Lillian Gish virtually invented screen acting. Entering films at a time when most "serious" thespians... (Learn more)
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Lillian Gish’s Milestones
| 1902 | Stage acting debut in tour of the play "In Convict Stripes"; billed as Lillian Niles; subsequently replaced in role by Gladys Smith (later known as Mary Pickford) |
|---|---|
| 1903 | NYC stage acting debut in "At Duty's Call" |
| 1912 | Film acting debut, "An Unseen Enemy"; first film with D.W. Griffith; sister Dorothy was also in the cast |
| 1912 | Had featured role in "The Musketeers fo Pig Alley" |
| 1912 | With mother and sister, moved to NYC |
| 1913 | Returned to the NYC stage in "A Good Little Devil", supporting Mary Pickford; directed by David Belasco |
| 1914 | Appeared in Griffith's "Judith of Bethulia" |
| 1915 | Starred in "The Lily and the Rose" |
| 1915 | Was featured in "The Birth of a Nation" |
| 1916 | Had rare role as a saucy vixen in "Diane of the Follies" |
| 1916 | Reunited with Griffith for small role in "Intolerance" |
| 1919 | Headlined "Broken Blossoms", directed by Griffith |
| 1920 | Feature directorial debut, "Remodeling Her Husband"; co-wrote script with sister Dorothy (billed under the pseudonymous Dorothy Elizabeth Carter); Dorothy Gish had lead role |
| 1920 | Starred in "Way Down East" under Griffith's direction |
| 1921 | With sister Dorothy, starred in "Orphans of the Storm"; final film with Griffith |
| 1922 | Had lead role in the melodramatic "The White Sister" |
| 1924 | Signed to contract with MGM; first film with the studio "Romola" |
| 1926 | Played Mimi in the silent screen version of "La Boheme" |
| 1928 | Had one of her most remembered roles as the plucky heroine of "The Wind", directed by Victor Sjostrom |
| 1930 | Returned to Broadway to appear in "Uncle Vanya" alonside Osgood Perkins |
| 1932 | Enjoyed stage triumph as "Camille" |
| 1933 | Last film for nearly a decade, "His Double Life" |
| 1934 | Acted in the Broadway production "Within the Gates", staged by Melvyn Douglas |
| 1936 | Played Ophelia to John Geilgud's "Hamlet" on Broadway |
| 1936 | Starred in Zoe Akins' adaptation of "The Old Maid" |
| 1940 | Agreed to star in a tour of "Life with Father"; performed in Baltimore and Chicago |
| 1942 | Returned to features in "Commandos Strike at Dawn" |
| 1946 | Received only Academy Award nomination for supporting work in "Duel in the Sun", starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones |
| 1947 | Starred opposite Sanford Meisner in the stage play "Crime and Punishment" |
| 1948 | Second film with Jennifer Jones, "Portrait of Jennie" |
| 1949 | TV acting debut in the "Philco Television Playhouse" presentation of "The Late Christopher Bean" (NBC) |
| 1952 | Starred in the CBS presentation "The Autobiography of Grandma Moses" |
| 1953 | Originated role of Carrie Watts in Horton Foote's teleplay "The Trip to Bountiful", aired as a presentation of NBC's "Goodyear Television Playhouse"; directed by Vincent J. Donahue; in November, recreated role in Broadway version, also directed by Donahue |
| 1955 | Played the godfearing, maternal Rachel Cooper in "The Night of the Hunter", directed by Charles Laughton |
| 1956 | Toured with sister Dorothy in "The Chalk Garden" |
| 1957 | Appeared in Berlin in the double bill, "Portrait of a Madonna", a one-act which Tennessee Williams wrote for her and which served as the prototype for Blanche DuBois, and "The Wreck on the 5:25" by Thornton Wilder, co-starring Burgess Meredith |
| 1958 | Directed a stage production of "The Beggar's Opera" in New Orleans |
| 1958 | Had one scene role in "Orders to Kill", directed by Anthony Asquith |
| 1959 | Co-starred in the award-winning Broadway production of "All the Way Home" |
| 1959 | Starred in the John Huston-directed "The Unforgiven" |
| 1961 | Acted in a TV version of "The Spiral Staircase" (NBC) |
| 1963 | Starred as Mrs. Moore in a Chicago stage production of E.M. Forster's novel "A Passage to India" |
| 1965 | Broadway musical debut as the Russian Dowager Empress in "Anya", based on "Anastasia" |
| 1966 | Had featured role in the Disney movie "Follow Me Boys!" |
| 1967 | Acted in "The Comedians" alongside Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor |
| 1968 | Returned to Broadway to co-star in "I Never Sang for My Father" |
| 1970 | Was featured in a Mike Nichols-directed version of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", starring George C. Scott and Julie Christie |
| 1975 | Final Broadway performance, "A Musical Jubilee" |
| 1978 | Appeared in Robert Altman's "A Wedding" as the family matriarch who passes away |
| 1984 | Starred in the ill-advised "Hambone and Hillie" |
| 1985 | Last TV role, as Mrs. Loftus in the PBS miniseries "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" |
| 1986 | Cast as the aged mother of a history professor in "Sweet Liberty" |
| 1987 | Final film appearance as one of a pair of aged sisters in "The Whales of August" |
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