Lillian Gish

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Performing Arts > Film and Television: Biographies > ...

Essential
reading

Compare
side-by-side

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

Lillian Gish

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Lillian Gish 1896-1993, American stage and movie actress, b. Springfield, Ohio. In 1912 she began her film career with D. W. Griffith . A fragile, delicate beauty, Gish often played a heroine rescued from cruel fate at the last moment. For Griffith, she appeared in The Birth of a Nation (1915), Broken Blossoms (1918), Way Down East (1920), and many other films. Possessed of great pantomimic gifts and an expressive face, she brought these qualities to many personally chosen vehicles, including The Scarlet Letter (1926) and The Wind (1928). She returned to the stage (1930), after which she made occasional films, including Night of the Hunter (1955). Her later stage work included acclaimed performances in Hamlet (as Ophelia, 1942), All the Way Home (1960), and Uncle Vanya (1973). She teamed with screen legend Bette Davis in the film The Whales of August (1987). Her sister, Dorothy Gish, 1898-1968, was also an actress, who co-starred with Lillian in such films as Hearts of the World (1918) and Griffith's Orphans of the Storm (1921) and did a good deal of work on the stage.

Bibliography: See Lillian Gish's autobiography (1969, repr. 1988); biography by C. Affron (2000).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-Gish-Lil" title="Facts and informations about Lillian Gish">Lillian Gish</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Lillian Gish." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Lillian Gish." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (July 10, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Gish-Lil.html

"Lillian Gish." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Gish-Lil.html

Learn more about citation styles

Gish, Lillian

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre | 2004 | | © The Oxford Companion to American Theatre 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Gish, Lillian (1893–1993), actress. Born in Springfield, Ohio, she made her debut at a small theatre in Rising Sun, Ohio, in 1902, in the melodrama In Convict Stripes. She continued in children's roles for many years, once acting with Sarah Bernhardt and later under David Belasco. Gish left the stage to become one of the first important silent film stars and did not return to Broadway until 1930, when she appeared as Helena in Uncle Vanya. Two years later she played Marguerite Gautier in Camille. Among her subsequent assignments were Ophelia to John Gielgud's Hamlet (1936), Martha Minch in The Star Wagon (1937), as replacement for the leads in such important plays as The Old Maid and Life with Father, and several other highly praised performances in a number of failures. Her sister, Dorothy GISH (1898–1968), had a similar career of early stage parts and later success in films before returning to New York in 1928 as the mate‐swapping Fay Hilary in Young Love. Later appearances included the spinster sister Aaronetta Gibbs in Morning's at Seven (1939) and Chief Justice Holmes's wife, Fanny, in The Magnificent Yankee (1946). Like Lillian, she was one of many actresses to serve a stint as Vinnie, the mother in Life with Father. Autobiography (Lillian): Dorothy and Lillian Gish, 1973. Biography: Lillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life, Charles Affron, 2002.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O149-GishLillian" title="Facts and informations about Lillian Gish">Lillian Gish</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Gish, Lillian." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Gish, Lillian." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (July 10, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-GishLillian.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Gish, Lillian." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved July 10, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-GishLillian.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article The Ohio roots of Dorothy and Lillian Gish.
Magazine article from: Journal of Popular Film and Television; 6/22/1994
Free Article Lillian Gish: a friend remembered.
Magazine article from: Journal of Popular Film and Television; 6/22/1994
Free Article Shirin Neshat is the winner of the 2006 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.(Awards & Grants)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 10/1/2006

Facts and information from other sites

Related topics

  Edit this list

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

The Ohio roots of Dorothy and Lillian Gish.
Magazine article from: Journal of Popular Film and Television; 6/22/1994; ; 700+ words ; ...commemorate the filmwork of Dorothy and Lillian Gish is at Bowling Green State University...Robinson McConnell and James Leigh Gish. Lillian was born on 14 October 1893 in...Lillian endowed the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Scholarship to be given annually... Read more
Lillian Gish: a friend remembered.
Magazine article from: Journal of Popular Film and Television; 6/22/1994; ; 700+ words ; ...needing an excuse, takes Miss Lillian Gish away from us on Saturday night...dressing room assigned to Miss Lillian Gish is located catty-cornered...50 years, remembers, Mother Gish made both girls, Dorothy and Lillian, toe the line, particularly... Read more
Shirin Neshat is the winner of the 2006 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.(Awards & Grants)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 10/1/2006; 14 words ; Shirin Neshat is the winner of the 2006 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, worth about $300,000. Read more
Jennifer Tipton, one of the dance world's most distinguished artists.(receives Dorothy and Lillian Gish award)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 10/1/2001; 26 words ; Acclaimed lighting designer Jennifer Tipton, one of the dance world's most distinguished artists, will receive the $250,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in November. Read more
Prizes.(ARTNOTES)(deciBel Awards for ethnic artists )(Shirin Neshat wins Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize)(Brief article)
Magazine article from: Art Monthly; 9/1/2006; 195 words ; ...Shirin Neshat has been awarded the $300,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the world's largest arts prizes. A silver...New York City next month. The prize was set up after Lillian Gish's death in 1993, and previous winners have included... Read more
(video recording reviews)
Magazine article from: Journal of Popular Film and Television; 6/22/1994; ; 700+ words ; Mention the names D. W. Griffith and Lillian Gish and numerous classic film titles...developing the very grammer of film, as Lillian Gish often noted. If only Kino International...If one looks carefully, a young Lillian Gish can be spotted in The New York... Read more
The unpublished Bette Davis--until now.(TALES FROM THE CRYPT)(Interview)
Magazine article from: Interview; 9/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; IN 1987, FOUR HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS--LILLIAN GISH, VINCENT PRICE, ANN SOTHERN, AND...which, incredibly, co-starred Lillian Gish, Vincent Price, and Ann Sothern...any kind of rapport working with Lillian Gish? BD: We always establish rapport... Read more
Pioneer director honored. (Entertainment).
Magazine article from: Jet; 11/18/2002; 145 words ; ...congratulated by famed actress Angela Bassett on receiving the 2002 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the most prestigious honors in the arts field, at the Hudson...cash award, was established in honor of actresses/sisters Dorothy and Lillian Gish. Read more
Honors.(awards)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 10/1/2003; 167 words ; Dance-choreographer BILL T. JONES is the recipient of the 2003 DOROTHY AND LILLIAN GISH PRIZE, which includes a silver medallion and approximately $250,000. * THE JOFFREY BALLET OF CHICAGO has been named the resident... Read more
Shirin Neshat.(2006 IN REVIEW: People)
Magazine article from: Art in America; 1/1/2007; 17 words ; Shirin Neshat, whose films address Muslim social themes, received the $300,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. Read more
Click to see an enlarged picture
Lillian Gish. Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including: