born Oct. 14, 1893, Springfield, Ohio, U.S.
died Feb. 27, 1993, New York, N.Y.
U.S. film and theater actress.
She acted on Broadway and with touring companies from age five, often with her sister, Dorothy (18981968). Their screen careers began when D.W. Griffith featured them in An Unseen Enemy (1912). Lillian won international fame in The Birth of a Nation (1915) and starred as the luminous heroine of other Griffith films such as Broken Blossoms (1919), Way Down East (1920), and Orphans of the Storm (1921). Dorothy was a popular star in light comedies through the 1920s, but her career was overshadowed by her sister's durable fame. After the hits La Bohème and The Scarlet Letter (both 1926), Lillian's film career waned and she returned to the stage in plays such as Uncle Vanya (1930), Hamlet (with John Gielgud , 1936), Life with Father (1940), and The Trip to Bountiful (1953). Returning to the screen, she was acclaimed in The Night of the Hunter (1955), A Wedding (1978), and The Whales of August (1987).