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.
Movies & TV Shows
-
The Night of the Hunter (1955) — Rachel Cooper
-
The Birth of a Nation (1915) — Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
-
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) — The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
-
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919) — Lucy Burrows
-
The Unforgiven (1960) — Mattilda Zachary
-
Duel in the Sun (1946) — Laura Belle McCanles
-
The Love Boat (1977) — Mrs. Williams
-
The Wind (1928) — Letty
-
Portrait of Jennie (1948) — Mother Mary of Mercy
-
Way Down East (1920) — Anna Moore
-
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) — Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
-
Orphans of the Storm (1921) — Henriette Girard
-
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) — The Little Lady
-
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) — Bessie Carnby
-
The Whales of August (1987) — Sarah Webber
-
A Wedding (1978) — Nettie Sloan
-
True Heart Susie (1919) — Susie May Trueheart
-
The Comedians (1967) — Mrs. Smith
-
Sweet Liberty (1986) — Cecelia Burgess
-
The Cobweb (1955) — Victoria Inch
-
The Mothering Heart (1913) — The Wife
-
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913) — Melissa Harlow
-
The Scarlet Letter (1927) — Hester Prynne
-
Follow Me, Boys! (1966) — Hetty Seibert
-
Judith of Bethulia (1914) — The Young Mother
-
The New York Hat (1912) — Customer in Shop / Outside Church
-
An Unseen Enemy (1912) — Eldest Sister
-
Warning Shot (1967) — Alice Willows
-
Orders to Kill (1958) — Mrs. Summers
-
Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942) — Mrs. Bergesen
-
Hearts of the World (1918) — The Girl - Marie Stephenson
-
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) — Self
-
The Painted Lady (1912) — Belle at Ice Cream Festival
-
The Dick Cavett Show (1968) — Self - Guest
-
A Romance of Happy Valley (1919) — Jennie Timberlake
-
Hollywood (1980) — Self
-
La Bohème (1926) — Mimi
-
Home, Sweet Home (1914) — Payne's Sweetheart
-
The Greatest Question (1919) — Nellie Jarvis
-
The White Sister (1923) — Angela Chiaromonte