Actor
Lillian Gish
139 movies as actor · 1 as director
Born Oct 14, 1893 – Feb 27, 1993 (aged 99)From Springfield, Ohio, USAAlso known as Lillian Diana Gish, The First Lady of American Cinema, Dorothy Elizabeth Carter
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 Night of the Hunter
1955 · Crime, Drama
The Birth of a Nation
1915 · Drama, History
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916 · Drama, History
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
1919 · Drama, Romance
The Unforgiven
1960 · Western, Drama
Duel in the Sun
1946 · Western, Drama
The Wind
1928 · Drama, Western
Portrait of Jennie
1948 · Drama, Romance
Way Down East
1920 · Drama, Romance
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925 · Adventure, Drama
Orphans of the Storm
1921 · Drama, History
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
1912 · Crime, Drama
Lillian Gish movies
The Flapper
2021 · (archive footage)
I Am Not a Racist
2019 · Elsie (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Women Who Run Hollywood
2016 · Self (archive footage)
Discovering: Robert Mitchum
2014 · Self (archive footage)
Night Hunter
2011
Sigrid Holmquist
2010 · Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
Early Directors on Directing
2009 · Self
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies
2008 · Self (archive footage)
D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery 1909-1913
2002
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
1998 · Lucy - The Girl (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995 · Self (archive footage)
Moving Pictures: 'The Night of the Hunter'
1995 · Self
The Making of 'The Birth of a Nation'
1993 · Self (Archive footage)
Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me
1988 · Self (archive footage)
The Whales of August
1987 · Sarah Webber
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987 · Self
Sweet Liberty
1986 · Cecelia Burgess
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1986 · Mrs Loftus
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
1986 · Self (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars II
1985 · Self
Lillian Gish
1984 · Self
Hobson's Choice
1983 · Miss Molly Winkle
Hambone and Hillie
1983 · Hillie Radcliffe
Night of 100 Stars
1982 · Self
Thin Ice
1981 · Grandmother
A Wedding
1978 · Nettie Sloan
Sparrow
Sparrow
1978 · Widow
Twin Detectives
1976 · Billy Jo Haskins
D.W. Griffith: An American Genius
1975 · Self
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
1975 · Self (archive footage)
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
1974 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Langlois
1970 · Self
Arsenic and Old Lace
1969 · Martha Brewster
The Comedians
1967 · Mrs. Smith
The Comedians in Africa
1967 · Self (uncredited)
Warning Shot
1967 · Alice Willows
Lionpower from MGM
1967 · Self - Mrs. Smith (archive footage) (uncredited)
Follow Me, Boys!
1966 · Hetty Seibert
Mrs. Winchester's House
1963 · Narrator
The Great Chase
1962
The Spiral Staircase
1961 · Mrs. Warren
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961 · Self (archive footage)
The Unforgiven
1960 · Mattilda Zachary
Orders to Kill
1958 · Mrs. Summers
Film Fun
Film Fun
1955 · (archive footage)
The Night of the Hunter
1955 · Rachel Cooper
The Cobweb
1955 · Victoria Inch
The Trip to Bountiful
The Trip to Bountiful
1953 · Carrie Watts
Portrait of Jennie
1948 · Mother Mary of Mercy
Duel in the Sun
1946 · Laura Belle McCanles
Miss Susie Slagle's
1946 · Miss Susie Slagle
Top Man
1943 · Beth Warren
Commandos Strike at Dawn
1942 · Mrs. Bergesen
His Double Life
1933 · Alice Chalice
The Movie Album
1932 · (archive footage)
One Romantic Night
1930 · Princess Alexandra
The Wind
1928 · Letty
The Enemy
1927 · Pauli Arndt
Annie Laurie
1927 · Annie Laurie
The Scarlet Letter
1927 · Hester Prynne
La Bohème
1926 · Mimi
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925 · Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Romola
1924 · Romola
The White Sister
1923 · Angela Chiaromonte
From Farm to Fame
1922 · Lillian Gish
Orphans of the Storm
1921 · Henriette Girard
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
1921 · Herself
Way Down East
1920 · Anna Moore
The Greatest Question
1919 · Nellie Jarvis
True Heart Susie
1919 · Susie May Trueheart
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
1919 · Lucy Burrows
A Romance of Happy Valley
1919 · Jennie Timberlake
The Greatest Thing in Life
1918 · Jeannette Peret
Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal
1918
The Great Love
1918 · Susie Broadplains
Hearts of the World
1918 · The Girl - Marie Stephenson
Souls Triumphant
1917 · Lillian Vale
The House Built Upon Sand
The House Built Upon Sand
1916 · Evelyn Dare
The Children Pay
1916 · Millicent
Diane of the Follies
Diane of the Follies
1916 · Diane
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916 · The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
An Innocent Magdalene
1916 · Dorothy Raleigh
Sold for Marriage
1916 · Marfa
Daphne and the Pirate
1916 · Daphne La Tour
Pathways of Life
Pathways of Life
1916
The Lily and the Rose
1915 · Mary Randolph
Captain Macklin
Captain Macklin
1915 · Beatrice
Enoch Arden
1915 · Annie Lee
The Lost House
1915 · Dosia Dale
The Birth of a Nation
1915 · Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
His Lesson
His Lesson
1915 · Participant in Mob Scene (uncredited)
The Sisters
1914 · May
The Folly of Anne
The Folly of Anne
1914 · Anne
The Tear That Burned
1914 · Anita - the Truant
Man's Enemy
Man's Enemy
1914 · Grace Lisle
The Angel of Contention
1914 · Nettie - the Angel
The Rebellion of Kitty Belle
1914 · Kitty Belle
Lord Chumley
Lord Chumley
1914 · Eleanor Butterworth
Home, Sweet Home
1914 · Payne's Sweetheart
The Quicksands
The Quicksands
1914
The Hunchback
The Hunchback
1914 · The Orphan - as an Adult
The Battle of the Sexes
1914 · Jane Andrews, the daughter
Judith of Bethulia
1914 · The Young Mother
The Green-Eyed Devil
The Green-Eyed Devil
1914 · Mary Miller
A Duel for Love
A Duel for Love
1914
The Conscience of Hassan Bey
The Conscience of Hassan Bey
1913 · The Rugmaker's Daughter
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
1913 · Melissa Harlow
The Blue or the Gray
The Blue or the Gray
1913
Madonna of the Storm
Madonna of the Storm
1913 · The Mother
So Runs the Way
So Runs the Way
1913 · Fred's Wife
A Modest Hero
A Modest Hero
1913 · The Wife
A Woman in the Ultimate
1913 · Verda
An Indian's Loyalty
1913 · The Ranchero's Daughter
During the Round-Up
During the Round-Up
1913 · The Ranchero's Daughter
The Mothering Heart
1913 · The Wife
A Timely Interception
1913 · The Farmer's Daughter
Just Gold
Just Gold
1913 · The First Brother's Sweetheart
The House of Darkness
1913 · The Nurse
The Lady and the Mouse
1913 · The First Sister
The Left-Handed Man
The Left-Handed Man
1913 · The Old Soldier's Daughter
A Misunderstood Boy
A Misunderstood Boy
1913 · The Daughter
The Little Tease
1913 · Girl in bandana
The Stolen Bride
The Stolen Bride
1913
The Unwelcome Guest
1913 · At Auction (uncredited)
Oil and Water
1913 · In First Audience (uncredited)
A Cry for Help
1912 · The Maid
The Burglar’s Dilemma
1912 · Birthday Wellwisher
The New York Hat
1912 · Customer in Shop / Outside Church
Brutality
1912 · At Theatre
The Informer
1912 · Walk on role
My Baby
1912
Gold and Glitter
1912 · The Young Woman
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
1912 · The Little Lady
The Painted Lady
1912 · Belle at Ice Cream Festival
The One She Loved
The One She Loved
1912
In the Aisles of the Wild
1912 · The Younger Daughter
So Near, Yet So Far
1912 · A Friend
Two Daughters of Eve
1912 · In Theatre Crowd
An Unseen Enemy
1912 · Eldest Sister
Directed by Lillian Gish
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