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.
