When Jon from UCLA sent an article titled "A Portrait of Lillian Gish" I expected a long article. The article was indexed "A Portrait of Lillian Gish" from American Magazine, published in New York.
Page 33 has a striking nearly full page close up photograph of Miss Gish. It is striking because she is so young and beautiful. She would have 23 at the time, assuming 1893 as her accurate birth year. Many sources still list 1896, but you can't correct the world. One can only work and write for accuracy and ignore fools who argue.
The title below the photo read: "Lillian Gish--Star in "The Birth of a Nation."
The brief text reads: "Lillian Gish started her stage career when she was six years old in an old fashioned melodrama called "The Little Red Schoolhouse." A few years later her skill as a dancer attracted the attention of Sarah Bernhardt, then on one of her farewell tours.
"The Divine Sarah" engaged her for two seasons. Miss Gish happened into a motion picture studio one eventful day with her friend Mary Pickford. D,.W. Griffith, the famous producer, saw a future in her face and signed her forthwith."
Published American Magazine, New York, 1916. No credits are given for photo or text.
In other and later writings Miss Gish wrote and said she began her stage career at five. There is another fact here I need to check with Professor Affron about. More later.
James Patterson who spends a happy life learning, earning and yearning.
Adviser, Dorothy and Lillian Gish Theater 2005-2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Breitbart Discussion on early Dignity of Lillian Gish Actress and Person
Breitbart on the early issue of Lillian Gish and dignity. Facts, theory, application and discussion mode is on:
The Gishes found themselves competing against a bevy of other young actresses, all rather interchangeable. One of the company’s other ingénues, Miriam Cooper, remembered that “[Griffith] liked his young ladies to be thin, ethereal types. I don’t think there was a big bosom in the bunch. We were all flat as pancakes.” To set themselves apart, Lillian and Dorothy soon developed into convenient stereotypes -- the younger sister specialized in humor and sass and fun, and the older [Lillian] frequently epitomized solemnity, grace and dignity.
The Gishes found themselves competing against a bevy of other young actresses, all rather interchangeable. One of the company’s other ingénues, Miriam Cooper, remembered that “[Griffith] liked his young ladies to be thin, ethereal types. I don’t think there was a big bosom in the bunch. We were all flat as pancakes.” To set themselves apart, Lillian and Dorothy soon developed into convenient stereotypes -- the younger sister specialized in humor and sass and fun, and the older [Lillian] frequently epitomized solemnity, grace and dignity.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Lillian Gish and James Patterson agree "A Happy Life is one spent learning, earning and yearning."
September 24, 2013
Lillian Gish: [American author and journalist] Christopher Morley [author of Kitty Foyle] once described a happy life as one spent learning, earning and yearning. The earning portion of this simple formula for living began early in my life. I made my debut in the theater at the age of five, not out of choice, but because I had to earn a living. My sister Dorothy and I received our "on-the-spot learning" from our wise young mother. As our theater group toured America, she would take us to places such as Plymouth Rock, Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, a history book under her arm. In Detroit, we would goo through automobile factories. In the South, we would learn firsthand of cotton, from seeing it picked in the fields to its emergence from the factory as a dress.
My "learning" was continued by lucky association with D. W. Griffith. Then the picture was important, not the players. I researched periods of history, designed costumes, studied hairstyles, edited film, and before I was twenty directed a five-reel picture for Paramount. Everyone had a part in the creative process of film making. Today, much of this spirit has been lost.
Through the "yearning" to be better at my job, I learned to take the responsibility of work. Lloyd George once told Mr. Griffith that he had the greatest power of the over men's minds that the world had ever seen. Who can measure the power of the thrill that encircled the world last summer when we saw the picture from the other side of the moon, focusing on that galaxy, never before seen of endless other worlds, suns and moons on into infinity. Then to hear a man's voice say, "That's one small step for man--one giant leap for mankind."
Power without responsibility creates havoc. Griffith told us to remember that when we stood before a camera.
I would add to Mr. Morley's statement that a happy life should be in balance, that one must live equally in the mind, body and spirit. And temper this with, "What you get is a living, what you give is a life."
Published New York 1969
Many thanks to colleagues, too many to mention, at UCLA, Niles Silent Film Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Library of Congress National Film Preservation Packard Campus, George Washington University's Gelman Library, San Francisco Main Library, San Francisco Chronicle, and attorney Jesse Tissott. It's amazing what can be done and what is going to be done when a reputation is at stake. Thank you all! Now for the next chapter. I have loads more to write about this and comments to make about it. Deadlines, meetings and media events take me away.
(Note: There are two facts in Miss Gish's above essay, I must check with Professor Affron about.) I am thinking a clarification may be needed. More later. Jim, ever the fact checker. 415-516-3493
Curt, at 8 am send fax to President Mary Ellen Mazey, Ph.D., 220 McFall Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403. The Columbus fax transmitted yesterday. Conference call today. Total post maybe tomorrow.
The original Christopher Morley (1890-1957) quote is "There are three ingredients in the good life: learning, earning and yearning." Kitty Foyle was published in 1937 and was a very successful film for Ginger Rogers.
Miss Gish published her autobiography in 1969 and reflected on the Morley quote as she wrote the book with co-author. The influence of the Morley quote is clear throughout the book.
Lillian Gish: [American author and journalist] Christopher Morley [author of Kitty Foyle] once described a happy life as one spent learning, earning and yearning. The earning portion of this simple formula for living began early in my life. I made my debut in the theater at the age of five, not out of choice, but because I had to earn a living. My sister Dorothy and I received our "on-the-spot learning" from our wise young mother. As our theater group toured America, she would take us to places such as Plymouth Rock, Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, a history book under her arm. In Detroit, we would goo through automobile factories. In the South, we would learn firsthand of cotton, from seeing it picked in the fields to its emergence from the factory as a dress.
My "learning" was continued by lucky association with D. W. Griffith. Then the picture was important, not the players. I researched periods of history, designed costumes, studied hairstyles, edited film, and before I was twenty directed a five-reel picture for Paramount. Everyone had a part in the creative process of film making. Today, much of this spirit has been lost.
Through the "yearning" to be better at my job, I learned to take the responsibility of work. Lloyd George once told Mr. Griffith that he had the greatest power of the over men's minds that the world had ever seen. Who can measure the power of the thrill that encircled the world last summer when we saw the picture from the other side of the moon, focusing on that galaxy, never before seen of endless other worlds, suns and moons on into infinity. Then to hear a man's voice say, "That's one small step for man--one giant leap for mankind."
Power without responsibility creates havoc. Griffith told us to remember that when we stood before a camera.
I would add to Mr. Morley's statement that a happy life should be in balance, that one must live equally in the mind, body and spirit. And temper this with, "What you get is a living, what you give is a life."
Published New York 1969
Many thanks to colleagues, too many to mention, at UCLA, Niles Silent Film Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Library of Congress National Film Preservation Packard Campus, George Washington University's Gelman Library, San Francisco Main Library, San Francisco Chronicle, and attorney Jesse Tissott. It's amazing what can be done and what is going to be done when a reputation is at stake. Thank you all! Now for the next chapter. I have loads more to write about this and comments to make about it. Deadlines, meetings and media events take me away.
(Note: There are two facts in Miss Gish's above essay, I must check with Professor Affron about.) I am thinking a clarification may be needed. More later. Jim, ever the fact checker. 415-516-3493
Curt, at 8 am send fax to President Mary Ellen Mazey, Ph.D., 220 McFall Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403. The Columbus fax transmitted yesterday. Conference call today. Total post maybe tomorrow.
The original Christopher Morley (1890-1957) quote is "There are three ingredients in the good life: learning, earning and yearning." Kitty Foyle was published in 1937 and was a very successful film for Ginger Rogers.
Miss Gish published her autobiography in 1969 and reflected on the Morley quote as she wrote the book with co-author. The influence of the Morley quote is clear throughout the book.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Lillian Gish would have loved L'avventura's restoration! James Patterson
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L'AVVENTURA 2:00, 7:00 
Saturday, September 7, 2013
The 2013 Gish Prize to Anna Deavere Smith by Liz Smith 2013
Liz Smith report from February 2013
ONE OF my Smith relatives of whom I’m so very proud is Anna Deavere Smith who will be presented with the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize by JP Morgan Chase & Co. on Feb. 13th at 1 Manhattan Chase Plaza, on the 60th floor.
Lillian Gish was one of the first heroines of silent cinema, having been directed by D.W. Griffith with her long hair glued to an ice floe back when actors had to do all their own stunts — or else. (The movie was 1920’s “Way Down East.”)
Miss Gish was a charmer and so talented. She lived and worked
until 1993 and just before she went to her reward, she told me that Bette Davis (in a last movie “The Whales of August”) was “the worst person I ever had to work with.”
Then Lillian promised me that I would, at any memorial to her, tell the following story. Lillian was standing in a cocktail party given by the agent Milton Goldman. The room was crowed with stars and famous Broadway actors. One such was witty Anne Meara who was sitting on an over-crowded couch.
“Anne,” demanded Lauren Bacall, “get up and give Lillian your seat!”
Anne looked over at the 99-year-old Miss Gish and said, “Why? Is she pregnant?!”
Maybe this won’t throw you on the floor with laughter but this was Lillian’s own favorite story.
Maybe Anna will tell this story herself. Former recipients of the Gish award include Ingmar Bergman, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, Peter Sellars, Robert Redford, Pete Seeger, etc. Nobody deserves it more than Anna who has moved and used comedy to elevate social problems.
Posted by James Patterson
Adviser, Dorothy and Lillian Gish Theater, BGSU
ONE OF my Smith relatives of whom I’m so very proud is Anna Deavere Smith who will be presented with the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize by JP Morgan Chase & Co. on Feb. 13th at 1 Manhattan Chase Plaza, on the 60th floor.
Lillian Gish was one of the first heroines of silent cinema, having been directed by D.W. Griffith with her long hair glued to an ice floe back when actors had to do all their own stunts — or else. (The movie was 1920’s “Way Down East.”)
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| Lillian Gish in “Way Down East.” | |
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Then Lillian promised me that I would, at any memorial to her, tell the following story. Lillian was standing in a cocktail party given by the agent Milton Goldman. The room was crowed with stars and famous Broadway actors. One such was witty Anne Meara who was sitting on an over-crowded couch.
“Anne,” demanded Lauren Bacall, “get up and give Lillian your seat!”
Anne looked over at the 99-year-old Miss Gish and said, “Why? Is she pregnant?!”
Maybe this won’t throw you on the floor with laughter but this was Lillian’s own favorite story.
Maybe Anna will tell this story herself. Former recipients of the Gish award include Ingmar Bergman, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, Peter Sellars, Robert Redford, Pete Seeger, etc. Nobody deserves it more than Anna who has moved and used comedy to elevate social problems.
Posted by James Patterson
Adviser, Dorothy and Lillian Gish Theater, BGSU
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Elder Dignity: Lillian Gish and James Patterson
September 4, 2013
Hello Mr. Patterson,
Your letter to SFPL requesting that the library screen Whales of August recently made it into my hands in the Art, Music and Recreation Department of the Main Library and I am interested. The program I have envisioned though may be very different (and much more simple) than what you had in mind.
At the time your letter reached me I was, coincidentally, in the midst of planning the library's monthly Thursday noon movie series on the theme of older persons in film. For the series, Silver Screen, I had planned on showing three films with interesting portrayals of older people such as, Make Way for Tomorrow, Driving Miss Daisy, the Straight Story and/or the Whales of August.
If we choose to screen Whales of August, would you be interested in introducing the film for this noon series by perhaps sharing 5-10 minutes of your remembrance of Lillian Gish, the making of the film, and the cause (better roles for older actors) she championed?
If you are interested, please let me know at your soonest convenience. The film screening dates are all in November. You could choose to present on either November 7th, 14th or 28th, but we must decide in advance by Monday, September 16th.
Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Gretchen
Gretchen Good
Librarian I
Art, Music and Recreation Department
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street, 4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102
w. 415-557-4521
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Nominate Lillian Gish in The Whales of August (1987) for 2013 National Film Registry by September 13!
Nominate Lillian Gish's last film The Whales of August (1987) for the 2013 National Film registry by September 13. Instructions below.
Nominate Your Selections for the 2013 Film Registry No Later Than Sept. 13.
Your voice is important!
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington seeks nominations for the National Film Registry. Public nominations play a key role when the Librarian of Congress and Film Board are considering their final selections. To be eligible for the Registry, a film must be at least 10 years old and be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Congress first established the National Film Registry in the 1988 National Film Preservation Act, and most recently extended the Registry with passage of the Library of Congress Sound Recording and Film Preservation Programs Reauthorization Act of 2008 (PL110-336). Along with mandating continuing implementation of a plan to save the American film heritage, this law authorizes the Librarian of Congress (after reviewing public suggestions and consulting extensively with film experts and the 44 members and alternates of the National Film Preservation Board) to select up to 25 films each year for inclusion in the Registry. New selections are usually announced at the end of December.
The 600 films chosen to date illustrate the vibrant diversity of American film-making, and range from well-known Hollywood classics (Born Yesterday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Casablanca, A Christmas Story, Forrest Gump, A League of Their Own, and Silence of the Lambs) to landmark independent, documentary and avant-garde masterpieces (One Survivor Remembers, Two-Lane Blacktop, They Call It Pro Football, and The Times of Harvey Milk).
For consideration, please forward recommendations (limit 50 titles per year) via email to: dross@loc.gov. Looking for ideas on possible films to nominate? Check here for hundreds of titles not yet selected to the National Film Registry. Please include the date of the film nominated, and number your recommendations, please. And if you would, please tell us how you learned of the Registry.
Email is preferred; however, to submit via regular mail, send your nominations to:
National Film Registry
Library of Congress
Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation
19053 Mt. Pony Road
Culpeper, VA 22701
Attn: Donna Ross
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