Lillian Gish (1893-1993) and younger sister Dorothy (1898-1968) (photo by Diane Arbus, 1964).
During the infancy of the motion picture industry, stage actors were disdainful of the medium. In 1912, the Gish sisters were aspiring stage actors in New York when their friend, Gladys Smith (AKA Mary Pickford), introduced them to pioneering film director D.W. Griffith. Griffith immediately hired the sisters and they promptly abandoned their stage aspirations for screen stardom. For the next decade, Lillian and Griffith were great collaborators. They showed that film was not merely an entertainment gimmick, but a medium that held great artistic potential. Lillian Gish is regarded by some as the "inventor" of film acting.
Lillian and Dorothy Gish (Orphans of the Storm, 1921). Click photo to view full-size.
In 1920, Dorothy married actor James Rennie in a double ceremony with actress Constance Talmadge (yesterday's featured sibling duo) and businessman John Piagoglou. The Gish sisters remained close throughout their lives. Lillian was at her younger sister's bedside when Dorothy succumbed to pneumonia in 1968.
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