Gish, Lillian

Gish, Lillian

▪ American actress
in full  Lillian Diana Gish 
born Oct. 14, 1893, Springfield, Ohio, U.S. [see Researcher's Note]
died Feb. 27, 1993, New York, N.Y.
 American actress who, like her sister Dorothy (Gish, Dorothy), was a major figure in the early motion picture industry, particularly in director D.W. Griffith's (Griffith, D W) silent film classics. She is regarded as one of silent cinema's finest actresses.

      Gish grew up from roughly 1900 in New York City and made her stage debut at age five. During Lillian and Dorothy's years as child actresses, they formed close friendships with Mary Pickford (Pickford, Mary) (then still known as Gladys Mary Smith), who in 1912 introduced them to Griffith. Immediately struck by their beauty and charm, he gave them small parts in a series of silent movies, beginning with An Unseen Enemy (1912), and the next year placed them under contract to his studio. Almost from the start Lillian was the more popular of the two. An extra measure of winsome appeal in such two-reelers as The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), The Mothering Heart (1913), and Judith of Bethulia (1914) won her a large audience of admirers; and after her appearance in The Birth of a Nation (1915), she was established as one of Hollywood's top stars. In Intolerance (1916) and Broken Blossoms (1919) she embodied the ideal of the innocent, vulnerable heroine.

 Lillian and Dorothy appeared together in several of Griffith's greatest films, including Home, Sweet Home (1914), The Sisters (1914), Hearts of the World (1918), and Orphans of the Storm (1921). In 1920 Lillian both appeared in Griffith's much admired Way Down East and directed Dorothy in Remodeling Her Husband. The Gishes left Griffith in 1922, Lillian going to the Tiffany Company and in 1925 to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Dorothy to Paramount Studios. Lillian's later films include The White Sister (1923), La Bohème (1926), The Scarlet Letter (1926), The Wind (1928), and One Romantic Night (1930), her first sound picture. (See the Britannica Classic by Lillian Gish.)

      With the coming of the talkies, Lillian left the screen for a time and returned to the stage. With great success, she played on the stage in Uncle Vanya (1930) and subsequently appeared in Camille (1932), Nine Pine Street (1933), Within the Gates (1934), Hamlet (1936), The Old Maid (1936), The Star Wagon (1937), Life with Father (1940, in which she enjoyed a record run in Chicago while Dorothy was starring with the road company), Mr. Sycamore (1942), Magnificent Yankee (1946), Crime and Punishment (1947), The Curious Savage (1950), The Trip to Bountiful (1953), The Family Reunion (1958), All the Way Home (1960), I Never Sang for My Father (1967), and many others. Her last Broadway appearance was in A Musical Jubilee in 1975.

      Gish occasionally continued to appear in movies, among them The Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942), Miss Susie Slagle's (1946), Duel in the Sun (1946), The Night of the Hunter (1955), The Unforgiven (1960), The Comedians (1967), A Wedding (1978), Hambone and Hillie (1984), Sweet Liberty (1986), and her final film, The Whales of August (1987), with Bette Davis (Davis, Bette). She also appeared on television in a number of distinguished dramatic presentations, most notably in Arsenic and Old Lace with Helen Hayes (Hayes, Helen) in 1969. Her autobiographical book The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me was published in 1969, followed by two more volumes of memoirs, Dorothy and Lillian Gish (1973) and An Actor's Life for Me (1987). She was awarded a special honorary Academy Award in 1971. She also received a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute in 1984.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Gish,Lillian Diana — Gish (gĭsh), Lillian Diana. 1893 1993. American actress best known for her roles in silent films, such as The Birth of a Nation (1915). Her sister Dorothy (1898 1968) was also a film actress. * * * …   Universalium

  • Gish, Lillian — (1896 1993)    Born in Springfield, Ohio, the actress was always protective of her younger sister Dorothy Gish. As Baby Lillian, she made her debut in a touring melodrama in 1902. Occasionally during her childhood she toured apart from her mother …   The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater

  • Gish, Lillian — • ГИШ (Gish) Лиллиан (р. 14.10.1896)    амер. актриса. В 1912 с сестрой Дороти стала сниматься в кино. Формирование и расцвет таланта актрисы связан с творчеством реж. Д. У. Гриффита. Начав с эпизодов, Г. в 1915 сыграла гл. роль в ф. Рождение… …   Кино: Энциклопедический словарь

  • Gish, Lillian — pseud. di de Guiche, Lillian …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • Gish, Lillian Diana — ▪ 1994       U.S. actress (b. Oct. 14, 1893, Springfield, Ohio d. Feb. 27, 1993, New York, N.Y.), was a fragile beauty whose film heroines projected a waiflike vulnerability and virginal innocence that was belied by an indomitable spirit; her… …   Universalium

  • Gish, Lillian (Diana) — born Oct. 14, 1893, Springfield, Ohio, U.S. died Feb. 27, 1993, New York, N.Y. U.S. film and theater actress. She acted on Broadway and with touring companies from age five, often with her sister, Dorothy (1898–1968). Their screen careers began… …   Universalium

  • Gish, Lillian (Diana) — (14 oct. 1893, Springfield, Ohio, EE.UU.–27 feb. 1993, Nueva York, N.Y.). Actriz de teatro y cine estadounidense. A la edad de cinco años comenzó a actuar en Broadway y con compañías itinerantes, a menudo junto a su hermana, Dorothy (1898–1968).… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Lillian Gish — en 1917 Données clés Nom de naissance Lillian Diana Gish Naissance 14&# …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lillian Gish — en 1917 Nombre real Lillian Diana de Giche Nacimiento 14 de octubre de 1893 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Gish (disambiguation) — Gish may refer to:People with the surname Gish: * Annabeth Gish (b. 1971), American actress * Dorothy Gish (1898 1968), American actress, sister of Lillian Gish * Duane Gish (b. 1921), American biochemist and prominent creationist * Lillian Gish… …   Wikipedia

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