Portrait of Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

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.

Born: October 14, 1893

Place of Birth: Springfield, Ohio, USA

Filmography

2021
The Flapper

as (archive footage)

2019
2016
The Women Who Run Hollywood

as Self (archive footage)

2010
Sigrid Holmquist

as Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)

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)

1988
Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me

as Herself, Archive footage

1987
The Whales of August

as Sarah Webber

1986
Sweet Liberty

as Cecelia Burgess

1986
1984
1983
Hobson's Choice

as Miss Molly Winkle

1983
Hambone and Hillie

as Hillie Radcliffe

1981
Thin Ice

as Grandmother

1980
Hollywood

as Self

1978
A Wedding

as Nettie Sloan

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)

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
1961
The Spiral Staircase

as Mrs. Warren

1961
The Defenders

as Louisa Clarendon

1961
The Defenders

as Mrs. Cooper

1961
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 - Presenter

1956
Tony Awards

as Self - Award Accepter

1955
The Alcoa Hour

as Esther Crampton

1955
The Night of the Hunter

as Rachel Cooper

1955
The Cobweb

as Victoria Inch

1951
1948
Portrait of Jennie

as Mother Mary of Mercy

1946
Duel in the Sun

as Laura Belle McCanles

1946
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

1930
One Romantic Night

as Princess Alexandra

1928
The Wind

as Letty

1927
The Enemy

as Pauli Arndt

1927
Annie Laurie

as Annie Laurie

1927
The Scarlet Letter

as Hester Prynne

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

1920
Way Down East

as Anna Moore

1919
The Greatest Question

as Nellie Jarvis

1919
True Heart Susie

as Susie May Trueheart

1919
A Romance of Happy Valley

as Jennie Timberlake

1918
The Greatest Thing in Life

as Jeannette Peret

1918
The Great Love

as Susie Broadplains

1918
Hearts of the World

as The Girl - Marie Stephenson

1917
Souls Triumphant

as Lillian Vale

1916
The Children Pay

as Millicent

1916
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

as The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle

1916
An Innocent Magdalene

as Dorothy Raleigh

1916
1916
Daphne and the Pirate

as Daphne La Tour

1915
The Lily and the Rose

as Mary Randolph

1915
Enoch Arden

as Annie Lee

1915
The Lost House

as Dosia Dale

1915
The Birth of a Nation

as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie

1914
1914
The Tear That Burned

as Anita - the Truant

1914
The Angel of Contention

as Nettie - the Angel

1914
Home, Sweet Home

as Payne's Sweetheart

1914
The Battle of the Sexes

as Jane Andrews, the daughter

1914
Judith of Bethulia

as The Young Mother

1913
1913
An Indian's Loyalty

as The Ranchero's Daughter

1913
1913
A Timely Interception

as The Farmer's Daughter

1913
1913
The Lady and the Mouse

as The First Sister

1913
The Little Tease

as Girl in bandana

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
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
In the Aisles of the Wild

as The Younger Daughter

1912
1912
Two Daughters of Eve

as In Theatre Crowd

1912
An Unseen Enemy

as Eldest Sister

    Lillian Gish - Filmography | 321movies