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.

Known For

The Love Boat

Tony Awards

Tony Awards

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse

Robert Montgomery Presents

All Movies (135)

• The Flapper2021 · as (archive footage)
• I Am Not a Racist2019 · as Elsie (archive footage) (uncredited)
• The Women Who Run Hollywood2016 · as Self (archive footage)
• Night Hunter2011
• Sigrid Holmquist2010 · as Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
• Early Directors on Directing2009 · as Self
• Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies2008 · as Self (archive footage)
• D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery 1909-19132002
• Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists1998 · as Lucy - The Girl (archive footage)
• Moving Pictures: 'The Night of the Hunter'1995 · as Self
• The Making of 'The Birth of a Nation'1993 · as Self (Archive footage)
• Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me1988 · as Herself, Archive footage
• The Whales of August1987 · as Sarah Webber
• Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood1987 · as Self
• Sweet Liberty1986 · as Cecelia Burgess
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1986 · as Mrs Loftus
• Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown1986 · as Self (archive footage)
• Night of 100 Stars II1985 · as Self
• Lillian Gish1984 · as Self
• Hobson's Choice1983 · as Miss Molly Winkle
• Hambone and Hillie1983 · as Hillie Radcliffe
• Night of 100 Stars1982 · as Self
• Thin Ice1981 · as Grandmother
• A Wedding1978 · as Nettie Sloan
• Twin Detectives1976 · as Billy Jo Haskins
• Black Shadows on a Silver Screen1975 · as Self (archive footage)
• Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still1974 · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Langlois1970 · as Self
• Arsenic and Old Lace1969 · as Martha Brewster
• The Comedians1967 · as Mrs. Smith
• The Comedians in Africa1967 · as Self (uncredited)
• Warning Shot1967 · as Alice Willows
• Lionpower from MGM1967 · as Self - Mrs. Smith (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Follow Me, Boys!1966 · as Hetty Seibert
• Mrs. Winchester's House1963 · as Narrator
• The Great Chase1962
• The Spiral Staircase1961 · as Mrs. Warren
• The Legend of Rudolph Valentino1961 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Unforgiven1960 · as Mattilda Zachary
• Orders to Kill1958 · as Mrs. Summers
• Film Fun1955 · as (archive footage)
• The Night of the Hunter1955 · as Rachel Cooper
• The Cobweb1955 · as Victoria Inch
• The Trip to Bountiful1953 · as Carrie Watts
• Portrait of Jennie1948 · as Mother Mary of Mercy
• Duel in the Sun1946 · as Laura Belle McCanles
• Miss Susie Slagle's1946 · as Miss Susie Slagle
• Top Man1943 · as Beth Warren
• Commandos Strike at Dawn1942 · as Mrs. Bergesen
• His Double Life1933 · as Alice Chalice
• The Movie Album1932 · as (archive footage)
• One Romantic Night1930 · as Princess Alexandra
• The Wind1928 · as Letty
• The Enemy1927 · as Pauli Arndt
• Annie Laurie1927 · as Annie Laurie
• The Scarlet Letter1927 · as Hester Prynne
• La Bohème1926 · as Mimi
• Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ1925 · as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
• Romola1924 · as Romola
• The White Sister1923 · as Angela Chiaromonte
• From Farm to Fame1922 · as Lillian Gish
• Orphans of the Storm1921 · as Henriette Girard
• Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)1921 · as Herself
• Way Down East1920 · as Anna Moore
• The Greatest Question1919 · as Nellie Jarvis
• True Heart Susie1919 · as Susie May Trueheart
• Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl1919 · as Lucy Burrows
• A Romance of Happy Valley1919 · as Jennie Timberlake
• The Greatest Thing in Life1918 · as Jeannette Peret
• Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal1918
• The Great Love1918 · as Susie Broadplains
• Hearts of the World1918 · as The Girl - Marie Stephenson
• Souls Triumphant1917 · as Lillian Vale
• The House Built Upon Sand1916 · as Evelyn Dare
• The Children Pay1916 · as Millicent
• Diane of the Follies1916 · as Diane
• Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages1916 · as The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
• An Innocent Magdalene1916 · as Dorothy Raleigh
• Sold for Marriage1916 · as Marfa
• Daphne and the Pirate1916 · as Daphne La Tour
• Pathways of Life1916
• The Lily and the Rose1915 · as Mary Randolph
• Captain Macklin1915 · as Beatrice
• Enoch Arden1915 · as Annie Lee
• The Lost House1915 · as Dosia Dale
• The Birth of a Nation1915 · as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
• His Lesson1915 · as Participant in Mob Scene (uncredited)
• The Sisters1914 · as May
• The Folly of Anne1914 · as Anne
• The Tear That Burned1914 · as Anita - the Truant
• Man's Enemy1914 · as Grace Lisle
• The Angel of Contention1914 · as Nettie - the Angel
• The Rebellion of Kitty Belle1914 · as Kitty Belle
• Lord Chumley1914 · as Eleanor Butterworth
• Home, Sweet Home1914 · as Payne's Sweetheart
• The Quicksands1914
• The Hunchback1914 · as The Orphan - as an Adult
• The Battle of the Sexes1914 · as Jane Andrews, the daughter
• Judith of Bethulia1914 · as The Young Mother
• The Green-Eyed Devil1914 · as Mary Miller
• A Duel for Love1914
• The Conscience of Hassan Bey1913 · as The Rugmaker's Daughter
• The Battle at Elderbush Gulch1913 · as Melissa Harlow
• The Blue or the Gray1913
• Madonna of the Storm1913 · as The Mother
• So Runs the Way1913 · as Fred's Wife
• A Modest Hero1913 · as The Wife
• A Woman in the Ultimate1913 · as Verda
• An Indian's Loyalty1913 · as The Ranchero's Daughter
• During the Round-Up1913 · as The Ranchero's Daughter
• The Mothering Heart1913 · as The Wife
• A Timely Interception1913 · as The Farmer's Daughter
• Just Gold1913 · as The First Brother's Sweetheart
• The House of Darkness1913 · as The Nurse
• The Lady and the Mouse1913 · as The First Sister
• The Left-Handed Man1913 · as The Old Soldier's Daughter
• A Misunderstood Boy1913 · as The Daughter
• The Little Tease1913 · as Girl in bandana
• The Stolen Bride1913
• The Unwelcome Guest1913 · as At Auction (uncredited)
• Oil and Water1913 · as In First Audience (uncredited)
• A Cry for Help1912 · as The Maid
• The Burglar’s Dilemma1912 · as Birthday Wellwisher
• The New York Hat1912 · as Customer in Shop / Outside Church
• Brutality1912 · as At Theatre
• The Informer1912 · as Walk on role
• My Baby1912
• Gold and Glitter1912 · as The Young Woman
• The Musketeers of Pig Alley1912 · as The Little Lady
• The Painted Lady1912 · as Belle at Ice Cream Festival
• The One She Loved1912
• In the Aisles of the Wild1912 · as The Younger Daughter
• So Near, Yet So Far1912 · as A Friend
• Two Daughters of Eve1912 · as In Theatre Crowd
• An Unseen Enemy1912 · as Eldest Sister

All TV Shows (20)

• Hollywood1980 · as Self
• The Kennedy Center Honors1978 · as Self
• The Love Boat1977 · as Mrs. Williams
• The American Film Institute Salute to ...1973 · as Self
• Film '721971 · as Self
• The Dick Cavett Show1968 · as Self - Guest
• Mr. Novak1963 · as Maude Phipps
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour1962 · as Bessie Carnby
• The Defenders1961 · as Louisa Clarendon
• The Defenders1961 · as Mrs. Cooper
• Tony Awards1956 · as Self - Award Accepter
• Tony Awards1956 · as Self - Presenter
• The Alcoa Hour1955 · as Esther Crampton
• Playwrights '561955
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars1951 · as Grandma Moses
• Robert Montgomery Presents1950
• The Philco Television Playhouse1948 · as Abby
• The Philco Television Playhouse1948 · as Narrator
• The Philco Television Playhouse1948 · as Carrie Watts
• The Ed Sullivan Show1948 · as Self