Lillian Gish

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.

Known For

The Night of the Hunter

as Rachel Cooper

The Birth of a Nation

as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

as The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle

Broken Blossoms

as Lucy Burrows

The Unforgiven

as Mattilda Zachary

The Love Boat

as Mrs. Williams

Duel in the Sun

as Laura Belle McCanles

The Wind

as Letty

Portrait of Jennie

as Mother Mary of Mercy

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)