Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American stage, screen and television actress, director and writer whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 in silent film shorts to 1987. Gish was called the First Lady of American Cinema.She was a prominent film star of the 1910s and 1920s, particularly associated with the films of director D. W.