Lillian Gish

Lillian Diana de Guiche (October 14, 1893 - February 27, 1993), was an American actress known as Lillian Gish. Born in Springfield, Ohio, she was the elder sister of actress Dorothy Gish.

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The Gish sisters' mother, Mary Robinson McConnell (an Episcopalian), began acting in order to support the family after her husband, James Leigh Gish (who was of German Lutheran descent), abandoned them. When Lillian and Dorothy were old enough, they joined her act. They also took modeling jobs. In 1912, their friend Mary Pickford introduced the sisters to D.W. Griffith, and she got them contracts with Biograph Studios. Their first role was in Griffith's short film An Unseen Enemy. Lillian went on to star in many of Griffith's most acclaimed films, among these The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, Way Down East, and Orphans of the Storm. Although Lillian never married, the Gish-Griffith association was so close that it was suspected that Lillian was Griffith's lover, though the evidence is circumstantial at best. Alleged relationships were affairs with Charles Duell, a producer, to whom Lillian was reportedly engaged, and the drama critic and editor George Jean Nathan, although Gish was posthumously outed as a lesbian in several books, including one by Boze Hadleigh called Hollywood Lesbians (1996), and another by Axel Madsen titled The Hollywood Sewing Circle (2002).

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Having appeared in over 25 short films and features in her first two years as a movie actress, Lillian became a major star, becoming known as "The First Lady of the Silent Screen". Preferring silent movies, she spurned talkies until MGM finally let her go from her contract in 1928. She acted on the stage for the most part in the 1930s and early 1940s, preferring to care for the aging Griffith and his wife in their later years.

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Returning to movies, Gish was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1946 for Duel in the Sun. She appeared in films from time to time for the rest of her life, in 1971 winning a special Academy Award "For superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures." In 1984 she received an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1720 Vine Street.

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Her last film role was in The Whales of August in 1987 at the age of 93, with Vincent Price, Bette Davis, who was dying of cancer and behaving badly, if understandably, and Ann Sothern, who earned her only Academy Award nomination for her final film performance. Amazingly, and to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' permanent dishonor, Gish was not even nominated for an Academy Award for what was obviously her swan song, to which she replied with equanimity: "At least I won't have to lose to Cher." (Cher did win that year, for Moonstruck)

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The main street in Massillon, Ohio is named after Gish, who had lived there during an early period of her life.

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Her estate, which she left to her fellow actress and friend Helen Hayes, who died a month later, was valued at several million dollars, and went to provide prizes for artistic excellence.

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October 14: October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in Leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 78 days remaining....

1893: 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar)....

February 27: February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in leap years....

Lillian Gish related Images and Photos (experimental)

Lillian Gish Late Teens	Lillian Gish: The Wind 1928	Lillian Gish: The Musketeers of Pig Alley 1912	Lars Hanson and Lillian Gish: The Wind 1928
Harry Hyde and Lillian Gish: The Lady and The Mouse 1913	Lillian	Lillian Harvey	Lillian Gilbreth
Lillian Newman's Dancers	Lillian Russell 1940	The Westerners Lillian Bond Walter Brennan Gary Cooper Doris Davenport 1940	Battling Jane Dorothy Gish 1918