Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish

1893-10-14 – 1993-02-27 (age 99) Springfield, Ohio, USA
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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.

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Known For

The Night of the Hunter
The Night of the Hunter

1955

as Rachel Cooper

The Unforgiven
The Unforgiven

1960

as Mattilda Zachary

A Wedding
A Wedding

1978

as Nettie Sloan

The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation

1915

as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie

Duel in the Sun
Duel in the Sun

1946

as Laura Belle McCanles

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

as The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle

La Bohème
La Bohème

1926

as Mimi

Night of 100 Stars II
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie

1948

as Mother Mary of Mercy

The Whales of August
The Whales of August

1987

as Sarah Webber

Night of 100 Stars
My Baby
The Comedians
The Comedians

1967

as Mrs. Smith

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

1925

as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)

Thin Ice
Thin Ice

1981

as Grandmother

The Cobweb
The Cobweb

1955

as Victoria Inch

Judith of Bethulia
Judith of Bethulia

1914

as The Young Mother