Dorothy Gish
Dorothy Gish (
March 11,
1898 -
June 4,
1968) was an
American actress. Born
Dorothy Elizabeth de Guiche in
Dayton, Ohio, she was the sister of actress
Lillian Gish.
Dorothy's mother Mary began acting in order to support the family after her husband left. When they were old enough, Dorothy and Lillian were brought into their mother's act, and they also modeled. In
1912 their childhood friend
Mary Pickford introduced them to director
D.W. Griffith, and the sisters began acting at the
Biograph Studios.
Dorothy and Lillian both debuted in
Griffith's
An Unseen Enemy. Dorothy would go on to star in over 100 short films and features, many of them with Lillian.
Overshadowed by her sister's popularity, Dorothy virtually retired from motion pictures when
talkies came along. She moved to
England, where she turned her attention to the stage. From
1930 until her death, she only appeared in five more movies, and one
television movie. She did make several appearances in
anthology television series in the early
1950s.
|
Dorothy with her sister Lillian |
She was married to James Rennie (1890-1965), a Canadian-born actor who was her co-star in
Remodeling Her Husband (filmed in 1920, it was directed by Dorothy's older sister, Lillian, in her only directorial outing). They were married in 1920 in a double ceremony with actress
Constance Talmadge and businessman John Piagoglou, and were divorced in 1935.
She died in 1968 from bronchial pneumonia at the age of 70 at a clinic in Rapallo, Italy where she had been a patient for two years, with sister Lillian at her side. Dorothy Gish was interred in Saint Bartholomew's Episcopal Church columbarium in the undercroft of the church,
New York City. Her sister Lillian was later interred beside her.
Her best known films are
Old Heidelberg, Stage Struck, The Little Yankee, Children of the Feud, That Colby Girl, Hearts of the World, Battling Jane, The Hope Chest, and
Orphans of the Storm.
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Dorthy Gish's biographic sketch at
Find A Grave*
Extensive Dorothy Gish gallery
