 · Arsenic and Old Lace as Martha Brewster
- 1968 · The Dick Cavett Show as Self - Guest
- 1967 · The Comedians as Mrs. Smith
- 1967 · The Comedians in Africa as Self (uncredited)
- 1967 · Warning Shot as Alice Willows
- 1966 · Follow Me, Boys! as Hetty Seibert
- 1963 · Mr. Novak as Maude Phipps
- 1962 · The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Bessie Carnby
- 1961 · The Defenders as Louisa Clarendon
- 1961 · The Defenders as Mrs. Cooper
- 1960 · The Unforgiven as Mattilda Zachary
- 1958 · Orders to Kill as Mrs. Summers
- 1956 · Tony Awards as Self - Presenter
- 1956 · Tony Awards as Self - Award Accepter
- 1955 · The Alcoa Hour as Esther Crampton
- 1955 · Playwrights '56 as
- 1955 · The Night of the Hunter as Rachel Cooper
- 1955 · The Cobweb as Victoria Inch
- 1951 · Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Grandma Moses
- 1950 · Robert Montgomery Presents as
- 1948 · Portrait of Jennie as Mother Mary of Mercy
- 1948 · The Philco Television Playhouse as Abby
- 1948 · The Philco Television Playhouse as Narrator
- 1948 · The Philco Television Playhouse as Carrie Watts
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
- 1946 · Duel in the Sun as Laura Belle McCanles
- 1942 · Commandos Strike at Dawn as Mrs. Bergesen
- 1933 · His Double Life as Alice Chalice
- 1928 · The Wind as Letty
- 1927 · Annie Laurie as Annie Laurie
- 1927 · The Scarlet Letter as Hester Prynne
- 1925 · Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
- 1923 · The White Sister as Angela Chiaromonte
- 1921 · Orphans of the Storm as Henriette Girard
- 1921 · Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20) as Herself
- 1920 · Way Down East as Anna Moore
- 1919 · The Greatest Question as Nellie Jarvis
- 1919 · True Heart Susie as Susie May Trueheart
- 1919 · Broken Blossoms as Lucy Burrows
- 1919 · A Romance of Happy Valley as Jennie Timberlake
- 1918 · Hearts of the World as The Girl - Marie Stephenson
- 1916 · Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages as The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
- 1916 · Sold for Marriage as Marfa
- 1916 · Daphne and the Pirate as Daphne La Tour
- 1915 · The Birth of a Nation as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
- 1914 · Home, Sweet Home as Payne's Sweetheart
- 1913 · The Mothering Heart as The Wife
- Future · I Am Not a Racist as Elsie
- 2021 · The Flapper as (archive footage)
- 2016 · The Women Who Run Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- 2011 · Night Hunter as
- 2010 · Sigrid Holmquist as Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
- 1998 · Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists as Lucy - The Girl (archive footage)
- 1988 · Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me as Herself, Archive footage
- 1986 · The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Mrs Loftus
- 1986 · Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown as Self (archive footage)
- 1983 · Hobson's Choice as Miss Molly Winkle
- 1983 · Lillian Gish as Herself
- 1981 · Thin Ice as Grandmother
- 1976 · Twin Detectives as Billy Jo Haskins
- 1975 · Black Shadows on a Silver Screen as Self (archive footage)
- 1965 · The Love Goddesses as (archive footage)
- 1963 · Mrs. Winchester's House as Narrator
- 1961 · The Spiral Staircase as Mrs. Warren
- 1961 · The Legend of Rudolph Valentino as Self (archive footage)
- 1955 · Film Fun as (archive footage)
- 1953 · The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts
- 1946 · Miss Susie Slagle's as Miss Susie Slagle
- 1943 · Top Man as Beth Warren
- 1930 · One Romantic Night as Princess Alexandra
- 1927 · The Enemy as Pauli Arndt
- 1926 · La Bohème as Mimi
- 1924 · Romola as Romola
- 1922 · From Farm to Fame as Lillian Gish
- 1918 · The Greatest Thing in Life as Jeannette Peret
- 1918 · Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal as
- 1918 · The Great Love as Susie Broadplains
- 1917 · Souls Triumphant as Lillian Vale
- 1916 · The House Built Upon Sand as Evelyn Dare
- 1916 · The Children Pay as Millicent
- 1916 · Diane of the Follies as Diane
- 1916 · An Innocent Magdalene as Dorothy Raleigh
- 1916 · Pathways of Life as
- 1915 · The Lily and the Rose as Mary Randolph
- 1915 · Captain Macklin as Beatrice
- 1915 · Enoch Arden as Annie Lee
- 1915 · The Lost House as Dosia Dale
- 1915 · His Lesson as Participant in Mob Scene (uncredited)
- 1914 · The Sisters as May
- 1914 · The Folly of Anne as Anne
- 1914 · The Tear That Burned as Anita - the Truant
- 1914 · Man's Enemy as Grace Lisle
- 1914 · The Angel of Contention as Nettie - the Angel
- 1914 · Lord Chumley as Eleanor Butterworth
- 1914 · The Rebellion of Kitty Belle as Kitty Belle
- 1914 · The Quicksands as
- 1914 · The Battle of the Sexes as Jane Andrews, the daughter
- 1914 · The Hunchback as The Orphan - as an Adult
- 1914 · Judith of Bethulia as The Young Mother
- 1914 · The Green-Eyed Devil as Mary Miller
- 1914 · A Duel for Love as
- 1913 · The Conscience of Hassan Bey as The Rugmaker's Daughter
- 1913 · The Battle at Elderbush Gulch as Melissa Harlow
- 1913 · The Blue or the Gray as
- 1913 · Madonna of the Storm as The Mother
- 1913 · So Runs the Way as Fred's Wife
- 1913 · A Modest Hero as The Wife
- 1913 · A Woman in the Ultimate as Verda
- 1913 · An Indian's Loyalty as The Ranchero's Daughter
- 1913 · During the Round-Up as The Ranchero's Daughter
- 1913 · A Timely Interception as The Farmer's Daughter
- 1913 · Just Gold as The First Brother's Sweetheart
- 1913 · The House of Darkness as The Nurse
- 1913 · The Lady and the Mouse as The First Sister
- 1913 · The Left-Handed Man as The Old Soldier's Daughter
- 1913 · A Misunderstood Boy as The Daughter
- 1913 · The Little Tease as Girl in bandana
- 1913 · The Stolen Bride as
- 1913 · The Unwelcome Guest as At Auction (uncredited)
- 1913 · Oil and Water as In First Audience (uncredited)
- 1912 · A Cry for Help as The Maid
- 1912 · The Burglar’s Dilemma as Birthday Wellwisher
- 1912 · The New York Hat as Customer in Shop / Outside Church
- 1912 · Brutality as At Theatre
- 1912 · The Informer as Walk on role
- 1912 · My Baby as
- 1912 · Gold and Glitter as The Young Woman
- 1912 · The Musketeers of Pig Alley as The Little Lady
- 1912 · The Painted Lady as Belle at Ice Cream Festival
- 1912 · The One She Loved as
- 1912 · In the Aisles of the Wild as The Younger Daughter
- 1912 · So Near, Yet So Far as A Friend
- 1912 · Two Daughters of Eve as In Theatre Crowd
- 1912 · An Unseen Enemy as Eldest Sister
- Future · Early Directors on Directing as