Everything about Lillian Gish totally explained
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 a memorable role in the 1955 cult thriller
Night of the Hunter. She did considerable television work from the early 1950s into the 1980s, and closed her career playing 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.
Early life
Lillian Diana Gish was born in
Springfield, Ohio, the elder sister of actress
Dorothy Gish. The sisters' mother, Mary Robinson McConnell (an
Episcopalian), began acting in order to support the family after her husband, James Lee Gish (who was of
German Lutheran descent) abandoned them. When Lillian and Dorothy were old enough, they joined the theatre, often traveling separately in different productions. They also took modeling jobs.
In 1912, their friend
Mary Pickford introduced the sisters to
D. W. Griffith, and helped get them contracts with
Biograph Studios. Lillian would soon become one of America's best-loved actresses. Although Lillian was 19 she gave her age as 16 and it wasn't until 1984 that her true birth date was discovered.
Career
Their first role was in Griffith's short film
An Unseen Enemy. Lillian went on to star in many of Griffith's most acclaimed films, among these
The Birth of a Nation (as Elsie),
Intolerance,
Broken Blossoms,
Way Down East, and
Orphans of the Storm.
Having appeared in over 25 short films and features in her first two years as a movie actress, Lillian became a major star, becoming known as "The First Lady of the Silent Screen" and appearing in lavish productions, frequently of literary works such as
The Scarlet Letter (1926).
MGM released her from her contract in 1928 after the failure of
The Wind, now recognized by many as among her finest performances and one of the most distinguished works of the late silent period.
She directed one film,
Remodeling Her Husband (1920), when D. W. Griffith took his unit on location -- he told Gish that he thought the crew would work harder for a girl. Gish apparently preferred to remain in front of the camera rather than behind it, since she never directed again. She told reporters at the time that directing was a man's job.
With her debut in
talkies only moderately successful, she acted on the stage for the most part in the 1930s and early 1940s, appearing in roles as varied as
Ophelia in Guthrie McClintic's landmark 1936 production of
Hamlet (with
John Gielgud and
Judith Anderson) and Marguerite in a limited run of
La Dame aux Camélias. Of the former, she said, with pride, "I played a
lewd Ophelia!".
Returning to movies, Gish was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1946 for
Duel in the Sun. She appeared in films from time to time for the rest of her life, notably in
Night of the Hunter (1955) – as a rural foster mother fiercely protecting her charges from a murderous preacher (
Robert Mitchum) – and
A Wedding (1978). She was considered for various roles in
Gone with the Wind ranging from Ellen O'Hara,
Scarlett's mother, to the
prostitute Belle Watling.
Gish made numerous television appearances from the early 1950s into the late 1980s. Her most acclaimed television work was starring in the original production of
The Trip to Bountiful in 1953. She appeared as
Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in the short-lived 1965 Broadway musical
Anya.
In addition to her latter-day acting appearances, Gish became one of the leading advocates on the lost art of the
silent film, often giving speeches and touring to screenings of classic works. In 1975 she hosted
The Silent Years, a
PBS film program of silent films.
Gish received a
Special Academy Award in 1971 "For superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures." In 1984 she received an
American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming only the second female recipient (
Bette Davis was first in 1977), and the only recipient who was a major figure in the silent era. She has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1720 Vine Street.
Her last film role was in
The Whales of August in 1987 at the age of 93, with
Vincent Price,
Bette Davis and
Ann Sothern, in which she and Davis starred as elderly sisters in Maine.
Her final professional appearance was a cameo on the 1988 studio recording of
Jerome Kern's
Show Boat, starring
Frederica von Stade and
Jerry Hadley, in which she affectingly spoke the few lines of
The Old Lady on the Levee in the final scene. The last words of her century-spanning career: "Good night, dear."
Some in the entertainment industry were angry that Gish hadn't received an Oscar nomination for her role in
The Whales of August. Gish, herself, was more complacent, remarking that it saved her the trouble of "losing to
Cher" (who did, in fact, win the Oscar for her performance in
Moonstruck). Ironically enough, Cher's then-boyfriend, Rob Camiletti, confided to a friend before the nominations were announced that, while Cher deserved to win the Oscar, she didn't have a chance of winning because the Academy would inevitably give it to Gish.
Private life
Lillian Gish never married nor had children. The association between Gish and D. W. Griffith was so close that some suspected a romantic connection, an issue never acknowledged by Gish although several of their associates were certain they were at least briefly involved. For the remainder of her life she always referred to him as "Mr. Griffith".
She was involved with Charles Duell (a producer) and the drama critic and editor
George Jean Nathan. Gish's association with Duell was something of a tabloid scandal in the 1920s after he sued her and made the details of their relationship public.
During the period of political turmoil in the United States that lasted from the outbreak of
World War II in
Europe until the
attack on Pearl Harbor, she maintained an outspoken
non-interventionist stance. She was an active member of the
America First Committee, a controversial anti-intervention organization founded by retired General
Robert E. Wood with aviation pioneer
Charles Lindbergh as its leading spokesman.
She maintained a very close relationship with her sister Dorothy, as well as with
Mary Pickford, for her entire life. Another of her closest friends was actress
Helen Hayes; Gish was the godmother of Hayes' son
James MacArthur.
She died in her sleep of
natural causes on
February 27 1993, at the age of 99. Her estate, which she left to Hayes, who died a month later, was valued at several million dollars, and went to provide prizes for artistic excellence.
A street in
Massillon, Ohio is named after Gish, who had lived there during an early period of her life and fondly referred to it as her hometown throughout her career. She was interred beside her sister Dorothy at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church Columbarium in the undercroft of the church in the heart of
New York City.
Bowling Green State University in
Bowling Green, Ohio is home to the Gish Film Theater and Gallery, which is dedicated to the works of both Dorothy and Lillian Gish.
The Smashing Pumpkins' 1991
debut album was named after Lillian Gish.
In the song "This Girl" Altamonte vocalist James Cashman sings "She seemed like such a Gish" to describe the image of a beautiful and wholesome girl.
Filmography
Books
Autobiographical:
- The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me (with Ann Pinchot) (Prentice-Hall, 1969)
- Dorothy and Lillian Gish (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973)
- An Actor's Life For Me (with Selma G. Lanes) (Viking Penguin, 1987)
Biographical & Other:
Lillian Gish an Interpretation - Edward Wagenknecht (University of Washington, 1927)
Life and Lillian Gish - Albert Bigelow Paine (Macmillan, 1932)
Lillian Gish: the Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me,by Gish co-authored with Ann Pinchot ISBN 0491001037, W.H. Allen 1969, and ISBN 0916515400 Mercury House, 1988.
Star Acting - Gish, Garbo, Davis - Charles Affron (E.P. Dutton, 1977)
A Moment with Miss Gish - Peter Bogdanovich (Santa Teresa Press, 1995)
Lillian Gish A Life on Stage and Screen - Stuart Oderman (McFarland & Company, 2000)
Lillian Gish Her Legend, Her Life - Charles Affron (Scribner, 2001)
Documentaries about Gish
Gish's life is documented in Terry Sanders' 1988 documentary Lillian Gish: An Actor's Life for Me.
Actress Jeanne Moreau produced a documentary on Gish.
Timeline
1893: Born in Springfield, Ohio on October 14
1912: Appeared in her first film, D.W. Griffith's An Unseen Enemy
in Mamaroneck, New York as "Lillian Gish"
1971: Academy Honorary Award "For superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures."
1984: American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award
1987: The Whales of August as final film
1993: Death in Manhattan on February 27Further Information
Get more info on 'Lillian Gish'.
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