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Lillian Diana Gish was an American pioneering actress of the screen and stage, and a director and writer. Her film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called "The First Lady of American Cinema", and is credited with pioneering fundamental film performance techniques.
Birth Name
Lillian Diana Gish
Born
Saturday, 14 October 1893
Died
Saturday, 27 February 1993
Actress Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| The U.S. and the Holocaust | Self - Member of America First Committee | 2022 |
| A Sétima Arte | Self | 2021 |
| Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold | Anna Moore | 2017 |
| And the Oscar Goes to... | Self / Self (archive footage) | 2014 |
| Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen | (archive footage) | 2012 |
| These Amazing Shadows | Elsie (clip from The Birth of a Nation (1915)) | 2011 |
| Night Hunter | (archive footage) | 2011 |
| Never Apologize | Self | 2008 |
| Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies | Self / Self (archive footage) | 2008 |
| Blue Skies Beyond the Looking Glass | (archive footage) | 2008 |
Actress Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| The U.S. and the Holocaust | Self - Member of America First Committee | 2022 |
| A Sétima Arte | Self | 2021 |
| Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold | Anna Moore | 2017 |
| And the Oscar Goes to... | Self / Self (archive footage) | 2014 |
| Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen | (archive footage) | 2012 |
| These Amazing Shadows | Elsie (clip from The Birth of a Nation (1915)) | 2011 |
| Night Hunter | (archive footage) | 2011 |
| Never Apologize | Self | 2008 |
| Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies | Self / Self (archive footage) | 2008 |
| Blue Skies Beyond the Looking Glass | (archive footage) | 2008 |
| Cannes: All Access | Self (archive footage) | 2007 |
| Words in Progress | Self | 2004 |
| Classified X | Self | 1998 |
| Star Power: The Creation of United Artists | Lucy - The Girl / Lucy - The Girl (archive footage) | 1998 |
| The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies | Self | 1995 |
| Citizen Langlois | Self | 1995 |
| The 66th Annual Academy Awards | Self - Memorial Tribute | 1994 |
| The Making of 'the Birth of a Nation' | Self / Elsie Stoneman | 1993 |
| Hollywood Mavericks | Lucy - The Girl | 1990 |
| The Whales of August | Sarah Webber | 1987 |
| Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood | Self | 1987 |
| Siskel & Ebert | Various | 1986 |
| American Masters | Self | 1986 |
| Sweet Liberty | Cecelia Burgess | 1986 |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mrs Loftus | 1986 |
| Greta Garbo: The Temptress and the Clown | Herself / Self | 1985 |
| All-Star Party for 'Dutch' Reagan | Self | 1985 |
| Night of 100 Stars II | Self | 1985 |
| Hambone and Hillie | Hillie Radcliffe | 1983 |
| The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts | Self - Honoree | 1982 |
| Night of 100 Stars | Self | 1982 |
| American Playhouse | Mrs Loftus | 1982 |
| The 53rd Annual Academy Awards | Self - Presenter | 1981 |
| Hollywood | Self / Self - Interviewee | 1980 |
| A Wedding | Nettie Sloan | 1978 |
| The Love Boat | Mrs. Williams | 1977 |
| Arena | Self | 1975 |
| Dinah! | Self - Guest | 1974 |
| Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still | Self | 1974 |
| Film '72 | Self | 1971 |
| Langlois | Self | 1970 |
| The David Frost Show | Self - Guest | 1969 |
| Arsenic and Old Lace | Martha Brewster | 1969 |
| The Comedians | Mrs. Smith | 1967 |
| The Carol Burnett Show | Self - Audience Member | 1967 |
| The Joey Bishop Show | Self - Guest | 1967 |
| Warning Shot | Alice Willows | 1967 |
| Follow Me, Boys! | Hetty Seibert | 1966 |
| The Love Goddesses | Self / (archive footage) | 1965 |
| Hallelujah the Hills | Anna Moore | 1963 |
| Mr. Novak | Maude Phipps | 1963 |
| Breaking Point | Stella Manville | 1963 |
| The Great Chase | (archive footage) | 1962 |
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Bessie Carnby | 1962 |
| Howard K. Smith | Self - Guest | 1962 |
| The Mike Douglas Show | Herself - Actress / Herself | 1961 |
| The DuPont Show of the Week | Self | 1961 |
| The Defenders | Mrs. Cooper / Louisa Clarendon | 1961 |
| Hollywood: The Golden Years | Self | 1961 |
| The Unforgiven | Mattilda Zachary | 1960 |
| Play of the Week | Dolly Talbo | 1959 |
| Orders to Kill | Mrs. Summers | 1958 |
| The Alcoa Hour | Esther Crampton | 1955 |
| Playwrights '56 | Mrs. Compson | 1955 |
| Ford Star Jubilee | Mary Todd Lincoln | 1955 |
| Film Fun | Self / (archive footage) | 1955 |
| This Is Your Life | Self | 1955 |
| The Night of the Hunter | Rachel Cooper | 1955 |
| The Cobweb | Victoria Inch | 1955 |
| The Magical World of Disney | Hetty Seibert | 1954 |
| Person to Person | Self | 1953 |
| Campbell Summer Soundstage | Miss Harrington | 1952 |
| Schlitz Playhouse | Grandma Moses | 1951 |
| Celanese Theatre | Sister Christina | 1951 |
| Wonderful Town, U.S.A. | Self | 1951 |
| Portrait of Jennie | Mother Mary of Mercy | 1949 |
| The Ford Theatre Hour | Mrs. Midget | 1948 |
| The Philco Television Playhouse | Abby / Carrie Watts / Herself | 1948 |
| The Ed Sullivan Show | Self / Catherine Lynch | 1948 |
| Duel in the Sun | Laura Belle McCanles | 1947 |
| Kraft Theatre | Mrs. Bibb | 1947 |
| Miss Susie Slagle's | Miss Susie Slagle | 1946 |
| Gaslight Follies | Self | 1945 |
| Top Man | Beth Warren | 1943 |
| Commandos Strike at Dawn | Mrs. Bergesen | 1942 |
| The Movies March On | Elsie - Stoneman's Daughter | 1939 |
| His Double Life | Alice Chalice | 1934 |
| The Movie Album | Self | 1932 |
| The House That Shadows Built | (archive footage) | 1931 |
| One Romantic Night | Princess Alexandra | 1930 |
| The Wind | Letty | 1928 |
| The Enemy | Pauli Arndt | 1927 |
| Annie Laurie | Annie Laurie | 1927 |
| The Scarlet Letter | Hester Prynne | 1927 |
| La Bohème | Mimi | 1926 |
| Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ | Chariot Race Spectator | 1925 |
| Romola | Romola | 1924 |
| The White Sister | Angela Chiaromonte | 1923 |
| Orphans of the Storm | Henriette Girard | 1921 |
| Way Down East | Anna Moore | 1920 |
| The Greatest Question | Nellie Jarvis | 1919 |
| Broken Blossoms | Lucy Burrows / Lucy - The Girl | 1919 |
| True Heart Susie | True Heart Susie / Susie May Trueheart | 1919 |
| A Romance of Happy Valley | Jennie Timberlake | 1919 |
| The Greatest Thing in Life | Jeannette Peret | 1918 |
| Hearts of the World | The Girl - Marie Stephenson | 1918 |
| Souls Triumphant | Lillian Vale | 1917 |
| The House Built Upon Sand | Evelyn Dare | 1916 |
| The Children Pay | Millicent | 1916 |
| Intolerance | Eternal Mother / The Woman Who Rocks the Cradle | 1916 |
| Diane of the Follies | Diane | 1916 |
| An Innocent Magdalene | Dorothy Raleigh | 1916 |
| Sold for Marriage | Marfa | 1916 |
| Daphne and the Pirate | Daphne La Tour | 1916 |
| The Lily and the Rose | Mary Randolph / Mary Randolph - The Lily | 1915 |
| Captain Macklin | Beatrice | 1915 |
| The Birth of a Nation | Elsie - Stoneman's Daughter / Stoneman's Daughter Elsie | 1915 |
| Lord Chumley | Eleanor Butterworth | 1914 |
| Home, Sweet Home | Payne's Sweetheart | 1914 |
| Judith of Bethulia | The Young Mother | 1914 |
| The Battle of Elderbush Gulch | Melissa Harlow | 1913 |
| The Mothering Heart | The Young Wife / The Wife | 1913 |
| The House of Darkness | The Nurse | 1913 |
| The Burglar's Dilemma | Birthday Wellwisher | 1912 |
| The New York Hat | Outside Church / Customer in Shop | 1912 |
| Brutality | At Theatre | 1912 |
| The Musketeers of Pig Alley | The Little Lady | 1912 |
| The Painted Lady | Belle at Ice Cream Festival | 1912 |
| So Near, Yet So Far | A Friend | 1912 |
| An Unseen Enemy | The Older Sister / Eldest Sister | 1912 |
Director Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 1968 | Golden Globe | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated |
| 1947 | Oscar | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Nominated |
