Live on Stage "LILLIAN GISH AND THE MOVIES" Rare Early Films 1969 Event Program

Description

This is a rare program from the appearance of motion picture legend LILLIAN GISH in the program "LILLIAN GISH & THE MOVIES" at the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut on September 14th, 1969. The one-night event starred LILLIAN GISH sharing her personal experiences with the likes of D. W. GRIFFITH, CHARLIE CHAPLIN and BUSTER KEATON and included many early film clips. The benefit appearance was produced by the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and The American Shakespeare Guild ..... Biography: LILLIAN GISH (1893 - 1993) was
"The First Lady of the Silent Screen," and the movie industry's first true actress. A pioneer of fundamental film performing techniques, she was the first star to recognize the many crucial differences between acting for the stage and acting for the screen, and while her contemporaries painted their performances in broad, dramatic strokes, Gish delivered finely etched, nuanced turns carrying a stunning emotional impact. While by no means the biggest or most popular actress of the silent era, she was the most gifted, her seeming waiflike frailty masking unparalleled reserves of physical and spiritual strength. More than any other early star, she fought to earn film recognition as a true art form, and her achievements remain the standard against which those of all other actors are measured. Born Lillian de Guiche on October 14th, 1893, in Springfield, Ohio, Gish, her younger sister, Dorothy, and their mother, actress Mary Gish, soon relocated to New York. Beginning their acting careers not long after, the girls were in short time the family breadwinners. Among their colleagues was another child actress, Mary Pickford, who in 1909 traveled west to Hollywood to pursue a career in the movies. She found work with the famed director D. W. Griffith, and soon persuaded him to recruit the Gish sisters for his Biograph Studios' repertory company of actors. Lillian and Dorothy debuted together in 1912's "An Unseen Enemy" and over the next several years appeared both together and independently in dozens of the director's one- and two-reelers. While overshadowed by Pickford's fame, Lillian was the Griffith stable's most skilled actress, and she starred in many of his greatest works, including 1915's "The Birth of a Nation", 1916's "Intolerance", 1920's "Way Down East", and 1922's "Orphans of the Storm". In 1947, she received her first Oscar nomination for her work in the acclaimed "Duel in the Sun". However, after 1948's "Portrait of Jennie", Gish exited Hollywood for the stage, and did not return to movies prior to 1955's "The Cobweb". Later that same year, she also co-starred in Charles Laughton's classic "The Night of the Hunter" and infrequently appeared on television. After 1967's "The Comedians", Gish largely retired from acting, penning a memoir, "The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me", two years later. In 1971, she won a special Academy Award for her "superlative artistry" and in 1977 co-starred in Robert Altman's "A Wedding". After being honored in 1984 by the American Film Institute, in 1987, she accepted her final starring role, opposite Bette Davis, in "The Whales of August". Lillian Gish died in New York City on February 27th, 1993. (Reprinted in part from Movies.MSN.Com)
..... DETAILS: This eight page program measures 6" X 9" inches and includes production credits, a photo of LILLIAN GISH, a list of the films that were featured in the clips and the names of the Benefit Chairmen and Sponsors ..... CONDITION: With the exception of a light vertical fold, a handwitten date in red ink on the first inside page and minor edge wear, this rare program is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any classic film aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.
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