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.”)

	Lillian Gish in “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