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| Lillian
Gish
1893 - 1993 |
.
. The actress Lillian Gish was born as Lillian de Guiche in Springfield, Ohio. Her sister was the actress Dorothy Gish. The father was an alcoholic and was most of the time absent, the family was on their own. The mother Mary Gish and her daughters began to act on stage to earn money for the living. This was the beginning of a successful theater career for the next 13 years. Lillian Gish made her film debut in 1912 with D.W. Griffith's "An Unseen Enemy" (12), together with her sister. Griffths became was the most important person for the future career of the Gish siblings, especially for Lillian Gish it meant the way to immortality. Lillian Gish became already a top star in 1913 and she appeared only in this year in 25 movies. Because of her great success she was able to took part in less movies in the following years but select more critical her next productions. She appeared in Griffith's masterpieces "The Birth of a Nation" (15) and "Intolerance" (16), other successful productions of this decade were "The New York Hat" (12), "Judith of Bethulia" (14), "The Lily and the Rose" (15), "The Great Love" (18), "Broken Blossoms" (19) and "The Greatest Question" (19). But even the great Lillian Gish wasn't spared from the generation change.
New faces were demanded and film offers became more rarely. In the 20's
she only took part in nine movies, among them "Orphans of the Storm" (21),
in which she acted at her sister's side and gave a great performance, "Romola"
(24), "La Boheme" (26), "The Scarlet Letter" (26) and "The Wind" (28).
Lillian Gish directed her only movie "Remodeling Her Husband" in 1920, with her sister Dorothy Gish as the leading actress. Like her sister, Lillian Gish also finished her career after only two sound movies in the 30's - "One Romantic Night" (30) and "His Double Life" (33). Only in the 40's she had a comeback with the movies "Commandos Strike at Dawn" (42), "Top Man" (43) and "Miss Susie Slagle's" (46), which followed the successful productions "Duel in the Sun" (46) - she was nominated for the Oscar for the best actress in a supporting role - and "Portrait of Jennie" (48). In the following decades her engagements for the theater, television and cinema rotated. She appeared on the big screen with the movies "The Night of the Hunter" (55), "The Cobweb" (55), "Orders to Kill" (58), "The Unforgiven" (60), "The Comedians" (67), "Sweet Liberty" (86) and finally her last picture "The Whales of August" (87), which rallied a crowd of the old stars Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Vincent Price and Ann Sothern. Lillian Gish became the Honorary Award for her lifework in 1971.
Other movies with Lilllian Gish:
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