Research Catalog

Title

Lillian Gish papers, 1909-1992.

Author

Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• McCullaugh, Laura
• Dorr, Nell
• Gish, Dorothy
• Abbe, James Edward, 1883-1973.
• Albin, Charles
• Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973.
• Gielgud, John, 1904-2000.
• Paine, Albert Bigelow, 1861-1937.
• Beaton, Cecil, 1904-1980.
• Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.
• Reagan, Ronald
• McDowall, Roddy
• Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964.
• Wagenknecht, Edward, 1900-2004.
• Sterne, Herb
• Astor, Mary, 1906-1987.
• Malcolm, Ian, Sir, 1868-1944.
• Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.
• Pickford, Mary, 1892-1979.
• Abbott, George, 1887-1995.
• Ackland, Rodney, 1908-1991.
• Atkinson, Brooks, 1894-1984.
• Beaumont, Hugh, 1908-1976.
• Brent, Romney, 1902-1976.
• Brownlow, Kevin
• Cairns, Huntington, 1904-1985.
• Colman, Ronald, 1891-1958.
• Cornell, Katharine, 1893-1974.
• Coward, Noël, 1899-1973.
• Fairbanks, Douglas, Jr., 1909-2000.
• Glenville, Peter, 1913-1996.
• Gordon, Ruth, 1896-1985.
• Hayes, Helen, 1900-1993.
• Kroll, Lucy
• Kroll, Nathan
• MacArthur, James, 1937-2010.
• Merkel, Una, 1903-1986.
• Moore, Colleen, 1900-1988.
• O'Casey, Eileen
• O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964.
• O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953.
• O'Neill, Carlotta Monterey
• Wilder, Thornton, 1897-1975.
• Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983.
• Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943.
• Friedman-Abeles (New York, N.Y.), photographer
• White Studio (New York, N.Y.), photographer

Found In

nnpc Lillian Gish Papers and Sound Recordings (CStRLIN)NYPW99-A237

Description

75 linear feet (119 boxes, 33 scrapbooks. and 10 reel of microfilm)

Summary

The Lillian Gish papers (75 lf.) span the years 1909-1992 and consist of correspondence including letters from friends, family, fans and business associates, personal papers, business, legal and financial documents, scripts, writings, photographs including early D.W. Griffith silent film photographs both candid shots taken during shooting and film stills, portraits by famous photographers, personal and family photographs, publicity and production photographs and snapshots, scrapbooks on the careers of both Dorothy and Lillian Gish, programs for early silent films and theatrical productions, clippings and ephemera that document the life and career of Lillian and Dorothy Gish from the early 1900's until Lillian's death in 1993.

Subject

• Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993
• Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993 > Portraits
• Gish, Dorothy
• Gish, Dorothy > Portraits
• Gish family > Genealogy
• Duell, Charles H. 1905-1970
• Griffith, D. W. 1875-1948
• McCullaugh, Laura
• Lindsay, Howard, 1889-1968
• Dumas, Alexandre, 1824-1895
• Anderson, Maxwell, 1888-1959
• Inspiration Pictures, Inc
• Birth of a nation (Motion picture : 1915)
• Intolerance (Motion picture)
• Hearts of the world (Motion picture)
• Broken blossoms (Motion picture : 1919)
• Orphans of the storm (Motion picture)
• Way down east (Motion picture)
• White sister (Motion picture)
• Romola (Motion picture)
• Scarlet letter (Motion picture : 1926)
• Nell Gwyn (Motion picture)
• Unforgiven (Motion picture)
• Night of the hunter (Motion picture)
• Annie Laurie (Motion picture : 1927)
• Clothes make the pirate (Motion picture)
• Infinity in an hour (Television program)
• Silent films > United States > History
• Theater > United States
• Motion picture industry > United States > History
• Motion picture actors and actresses > United States

Genre/Form

• Scrapbooks.
• Programs.
• Photoprints.

Access (note)

• Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Additional Formats (note)

• are only available on microfilm

Source (note)

• Estate of Lillian Gish

Biography (note)

• Lilllian Gish, legendary star of the silent film era, was born in Springfield, Ohio in 1893.

Linking Entry (note)

• Forms part of The Lillian Gish Papers and Sound Recordings.

Processing Action (note)

• Cataloged

Call Number

*T-Mss 1996-011

OCLC

NYPW97-A165

Author

Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993.

Title

Lillian Gish papers, 1909-1992.

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Additional Formats

Boxes 1-10 are only available on microfilm: The Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; service copy number: *ZC-591.

Biography

Lilllian Gish, legendary star of the silent film era, was born in Springfield, Ohio in 1893. Although best known as one of the earliest stars of the nascent film industry, Lillian Gish began as a child trouper on the stage with her sister Dorothy and their mother. At the age of five, she made her first appearance in a melodrama IN CONVICT STRIPES. A chance meeting in 1912 with another child actress Gladys Smith, who became world renowned as Mary Pickford, brought her and Dorothy to the attention of D. W. Griffith, a pioneering director in silent film days. She soon became his leading star, achieving stardom in his productions of BIRTH OF A NATION (1915), INTOLERANCE (1916), and most notably in ORPHANS OF THE STORM (1922), playing opposite her sister Dorothy. She was the perfect Griffith heroine, revealing a strong will and intelligence under a fragile, almost ethereal exterior.

She parted company with Griffith over a salary dispute, later joining MGM in 1925. One of the few stars to have control over story and director, Gish made only two successful movies at MGM, LA BOHEME and THE SCARLET LETTER. Overshadowed by the rising prominence of Greta Garbo, she left MGM and made a few films as an independent. She then decided to return to the Broadway stage and found the right vehicle in director Jed Harris's production of UNCLE VANYA in 1930. Her success in the play led to other starring roles, among them Ophelia opposite John Gielgud in the 1936 production of HAMLET. Thereafter, she never lacked for roles on Broadway and worked steadily as a stage actress until 1973.

In 1968, she suffered a personal blow when her sister Dorothy, with whom she was extremely close throughout her life, died. From time to time, she returned to the movies and also appeared on television from the 1950s to the 1970s, making her final appearance on screen in the movie THE WHALES OF AUGUST in 1987. In 1970, she was awarded a special Oscar for her lifetime contributions to motion pictures. Lillian Gish died in 1993 in her hundredth year. She recorded the account of her life in LIFE AND LILLIAN GISH (1932), THE MOVIES, MR. GRIFFITH AND ME (1969) and DOROTHY AND LILLIAN GISH (1973).

Linking Entry

Forms part of The Lillian Gish Papers and Sound Recordings.

Connect to:

Request Access to Theatre Division Special Collections material

NYPL Digital Collections

Finding Aid

Added Author

McCullaugh, Laura.

Dorr, Nell.

Gish, Dorothy.

Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993. Silver glory.

Gish, Lillian, 1893-1993. Lillian Gish.

Abbe, James Edward, 1883-1973.

Albin, Charles.

Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973.

Gielgud, John, 1904-2000.

Paine, Albert Bigelow, 1861-1937.

Beaton, Cecil, 1904-1980.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969.

Reagan, Ronald.

McDowall, Roddy.

Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964.

Wagenknecht, Edward, 1900-2004.

Sterne, Herb.

Astor, Mary, 1906-1987.

Malcolm, Ian, Sir, 1868-1944.

Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956.

Pickford, Mary, 1892-1979.

Abbott, George, 1887-1995.

Ackland, Rodney, 1908-1991.

Atkinson, Brooks, 1894-1984.

Beaumont, Hugh, 1908-1976.

Brent, Romney, 1902-1976.

Brownlow, Kevin.

Cairns, Huntington, 1904-1985.

Colman, Ronald, 1891-1958.

Cornell, Katharine, 1893-1974.

Coward, Noël, 1899-1973.

Fairbanks, Douglas, Jr., 1909-2000.

Glenville, Peter, 1913-1996.

Gordon, Ruth, 1896-1985.

Hayes, Helen, 1900-1993.

Kroll, Lucy.

Kroll, Nathan.

MacArthur, James, 1937-2010.

Merkel, Una, 1903-1986.

Moore, Colleen, 1900-1988.

O'Casey, Eileen.

O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964.

O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953.

O'Neill, Carlotta Monterey.

Wilder, Thornton, 1897-1975.

Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983.

Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943.

Friedman-Abeles (New York, N.Y.), photographer.

White Studio (New York, N.Y.), photographer.

Found In:

nnpc Lillian Gish Papers and Sound Recordings (CStRLIN)NYPW99-A237

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 1996-011

*ZC-591