Lillian Diana Gish, born on October 14th, 1893, Springfield, Ohio, U.S., was a pioneering actress of the screen and stage, a director and writer. Lillian's acting career in films spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent shorts, to 1987. She was called 'The First Lady of American Cinema', being credited with pioneering fundamental film performance techniques.
Gish was a leading movie star from 1912 into the '20s, being closely associated with the pictures of director D. W. Griffith, including her leading role in the highest-grossing film of the silent era, Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915).