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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National Board of Review Awards
Best Actress
Known For
The Night of the Hunter
(1955)
Rachel Cooper
The Unforgiven
(1960)
Mattilda Zachary
Broken Blossoms
(1919)
Lucy Burrows
The Birth of a Nation
(1915)
Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
Way Down East
(1920)
Anna Moore
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Duel in the Sun
(1946)
Laura Belle McCanles
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
(1916)
The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
Portrait of Jennie
(1948)
Mother Mary of Mercy
Sweet Liberty
(1986)
Cecelia Burgess
The Wind
(1928)
Letty
Orphans of the Storm
(1921)
Henriette Girard
The Whales of August
(1987)
Sarah Webber
Night of 100 Stars
(1982)
Self
A Wedding
(1978)
Nettie Sloan
Full Filmography
Acting
The Musketeers of Pig Alley
(1912)
The Little Lady
An Unseen Enemy
(1912)
Eldest Sister
The New York Hat
(1912)
Customer in Shop / Outside Church
So Near, Yet So Far
(1912)
A Friend
The Burglar’s Dilemma
(1912)
Birthday Wellwisher
The Painted Lady
(1912)
Belle at Ice Cream Festival
In the Aisles of the Wild
(1912)
The Younger Daughter
My Baby
(1912)
The One She Loved
(1912)
The Informer
(1912)
Walk on role
Brutality
(1912)
At Theatre
Two Daughters of Eve
(1912)
In Theatre Crowd
Gold and Glitter
(1912)
The Young Woman
A Cry for Help
(1912)
The Maid
The Mothering Heart
(1913)
The Wife
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch
(1913)
Melissa Harlow
A Woman in the Ultimate
(1913)
Verda
An Indian's Loyalty
(1913)
The Ranchero's Daughter
The Little Tease
(1913)
Girl in bandana
A Timely Interception
(1913)
The Farmer's Daughter
The Lady and the Mouse
(1913)
The First Sister
A Misunderstood Boy
(1913)
The Daughter
Madonna of the Storm
(1913)
The Mother
The House of Darkness
(1913)
The Nurse
The Blue or the Gray
(1913)
Oil and Water
(1913)
In First Audience (uncredited)
The Unwelcome Guest
(1913)
At Auction (uncredited)
The Stolen Bride
(1913)
The Left-Handed Man
(1913)
The Old Soldier's Daughter
Just Gold
(1913)
The First Brother's Sweetheart
During the Round-Up
(1913)
The Ranchero's Daughter
A Modest Hero
(1913)
The Wife
So Runs the Way
(1913)
Fred's Wife
The Conscience of Hassan Bey
(1913)
The Rugmaker's Daughter
Judith of Bethulia
(1914)
The Young Mother
Home, Sweet Home
(1914)
Payne's Sweetheart
The Battle of the Sexes
(1914)
Jane Andrews, the daughter
The Green-Eyed Devil
(1914)
Mary Miller
The Rebellion of Kitty Belle
(1914)
Kitty Belle
The Tear That Burned
(1914)
Anita - the Truant
Man's Enemy
(1914)
Grace Lisle
The Folly of Anne
(1914)
Anne
The Angel of Contention
(1914)
Nettie - the Angel
The Quicksands
(1914)
Lord Chumley
(1914)
Eleanor Butterworth
The Sisters
(1914)
May
The Hunchback
(1914)
The Orphan - as an Adult
A Duel for Love
(1914)
The Birth of a Nation
(1915)
Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
Enoch Arden
(1915)
Annie Lee
The Lily and the Rose
(1915)
Mary Randolph
The Lost House
(1915)
Dosia Dale
Captain Macklin
(1915)
Beatrice
His Lesson
(1915)
Participant in Mob Scene (uncredited)
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
(1916)
The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle
Daphne and the Pirate
(1916)
Daphne La Tour
The Children Pay
(1916)
Millicent
The House Built Upon Sand
(1916)
Evelyn Dare
Diane of the Follies
(1916)
Diane
An Innocent Magdalene
(1916)
Dorothy Raleigh
Sold for Marriage
(1916)
Marfa
Pathways of Life
(1916)
Souls Triumphant
(1917)
Lillian Vale
Hearts of the World
(1918)
The Girl - Marie Stephenson
The Great Love
(1918)
Susie Broadplains
The Greatest Thing in Life
(1918)
Jeannette Peret
Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal
(1918)
Broken Blossoms
(1919)
Lucy Burrows
True Heart Susie
(1919)
Susie May Trueheart
A Romance of Happy Valley
(1919)
Jennie Timberlake
The Greatest Question
(1919)
Nellie Jarvis
Way Down East
(1920)
Anna Moore
Orphans of the Storm
(1921)
Henriette Girard
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
(1921)
Herself
From Farm to Fame
(1922)
Lillian Gish
The White Sister
(1923)
Angela Chiaromonte
Romola
(1924)
Romola
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
La Bohème
(1926)
Mimi
The Scarlet Letter
(1927)
Hester Prynne
Annie Laurie
(1927)
Annie Laurie
The Enemy
(1927)
Pauli Arndt
The Wind
(1928)
Letty
One Romantic Night
(1930)
Princess Alexandra
His Double Life
(1933)
Alice Chalice
Commandos Strike at Dawn
(1942)
Mrs. Bergesen
Top Man
(1943)
Beth Warren
Duel in the Sun
(1946)
Laura Belle McCanles
Miss Susie Slagle's
(1946)
Miss Susie Slagle
Portrait of Jennie
(1948)
Mother Mary of Mercy
The Trip to Bountiful
(1953)
Carrie Watts
The Night of the Hunter
(1955)
Rachel Cooper
The Cobweb
(1955)
Victoria Inch
Film Fun
(1955)
(archive footage)
Orders to Kill
(1958)
Mrs. Summers
The Unforgiven
(1960)
Mattilda Zachary
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
(1961)
Self (archive footage)
The Spiral Staircase
(1961)
Mrs. Warren
Mrs. Winchester's House
(1963)
Narrator
The Love Goddesses
(1965)
(archive footage)
Follow Me, Boys!
(1966)
Hetty Seibert
Warning Shot
(1967)
Alice Willows
The Comedians
(1967)
Mrs. Smith
The Comedians in Africa
(1967)
Self (uncredited)
Arsenic and Old Lace
(1969)
Martha Brewster
Langlois
(1970)
Self
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
(1975)
Self (archive footage)
Twin Detectives
(1976)
Billy Jo Haskins
A Wedding
(1978)
Nettie Sloan
Thin Ice
(1981)
Grandmother
Night of 100 Stars
(1982)
Self
Hambone and Hillie
(1983)
Hillie Radcliffe
Hobson's Choice
(1983)
Miss Molly Winkle
Lillian Gish
(1983)
Herself
Night of 100 Stars II
(1985)
Self
Sweet Liberty
(1986)
Cecelia Burgess
Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown
(1986)
Self (archive footage)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1986)
Mrs Loftus
The Whales of August
(1987)
Sarah Webber
Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me
(1988)
Herself, Archive footage
Moving Pictures: 'The Night of the Hunter'
(1995)
Self
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
(1998)
Lucy - The Girl (archive footage)
D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery 1909-1913
(2002)
Charles Laughton Directs 'The Night of the Hunter'
(2002)
Self (archive footage)
Cannes: All Access
(2007)
Self (archive footage)
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies
(2008)
Self (archive footage)
Sigrid Holmquist
(2010)
Sigrid Holmquist (archive footage)
Night Hunter
(2011)
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
The Women Who Run Hollywood
(2016)
Herself (archive footage)
The Flapper
(2021)
(archival footage)
AFI Life Achievement Award: 50th Anniversary Special
(2023)
Self (archive footage)
Writing
Directing
Crew