Gish, Dorothy (1898–1968)

American actress. Born Dorothy Elizabeth Gish on Mar 11, 1898, in Dayton, Ohio; died of bronchial pneumonia in Rapallo, Italy, June 4, 1968; younger dau. of Mary (McConnell) and James Lee Gish (struggling grocer and candy merchant); sister of Lillian Gish (actress); descendant of Zachary Taylor, 12th president of US; m. James Rennie (actor), Dec 20, 1920 (div. 1935); no children.

Actress whose way with comedy was compared to that of Chaplin and Keaton, debuted as the boy "Little Willie," in the play East Lynne at age 5; made New York stage debut as an Irish girl in Dion O'Dare (1906); hired as an extra at D.W. Griffith's Biograph Studios (1911); placed under major star contract (1915); revealed great comic gifts in film Hearts of the World (1918); made 1st talkie, Wolves, for Herbert Wilcox in England; made last professional appearance in the stage play The Chalk Garden with her sister (1956); in the talkie era, after she left Griffith, made only 4 films—Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944), Centennial Summer (1946), The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951), and The Cardinal (1963); became a recluse soon after; other films include An Unseen Enemy (1912), The Mysterious Shot (1914), The Floor Above (1914), Liberty Belles (1914), Silent Sandy (1914), Arms and the Gringo (1914), The City Beautiful (1914), The Painted Lady (1914), Home Sweet Home (1914), The Tavern of Tragedy (1914), A Fair Rebel (1914), The Wife (1914), Sands of Fate (1914), The Warning (1914), The Saving Grace (1914), The Sisters (1914), The Better Way (1914), An Old-Fashioned Girl (1915), Her Mother's Daughter (1915), Stage Struck (1917), Hearts of the World (1918), Remodeling Her Husband (1919), Orphans of the Storm (1922), The Country Flapper (1922), Fury (1923), The Bright Shawl (1923), Romola (1924), Night Life of New York (1925), The Beautiful City (1925), (title role) Nell Gwynn (1926), London (1927), (title role) Madame Pompadour (1927).

See also Women in World History.