Jim Patterson at the 2016 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Arts Prize Ceremony at the Whitney Museum of American Arts

Jim Patterson at the 2016 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Ceremony at the Whitney Museum of American Art. November 3, 2016. I am holding an image from Ursuline Academy, the Convent School Lillian attended at the start of the 20th century. Oak Leaves, the student publication from 1935 has sweet student remembrances of Lillian. (Photos courtesy of Whitney.)

The presentation screen for the 2016, 23rd, Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize this years at the Whitney Museum of American Art.Director Elizabeth LeCompte, The Wooster Group, was the 2016 prize recipient.

At the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize background screen raising a glass of red wine to Lillian. I rather like the Gish Glow above my head so I kept the image. Lillian credited red wine with keeping away anemia. She drank for health. In Lillian's last film "The Whales of August" she has a glass of red wine to her late husband on their anniversary and worries what to do with Libby (Bette Davis).

Program notes: past Gish price recipient Peter Sellers spoke fondly of Lillian and her silent films. He noted her work inspires of across time. A. A. M. Homes, author of The End of Alice and other works, a member of the Gish Prize selection committee this year, thanked Lillian for her artistry and the award which was from an artist to future artists.

In the audience I sat next to Carrie Mae Weems another member of the Selection Committee for 2016.


November 3 Historical Notes on Lillian Gish:

On November 3 1960, the Meredith Willson musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" opened on Broadway with Tammy Grimes in the title role (532 performances).  Grimes won a Tony Award for her role and in 1970 in Noel Coward’s Private Lives (198 Performances). Starred with Lillian Gish in A Musical Jubilee on Broadway in 1975 (92 performances) Jim Patterson Note: Tammy Grimes died October 31, 2016

On November 3 1990 Mary Martin, actress (Peter Pan), dies of cancer at 76. See Mary Martin interview Lillian at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ZUTU9fwpA
Lillian wanted the role of Peter Pan in the 1924 silent film. Role went to Betty Bronson.

Nov 3 was her 86^th birthday of actress Lois Smith who was Carrie Watts in the 2005 Peter Norton revival of "The Trip to Bountiful" at Peter Norton Space Off-Broadway in New York. Lillian was the original Mrs. Carrie Watts in the 1955 film and stage production of the Horton Foote play for 39 performances. After Broadway, Lillian toured in the production.

Lillian Gish Wished to Play Desdemona Opposite Paul Robeson

                                                                Lillian circa mid-1940s

On November 1 1604, William Shakespeare's tragedy "Othello" was presented at Whitehall Palace in London.

Lillian loved all the classics, especially Shakespeare, and in 1930, when she left Hollywood for the stage, she wanted to play Desdemona opposite Paul Robeson.

Albany Times Union August 30 1930

"[Lillian Gish] said she had not been asked to play opposite Paul Robeson, [N]egro star, in an American production of Shakespeare's "Othello," but 'if Robeson is, as one hears, the greatest actor of Othello in the world, I should be glad to play opposite him (as Desdemona)'". Assuming 1898 birth, Lillian would have been 32 at the time. 

Ward Morehouse in The New York Sun November 7, 1930

“Lillian Gish writes from Chicago that she won't appear as Desdemona this season because Jed Harris has abandoned his plan to do ‘Othello.’"

Historical Note:

Paul Robeson played Othello at The Schubert Theater for nearly 300 performances in 1943 with German Uta Hagen, then 24, as Desdemona.  He was the first African American lead with an all-white supporting cast on Broadway. Miss Gish would have been 45 then assuming an 1898 birth. Lillian was doing older roles by then. Robeson played Othello in London in 1930 with Dame Peggy Ashcroft, then 23, as Desdemona.