Lillian Gish
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
The Love Boat
Mrs. Williams
1977
Series
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Bessie Carnby
1962
Series
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Award Accepter
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Series
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
Abby
1948
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
Narrator
1948
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
Carrie Watts
1948
Series
The Defenders
Louisa Clarendon
1961
Series
The Defenders
Mrs. Cooper
1961
Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Series
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
1978
Series
Mr. Novak
Maude Phipps
1963
Playwrights '56
1955
Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
Film
The Night of the Hunter
Rachel Cooper
1955
Series
The Alcoa Hour
Esther Crampton
1955
Film
Duel in the Sun
Laura Belle McCanles
1946
Film
The Unforgiven
Mattilda Zachary
1960
Series
Hollywood
Self
1980
Film
The Birth of a Nation
Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
1915
Film
Portrait of Jennie
Mother Mary of Mercy
1948
Film
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Self
1987
Film
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
1916
Film
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
1925
Film
The Comedians
Mrs. Smith
1967
Film
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
Lucy Burrows
1919
Film
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mrs Loftus
1986
Film
The Cobweb
Victoria Inch
1955
Film
Warning Shot
Alice Willows
1967
Film
Follow Me, Boys!
Hetty Seibert
1966
Film
Way Down East
Anna Moore
1920
Film
Sweet Liberty
Cecelia Burgess
1986
Film
A Wedding
Nettie Sloan
1978
Series
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Grandma Moses
1951
Film
The Women Who Run Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
2016
Film
Night of 100 Stars
Self
1982
Film
The Wind
Letty
1928
Film
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Self (archive footage)
1995
Film
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
Melissa Harlow
1913
Film
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
The Little Lady
1912
Film
Romola
Romola
1924
Film
Lionpower from MGM
Self - Mrs. Smith (archive footage) (uncredited)
1967
Film
Commandos Strike at Dawn
Mrs. Bergesen
1942
Film
Night of 100 Stars II
Self
1985
Film
The Whales of August
Sarah Webber
1987
Sparrow
Widow
1978
Film
Orders to Kill
Mrs. Summers
1958
Film
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
Film
The White Sister
Angela Chiaromonte
1923
Film
Lillian Gish
Self
1984
Film
Orphans of the Storm
Henriette Girard
1921
Just Gold
The First Brother's Sweetheart
1913
Film Fun
(archive footage)
1955
Film
Langlois
Self
1970
Film
The Scarlet Letter
Hester Prynne
1927
Film
So Near, Yet So Far
A Friend
1912
Film
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
Self (archive footage)
1961
Film
Judith of Bethulia
The Young Mother
1914
Film
Home, Sweet Home
Payne's Sweetheart
1914
Film
True Heart Susie
Susie May Trueheart
1919
Film
Night Hunter
2011
Film
Hambone and Hillie
Hillie Radcliffe
1983
Film
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies
Self (archive footage)
2008
Film
The Tear That Burned
Anita - the Truant
1914
Film
The Sisters
May
1914
Film
An Unseen Enemy
Eldest Sister
1912
Film
The Movie Album
(archive footage)
1932
Film
Twin Detectives
Billy Jo Haskins
1976
Film
The Great Chase
1962
Film
Arsenic and Old Lace
Martha Brewster
1969
Film
Brutality
At Theatre
1912
Film
The Flapper
(archive footage)
2021
Film
Annie Laurie
Annie Laurie
1927
Film
The New York Hat
Customer in Shop / Outside Church
1912
Film
Miss Susie Slagle's
Miss Susie Slagle
1946
Film
His Double Life
Alice Chalice
1933
Film
A Cry for Help
The Maid
1912
Film
Top Man
Beth Warren
1943
Film
Early Directors on Directing
Self
2009
Film
The Great Love
Susie Broadplains
1918
Film
My Baby
1912
The One She Loved
1912
Film
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
Self (archive footage)
1986
Film
The Little Tease
Girl in bandana
1913
Man's Enemy
Grace Lisle
1914
Film
Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me
Herself, Archive footage
1988
Diane of the Follies
Diane
1916
Film
The Children Pay
Millicent
1916
Film
One Romantic Night
Princess Alexandra
1930
Film
Moving Pictures: 'The Night of the Hunter'
Self
1995
Film
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
Herself
1921
Film
Hobson's Choice
Miss Molly Winkle
1983
Film
The Enemy
Pauli Arndt
1927
Captain Macklin
Beatrice
1915
Film
The Greatest Question
Nellie Jarvis
1919
Film
Sold for Marriage
Marfa
1916
Film
Sigrid Holmquist
Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
2010
Film
The Making of 'The Birth of a Nation'
Self (Archive footage)
1993
Film
The Painted Lady
Belle at Ice Cream Festival
1912
A Modest Hero
The Wife
1913
A Misunderstood Boy
The Daughter
1913
Film
The Battle of the Sexes
Jane Andrews, the daughter
1914
Film
In the Aisles of the Wild
The Younger Daughter
1912
Film
The Informer
Walk on role
1912
The Blue or the Gray
1913
Film
Daphne and the Pirate
Daphne La Tour
1916
Film
The Greatest Thing in Life
Jeannette Peret
1918
Film
The Lost House
Dosia Dale
1915
Film
Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal
1918
Film
La Bohème
Mimi
1926
The Stolen Bride
1913
Film
Hearts of the World
The Girl - Marie Stephenson
1918
Film
A Timely Interception
The Farmer's Daughter
1913
Film
Enoch Arden
Annie Lee
1915
Film
The Burglar’s Dilemma
Birthday Wellwisher
1912
Film
Thin Ice
Grandmother
1981
Film
The Lily and the Rose
Mary Randolph
1915
Film
Oil and Water
In First Audience (uncredited)
1913
So Runs the Way
Fred's Wife
1913
Film
Two Daughters of Eve
In Theatre Crowd
1912
Film
I Am Not a Racist
Elsie (archive footage) (uncredited)
2019
Film
An Indian's Loyalty
The Ranchero's Daughter
1913
Film
The Rebellion of Kitty Belle
Kitty Belle
1914
Film
A Romance of Happy Valley
Jennie Timberlake
1919
Film
Souls Triumphant
Lillian Vale
1917
Film
The Comedians in Africa
Self (uncredited)
1967
The Green-Eyed Devil
Mary Miller
1914
Film
Mrs. Winchester's House
Narrator
1963
The Trip to Bountiful
Carrie Watts
1953
Lord Chumley
Eleanor Butterworth
1914
Film
Gold and Glitter
The Young Woman
1912
The Folly of Anne
Anne
1914
Film
The House of Darkness
The Nurse
1913
Film
The Mothering Heart
The Wife
1913
A Duel for Love
1914
Film
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
Self (archive footage)
1975
Film
D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery 1909-1913
2002
Film
The Angel of Contention
Nettie - the Angel
1914
Madonna of the Storm
The Mother
1913
Film
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
Lucy - The Girl (archive footage)
1998
Film
The Spiral Staircase
Mrs. Warren
1961
Film
An Innocent Magdalene
Dorothy Raleigh
1916
Pathways of Life
1916
Film
The Unwelcome Guest
At Auction (uncredited)
1913
Film
The Lady and the Mouse
The First Sister
1913
His Lesson
Participant in Mob Scene (uncredited)
1915
The Hunchback
The Orphan - as an Adult
1914
The Quicksands
1914
The Conscience of Hassan Bey
The Rugmaker's Daughter
1913
The Left-Handed Man
The Old Soldier's Daughter
1913
The House Built Upon Sand
Evelyn Dare
1916
During the Round-Up
The Ranchero's Daughter
1913
Film
A Woman in the Ultimate
Verda
1913
Film
From Farm to Fame
Lillian Gish
1922