Lillian Gish
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.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (41)
The Flapper
as (archive footage)
2021
I Am Not a Racist
as Elsie
2019
The Women Who Run Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
2016
Night Hunter
2011
Sigrid Holmquist
as Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
2010
Early Directors on Directing
as Self
2009
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies
as Self (archive footage)
2008
D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery 1909-1913
2002
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
as Lucy - The Girl (archive footage)
1998
Moving Pictures: 'The Night of the Hunter'
as Self
1995
The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors
Thanks (Crew)
1993
Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me
as Herself, Archive footage
1988
The Whales of August
as Sarah Webber
1987
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
as Self
1987
Sweet Liberty
as Cecelia Burgess
1986
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
as Mrs Loftus
1986
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
as Self (archive footage)
1986
Night of 100 Stars II
as Self
1985
Lillian Gish
as Self
1984
Hobson's Choice
as Miss Molly Winkle
1983
Hambone and Hillie
as Hillie Radcliffe
1983
Night of 100 Stars
as Self
1982
Thin Ice
as Grandmother
1981
A Wedding
as Nettie Sloan
1978
Twin Detectives
as Billy Jo Haskins
1976
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
as Self (archive footage)
1975
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
Langlois
as Self
1970
Arsenic and Old Lace
as Martha Brewster
1969
The Comedians
as Mrs. Smith
1967
The Comedians in Africa
as Self (uncredited)
1967
Warning Shot
as Alice Willows
1967
Lionpower from MGM
as Self - Mrs. Smith (archive footage) (uncredited)
1967
Follow Me, Boys!
as Hetty Seibert
1966
The Love Goddesses
as (Archive Footage)
1965
Mrs. Winchester's House
as Narrator
1963
The Great Chase
1962
The Spiral Staircase
as Mrs. Warren
1961
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
as Self (archive footage)
1961
The Unforgiven
as Mattilda Zachary
1960
Orders to Kill
as Mrs. Summers
1958
TV Shows (9)
Hollywood
as Self
1980
The Kennedy Center Honors
as Self
1978
The Love Boat
as Mrs. Williams
1977
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
as Self
1973
The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - Guest
1968
Mr. Novak
as Maude Phipps
1963
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as Bessie Carnby
1962
The Defenders
as Louisa Clarendon
1961
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter
1956