Wow. Can you imagine being one of the original stars of film and watching it transition to sound and then well into the 80's???? Gish is pure film history.
Wow she was doing movies in the 1900's all through the 1920's and 1930's...she was born in 1893 and died in 1993. She had a long life and the longest Hollywood career that spanned 8 decades. RIP to the first lady of Hollywood Lillian Gish.
She was born during the Grover Cleveland administration. She was 91 and had almost another decade in her. Now that was a woman with a vital and powerful spirit.
How absolutely precious this is. Ms. Gish was a fantastic actress, and as we saw here, hilarious without even trying. I love the looks of true adoration on the faces of Linda Evans, Sissy Spacek, Richard Chamberlin, Cicely Tyson, Telly Savalas, Jessica Lange, Lily Tomlin, Michael Caine and John Huston. That was a brilliant speech from a true lady. All the great stars from this era are gone now, but they'll never be forgotten.
Just fantastic ...how many artists today could hold an entire room enthralled and captivated like she does here at the age of 91..... they don't just not make movie stars like this anymore, they don't make human beings like this anymore....she was the First Lady of the Movies...literally ....what a joy that we have these clips of her....thank you for sharing this with us.
A class act and as beautiful at 90 as she was at 16. Imagine her, the night she received this honor, having already acted for 70 years!? Most of the audience wasn't even alive when she, and her sister, Dorothy, began their careers. When she did 'Whales of August' with Bette Davis, which was an amazing film; not gun's blazing w/tech effects but thoughtful and soulful Makes one think. What a career! She saw it all! ALL! Careers soaring and crashing. Genre's changing. She was the history of film.
Brilliant actress. Her performance in Broken Blossoms is one of the finest performances ever put on film and it is silent! She did more with an expression or her eyes than any actress in talkies ever did and that includes Meryl watch the mechanics of acting at work Streep!
There are silent film festivals which sometimes allow the inclusion of new works. I make silent films. In black and white. Take THAT, Christopher Nolan! 🐧
Silent film will never come back to a popular level. What would an avengers film be like not the same it wouldn't make much money in theaters or anywhere else.
Thank God we have moments like this captured on film. Look at the love in that room, beaming from the audience and pouring into that elegant and charming woman. People in movies and entertainment today should watch these old clips and recognize what true appreciation of the arts, from both sides of the "pulpit", is like. Lillian continues to inspire.
This is one of the most famous Oscar speeches ever, particularly when she recommended going back and making some silent films. As a matter of fact, it happened and one such film won the Oscar for Best Picture. Think about it.
So wonderful and refreshing to see Lillian Gish at 90 just as radient, captivating, and charismatic as ever ...and to get treated with the respect she and other silent film stars deserve! What a great national treasure, and probably my favorite actress of all time. :-)
Miss Gish also gave a seminar at AFI at this time, which I was fortunate enough to attend. Charming, humble and informative, a person almost revered by that time, that was a pleasant afternoon indeed. Hard-hearted, though, the way that Hollywood has, in recent decades, trodden upon the memory of her beloved "Mr. Griffith," himself among the very few artists U.S. films have produced.
This is the greatest and funniest acceptance speech I have ever heard. So witty, charming, full of wisdom and with all that grandeur she still has that little cheeky sparkle in her eye. What a great lady.
Lillian Gish was one of the true beauties in film. She is the only one whom I can think of who was just as beautiful in her 90s as she was in her teens. I recently watched "Duel in the Sun" again after many years and was struck by how stunning she was and her performance was just amazing and subtle.
Great Lady and what a fantastic, intelligent, and funny speech. A couple of weeks ago I re-watched "The Night of The Hunter". She was just amazing in that film.
Mr. Bob Bennett escorted her back in the 70's to premiers and award shows.. what a lucky Cinema/English teacher he was. Thanks for calling me your little Lillian..
... you are absolutely right! lillian gish was beautiful when she was 17 and beautiful when she was 93 or so... did you see her very last film THE WHALES OF AUGUST with bette davis? back in 1987... she was even more amazing that bette...
My aunt was a caterer for the actors during the filming. She said that MS. Davis was crotchety and difficult, and even rude to MS. Gish ( because Lillian's deafness annoyed her), but when they had filmed a close-up scene of Miss Gish in one take, the director praised her for nailing it, to which Bette said, " Well she ought to know what to do with a close-up ...she invented them".
I agree with what Lillian said. Its not that people shouldn't make talking pictures but make good ones because in my opinion talkies don't compare with films of the silent era. They had a magic and a heart abscent in todays movies. Lillian Gish was an amazing actress and her name will live on forever even if she did not.
She would probably be proud to know that we had a mostly silent film win Best Picture at the Oscars just last year. It took a while but she may have been onto something.
I adored her before watching this but I am simply in love with her now! Wonderful lady and fabulous actress; I so wish I could have chatted with her for a while - what stories she could tell! =). She was so right about silent films - unlike today, they were an art and brought everyone together, regardless of the language the viewer spoke. There is so much we have lost through the advancement of technology, and the unity of humans is one of them! Bring back silent films!
Such longevity. She saw the 2 wars and the Vietnam war alongside the stages of New York from the mob times to the fear city. She was there when the WTC was built too.
She probably made more films and lived longer than any other actor, from the beginnings of film in the teens all the way until 1993 when she died at the age of 99.
-so what's the problem? -we're trying to make a biopic of Lillian Gish, we've got the script approved by the family, got the green light from the studio and have the crew assembled. -so what's left? -we still haven't found anyone beautiful enough to play the lead role.
Time had power to change her appearance over the years, only to leave her real beauty and class unchanged. She was so witty and elegant an actress. Her appearance in the zenith of her career would silence a number of actresses who remain conceited about how beautiful they look now. By the way, I would like to write what Lillian Gish meant "born with a caul": this phrase means a great protection from something evil. And that is why she said "Everything would be all right." I very much miss her.
@Jesiah1990 The caul refers to a baby being born with the placental membranes intact - they form a sort of sheath over the baby's face which has to be removed by the doctor or midwife - it is harmless. It is very rare and considered very lucky for the baby!!
This is one of the greatest actresses of all time and a very great LADY as well. She was a rare gem. Find one today anywhere near her in talent or class. Won't happen. Can you imagine Miss Gish tossing in some liberal claptrap in an acceptance speech? Hell no, first because she had common sense and character, and second because she had class.
I must admit Mary Pickford is my favorite silent female star, but Lillian Gish is my second and although she is second I must also admit she lasted longer in film with success in films up to her old age and she was prettier(in my tastes) although they were both beautiful.I was glad to see her and Her sister Dorthy together in a film which also featured another favorite Vincent Price,about the house by the sea-I thought that was a wonderful film which depended on a good story,acting-not effects.
I believe you’re talking about The Whales of August, from 1987. Lillian’s sister Dorothy had passed away in the 1960’s, so that wasn’t Dorothy in the film. It was actually two-time Oscar winner Bette Davis. The two stars fought over whose name should come first in the credits!
I'll tell ya, some silents are pretty good. They really transport you to another time, and they are intriguing since the style is so different from talkies. Yes, some silent film scenes are overdone, but there are plenty of charming and touching scenes to arouse more interest. Also, Carl Davis does excellent orchestral scores to enhance the silent film's emotions.
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Wow. Can you imagine being one of the original stars of film and watching it transition to sound and then well into the 80's????
Gish is pure film history.
Greta Garbo was on silent and then in sound films, Gary Cooper too.
she was actually 90 there
And Garbo was superlative in both cinematic languages.@@alfredodistefanolaulhe2212
Wow she was doing movies in the 1900's all through the 1920's and 1930's...she was born in 1893 and died in 1993. She had a long life and the longest Hollywood career that spanned 8 decades. RIP to the first lady of Hollywood Lillian Gish.
8 decades, imagine that!
@Mark Allen But a way better actor than either of them.
Her flim debut in 1912
She not starting in 1900's
She was Absolutely Amazing!
She was born during the Grover Cleveland administration. She was 91 and had almost another decade in her. Now that was a woman with a vital and powerful spirit.
Which Cleveland administration?
Powerful and gentle: she lived a really "clean" life
She belongs to an era when the word entertainer had all the sense. An exquisite artist without any pose or pretentiousness.
Well said!
How absolutely precious this is. Ms. Gish was a fantastic actress, and as we saw here, hilarious without even trying. I love the looks of true adoration on the faces of Linda Evans, Sissy Spacek, Richard Chamberlin, Cicely Tyson, Telly Savalas, Jessica Lange, Lily Tomlin, Michael Caine and John Huston. That was a brilliant speech from a true lady. All the great stars from this era are gone now, but they'll never be forgotten.
And Sally Field too
OMG! Did she thanked the audience for her Life?! OH BOY! What a lady! What an actress! Simply lovely...
Just fantastic ...how many artists today could hold an entire room enthralled and captivated like she does here at the age of 91..... they don't just not make movie stars like this anymore, they don't make human beings like this anymore....she was the First Lady of the Movies...literally ....what a joy that we have these clips of her....thank you for sharing this with us.
She got so much of energy and great enthusiasm at age of 91. What an amazing woman!!
Wow, she was amazing. Funny, intelligent, generous and humble. A truly lovely human being
A class act and as beautiful at 90 as she was at 16. Imagine her, the night she received this honor, having already acted for 70 years!? Most of the audience wasn't even alive when she, and her sister, Dorothy, began their careers. When she did 'Whales of August' with Bette Davis, which was an amazing film; not gun's blazing w/tech effects but thoughtful and soulful Makes one think. What a career! She saw it all! ALL! Careers soaring and crashing. Genre's changing. She was the history of film.
One of a kind. She is the reason I fell in love with silent film.
Tim Pierce I love your thumbnail!
Brilliant actress. Her performance in Broken Blossoms is one of the finest performances ever put on film and it is silent! She did more with an expression or her eyes than any actress in talkies ever did and that includes Meryl watch the mechanics of acting at work Streep!
Lillian Gish DOES have a point here - we do need a comeback of the art of silent films.
The black and white already is back.
Some directors make films that are basically silent. Like Sergio Leone.
I would have loved to have known what she would have thought of The Artist
The revenant had very little words
There are silent film festivals which sometimes allow the inclusion of new works. I make silent films. In black and white. Take THAT, Christopher Nolan! 🐧
Silent film will never come back to a popular level. What would an avengers film be like not the same it wouldn't make much money in theaters or anywhere else.
Thank God we have moments like this captured on film. Look at the love in that room, beaming from the audience and pouring into that elegant and charming woman. People in movies and entertainment today should watch these old clips and recognize what true appreciation of the arts, from both sides of the "pulpit", is like. Lillian continues to inspire.
Never forget her performance in Broken Blossoms, truly beautiful and a work of art. Truly deserved. Thanks AFI for uploading.
This is so precious. Still so articulate and fierce
I'm having a bad day, and she just made me smile. What a witty lady!! I love her! Legendary.
A legend. One of the most lyrical, intuitive, and serenely beautiful actresses in the history of film.
Her autobiography is a fascinating illumination about her passion for films and the conditions-Eye-opening- she endured making them One of a kind,
What a wonderfully blessed, genuine individual.
Rest in Beautiful Peace Miss Lillian Gish
This is the best award acceptance speech I have ever heard.
Lillian really did have a sense of humor
Such a sweetheart!!! Superlative from beginning to end!!!! All love to Lillian!
91, full of wit, wisdom, humor and energy!
Here she is 90 years old, she lived almost 100! The first woman movie star!
Her speech is wonderful! I can't believe she is over ninety years old.I only saw her in The Unforgiven. (1960 film)
This is one of the most famous Oscar speeches ever, particularly when she recommended going back and making some silent films. As a matter of fact, it happened and one such film won the Oscar for Best Picture. Think about it.
I would have loved to have known what she thought of The Artist
Theda Bara , Mary pickford , Chaplin, Pola Negri .....Thanks a Lot .🌹
Lillian Gish was a fire cracker - I can only hope to reach the age she was and be as lively and aware and funny!
So wonderful and refreshing to see Lillian Gish at 90 just as radient, captivating, and charismatic as ever ...and to get treated with the respect she and other silent film stars deserve! What a great national treasure, and probably my favorite actress of all time. :-)
I couldn't help smiliing all the way through that speech, she was just adorable, wasn't she!?. Wonderful, and thank you so much for this.
Great icon of the Hollywood silent era of filmmaking. Lilian Gish has plenty of wisdom to share here.
Miss Gish also gave a seminar at AFI at this time, which I was fortunate enough to attend. Charming, humble and informative, a person almost revered by that time, that was a pleasant afternoon indeed. Hard-hearted, though, the way that Hollywood has, in recent decades, trodden upon the memory of her beloved "Mr. Griffith," himself among the very few artists U.S. films have produced.
She'd been in movies since about 1914-15, BEFORE Chaplin. She was there virtually at the beginning of it all!
It took until 2011 but we finally did have a silent movie again! And it won academy awards.
saminnyc nah
Greatest film award acceptance speech I have ever heard
This is the greatest and funniest acceptance speech I have ever heard. So witty, charming, full of wisdom and with all that grandeur she still has that little cheeky sparkle in her eye. What a great lady.
Lillian Gish was one of the true beauties in film. She is the only one whom I can think of who was just as beautiful in her 90s as she was in her teens. I recently watched "Duel in the Sun" again after many years and was struck by how stunning she was and her performance was just amazing and subtle.
The golden era of the AFI.
Great Lady and what a fantastic, intelligent, and funny speech. A couple of weeks ago I re-watched "The Night of The Hunter". She was just amazing in that film.
Mr. Bob Bennett escorted her back in the 70's to premiers and award shows.. what a lucky Cinema/English teacher he was. Thanks for calling me your little Lillian..
what an honer to watch this class pure class.
Wonderful ❤️
She was so CUTE! Sparkling, uninhibited, funny and just plain NICE -- like somebody's nice old aunt from a farm in the Midwest.
Thanks a lot!
Fabulous actress Lillian Gish 🤩
She will always be a film legend and a treasure!
Apologie, this is her wonderful AFI speech. I was think of her remarkable Oscar speech too. Heck, she was always remarkable in everything she did.
Brilliant love.. absolutely brilliant i say! And just the same we truely thank u for ur life as well my love.
... you are absolutely right! lillian gish was beautiful when she was 17 and beautiful when she was 93 or so... did you see her very last film THE WHALES OF AUGUST with bette davis? back in 1987... she was even more amazing that bette...
Even when talking about famed some in their 80's and 90's you have to pit them against each other? They had roles to play - they played them well.
My aunt was a caterer for the actors during the filming. She said that MS. Davis was crotchety and difficult, and even rude to MS. Gish ( because Lillian's deafness annoyed her), but when they had filmed a close-up scene of Miss Gish in one take, the director praised her for nailing it, to which Bette said, " Well she ought to know what to do with a close-up ...she invented them".
What a hilarious lady. A real treasure.
I agree with what Lillian said. Its not that people shouldn't make talking pictures but make good ones because in my opinion talkies don't compare with films of the silent era. They had a magic and a heart abscent in todays movies. Lillian Gish was an amazing actress and her name will live on forever even if she did not.
WOW - she's amazing!
She was just FABULOUS, one the best actresses ever!
What a precious woman...🌹
She would probably be proud to know that we had a mostly silent film win Best Picture at the Oscars just last year. It took a while but she may have been onto something.
I adored her before watching this but I am simply in love with her now! Wonderful lady and fabulous actress; I so wish I could have chatted with her for a while - what stories she could tell! =). She was so right about silent films - unlike today, they were an art and brought everyone together, regardless of the language the viewer spoke. There is so much we have lost through the advancement of technology, and the unity of humans is one of them! Bring back silent films!
I liked her in Night of the Hunter too.
She should have been nominated and won the Oscar for The Whales of August.
George Robbins agree 100% that movie was a perfect finale to her 75 year career
What a wonderful woman
A great, grand, eloquent lady!
Amazing, Beautiful, Beautifully Amazing, Amazingly Beautiful
Miss Lilian Gish
Requiescat in Pace
She was Queen of the silent films.
Those pearlearrings she is also wearing in a scene of "The whales of August" - her last role in 1987.
Such a beautiful, delicate, petite little thing. But what a powerful force!
Lillian Gish , Diva del Cine Mudo de los años 1910's y 1920's .
Yaaaaa girl ! Work that speech !
Such longevity.
She saw the 2 wars and the Vietnam war alongside the stages of New York from the mob times to the fear city. She was there when the WTC was built too.
...and survived a real pandemic!
And they never will, this people where real life movie stars, Magical.
The best acceptance speech ever.
How cool is it that she lived through the 1890s to the 1990s, crazy how much wouldve changed in her life time
What a Delightful person
She probably made more films and lived longer than any other actor, from the beginnings of film in the teens all the way until 1993 when she died at the age of 99.
What a great call to cinema all over the world.
-so what's the problem?
-we're trying to make a biopic of Lillian Gish, we've got the script approved by the family, got the green light from the studio and have the crew assembled.
-so what's left?
-we still haven't found anyone beautiful enough to play the lead role.
I live right up the road from Lillian gishs House in Massillon Ohio and it’s for sale !
Wow,even at 91 she was so beautiful!
what a humble actress person !!
Time had power to change her appearance over the years, only to leave her real beauty and class unchanged. She was so witty and elegant an actress. Her appearance in the zenith of her career would silence a number of actresses who remain conceited about how beautiful they look now.
By the way, I would like to write what Lillian Gish meant "born with a caul": this phrase means a great protection from something evil. And that is why she said "Everything would be all right." I very much miss her.
She so adorable and she was so cute in her young time
I was in the process of swallowing water when she said “maybe thats why we aren’t executed in groups” and nearly chocked. Incredible stuff
@Jesiah1990 The caul refers to a baby being born with the placental membranes intact - they form a sort of sheath over the baby's face which has to be removed by the doctor or midwife - it is harmless. It is very rare and considered very lucky for the baby!!
beautiful lillian gish ❤❤
This is one of the greatest actresses of all time and a very great LADY as well. She was a rare gem. Find one today anywhere near her in talent or class. Won't happen. Can you imagine Miss Gish tossing in some liberal claptrap in an acceptance speech? Hell no, first because she had common sense and character, and second because she had class.
I must admit Mary Pickford is my favorite silent female star, but Lillian Gish is my second and although she is second I must also admit she lasted longer in film with success in films up to her old age and she was prettier(in my tastes) although they were both beautiful.I was glad to see her and Her sister Dorthy together in a film which also featured another favorite Vincent Price,about the house by the sea-I thought that was a wonderful film which depended on a good story,acting-not effects.
I believe you’re talking about The Whales of August, from 1987. Lillian’s sister Dorothy had passed away in the 1960’s, so that wasn’t Dorothy in the film. It was actually two-time Oscar winner Bette Davis. The two stars fought over whose name should come first in the credits!
What an American treasure she was and what a hoot this speech was!
From the beginnings of film Her along with Mary Pickford some of the earliest stars of stage and screen
I just watch the movie " Whales of August with Lillian Gosh and the great Bette Davis, you can find one on eBay for $5.00 it's a great film.
Took a while lillian but they got there in the end, they made The Artiist and a 21st century world loved it.
What a fitting tribute that they had Carl Davis to conduct when they honour Lilian Gish.
she exactly how I imagined from her films
I'll tell ya, some silents are pretty good. They really transport you to another time, and they are intriguing since the style is so different from talkies. Yes, some silent film scenes are overdone, but there are plenty of charming and touching scenes to arouse more interest. Also, Carl Davis does excellent orchestral scores to enhance the silent film's emotions.
So precious
That was incredible.
It was interesting that she especially liked Tootsie. In a way, I can imagine the Tootsie story being done as a silent black and white film.
It doesn't get any classier than this.................
she so funny & sweet
Beautiful lady, inside and out.
Ooohhh 1984 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤
Contrast this magnificent speech with that of Bette Davis in '77 reading from idiot cards. Lillian Gish, a truly great American and a very great lady.
When I was 17, in 1983, I wrote her a letter, and she sent me a personal answer.
Rebekah Maccaby really? that's awesome :)