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CMG Worldwide Welcomes You to the Official Website of Lillian Gish

Biography

Not only was Lillian Gish born in the right era, but she was also born with the ethereal beauty and grace to make her a star in the silent film industry. If Mary Pickford was the silent cinema’s greatest personality, Lillian was its greatest actress.

A consummate actress, Lillian seemed to take delight in suffering for the art form that became her obsession. In order to experiment, Lillian worked in extreme conditions such as starvation, intense heat and bitter cold. Soon, she became the quintessential silent screen heroine, lovely and open to suffering. However, despite her character’s’ apparent weakness, Lillian’s performances also let their inner strengths shine through.

Her stage debut took place in 1902 when she performed at The Little Red School House in Rising Sun, Ohio. From 1903 to 1904, with her mother and her sister Dorothy, Lillian toured in Her First False Step. The following year, she danced with the Sarah Bernhardt production in New York City. From 1908 to 1911, she moved around, staying with various relatives. She lived with her aunt in Massillon, Ohio, with her mother in East St. Louis, and briefly with her father in Oklahoma.

Lillian’s film debut came in 1912, when she and her sister starred in An Unseen Enemy under the direction of D.W. Griffith. In 1913, during the production of A Good Little Devil, Lillian collapsed from anemia during a run of the play.

That same year, in The Mothering Heart, Lillian started showing signs of the emotional power hidden in the seemingly frail and hauntingly beautiful actress. Griffith utilized Lillian’s aura to its fullest to develop the image of the suffering heroine. She also demonstrated an intense anger as shown in the same film, when she beats a bush after the death of her child. This intensity was present in all her films thereafter. Broken Blossoms is arguably Lillian’s greatest silent film. The terror she expressed as her drunken father breaks down the door to the closet she was hiding in was communicated directly to the audience. She displayed that same intensity in Way Down East, when she baptizes a dying baby and in The Wind, where she roams, dying, through the streets of Montmartre. In 1920, she directed Dorothy Gish in Remodeling Her Husband, and in 1922, she made Orphans in the Storm, her last film under Griffith’s direction. She joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924 and made her first “talkie” One Romantic Night in 1930. She then returned to the stage in Uncle Vanya.

During the 1930s, Lillian began working in radio. She made her television debut in 1948 with the Philco Playhouse production The Late Christopher Bean. In 1969, Lillian began giving the film lecture Lillian Gish and the Movies: The Art of Film, 1900-1928.

Lillian has been honored with many of the motion picture industry’s top honors, including an honorary Academy Award, The American Film Institute Life Achievement Award and the D.W. Griffith Award for lifetime achievement.

Lillian’s combination of fragility and strength, as well as her rare beauty and brilliant performance on screen, made her one of the greatest stars in silent films. She will always be remembered as one of the pioneers in the motion pictures industry.

Filmography

  • Aventures of Huckleberry Finn, The (1986)
  • Angel of Contention, The (1914)
  • Annie Laurie (1927)
  • Arsenic and Old Lace (1969)
  • Battle at Elderbush Gulch, The (1913)
  • Battle of the Sexes, The (1914)
  • Birth of a Nation, The (1915)
  • Blue or the Gray, The (1913)
  • Broken Blossoms (1919)
  • Burglar’s Dilemma, The (1912)
  • Captain Macklin (1915)
  • Children Pay, The (1916)
  • Cobweb, The (1955)
  • Comedians, The (1967)
  • Comedians in Africa, The (1967)
  • Commandos Strike at Dawn (1942)
  • Conscience of Hassan Bey, The (1913)
  • Cry for Help, A (1912)
  • Daphne and the Pirate (1916)
  • Diane of the Follies (1916)
  • Duel in the Sun (1946) – Academy Award Nomination
  • During the Round Up (1913)
  • Enemy, The (1927)
  • Enoch Arden (1915)
  • Escape, The (1914)
  • Flirting with Fate (1916)
  • Follow Me, Boys! (1966)
  • Folly of Anne, The (1914)
  • Greatest Thing in Life, The (1918)
  • Greatest Question, The (1919)
  • Great Love, The (1918)
  • Green-Eyed Devil, The (1914)
  • Gold and Glitter (1912)
  • Hambone and Hillie (1984)
  • Hearts of the World (1918)
  • Henri Langlois (1970)
  • His Double Life (1933)
  • His Lesson (1914)
  • Hobson’s Choice (1983)
  • Home, Sweet Home (1914)
  • House Built Upon Sand, The (1917)
  • House of Darkness, The (1913)
  • Hunchback, The (1914)
  • Indian’s Loyalty, An (1913)
  • Innocent Magdalene, An (1916)
  • In the Aisles of the Wild (1912)
  • Intolerance (1916)
  • Judith of Bethulia (1914)
  • Just Gold (1913)
  • Just Kids (1913)
  • La Boheme (1926)
  • Lady and the Mouse, The (1913)
  • Left-Handed Man, The (1913)
  • Liberty Bond Short (1918)
  • Lily and the Rose, The (1915)
  • Lord Chumley (1914)
  • Lost House, The (1915)
  • Madonna of the Storm, The (1913)
  • Man’s Enemy (1914)
  • Miss Susie Slagle’s (1946)
  • Misunderstood Boy, A (1913)
  • Modest Hero, A (1913)
  • Mothering Heart, The (1913)
  • Musketeers of Pig Alley, The (1912)
  • My Baby (1912)
  • New York Hat, The (1912)
  • Night of the Hunter, The (1955)
  • Oil and Water (1913)
  • One Romantic Night (1930)
  • One She Loved, The (1912)
  • Orders to Kill (1958)
  • Orphans of the Storm (1921)
  • Pathways of Life (1916)
  • Portrait of Jennie (1948)
  • Quicksands, The (1914)
  • Rebellion of Kitty Belle, The (1914)
  • Remodeling Her Husband (1920) – Director 
  • Romance of Happy Valley, The (1918)
  • Romola (1924)
  • Salute to Theaters (1955)
  • Scarlet Letter, The (1926)
  • Silent Sandy (1914)
  • Sisters, The (1914)
  • Sold for Marriage (1916)
  • So Runs the Way (1913)
  • Souls Triumphant (1915)
  • Stolen Bride, The (1913)
  • Sweet Liberty (1985)
  • Tap Man (1943)
  • Tear that Burned, The (1914)
  • Thin Ice (1981)
  • Timely Interception, A (1913)
  • True Heart Susie (1919)
  • Twin Detectives (1976)
  • Two Daughters of Eve (1912)
  • Unforgiven, The (1960)
  • Unseen Enemy, An (1912)
  • Unwelcome Guest, The (1913)
  • Warning Shot (1966)
  • Way Down East (1920)
  • Wedding, A (1978)
  • Whales of August, The (1987)
  • White Sister, The (1923)
  • Wife, The (1914)
  • Wind, The (1928)
  • Woman in the Ultimate, A (1913)

Licensing

As the exclusive licensing agent for Lillian Gish, CMG Worldwide is dedicated to maintaining and developing a positive brand image for our client. CMG is a leader and pioneer in its field, with over 35 years of experience arranging licensing agreements for hundreds of personalities and brands in various industries, including sports, entertainment, music, and more. We actively seek out commercial opportunities that are consistent with our brand positioning goals, and we are committed to pursuing strategies that meet the goals of our clients, as well as our licensing partners.

Please contact us today if you are interested in licensing opportunities with Lillian Gish. For a full list of CMG Clients, please visit our website here.

 

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