LIFE AND LILLIAN GISH ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, Limited TORONTO ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: “HELENA”] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LIFE AND LILLIAN GISH ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE _New York_ THE MACMILLAN COMPANY _1932_ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright, 1932, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. All rights reserved—no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in magazine or newspaper. Set up and printed. Published October, 1932. _Printed, in the United States of America by_ J. J. LITTLE AND IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK ------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Tranquilly, Lillian Gish sits, dressed in white organdie, her ash blond hair down her back, relaxed on the window seat, looking out for hours into the depths of the California night. “‘What are you looking at, Lillian?’ Mrs. Gish has asked for years. “‘Nothing, Mother, just looking.’” ALLENE TALMEY. “She is an extraordinarily difficult person to know, and if I hadn’t gone to live with her ... and been with her through some of the most trying times of her life, I doubt whether our casual contacts at the studio would have brought me any intimate knowledge of her. There seems to be a wall of reserve between her and the outside world, and very few people ever get through that wall. “The little things of life simply don’t worry her at all. Gales of temperament can rage around her—she remains undisturbed.... I have seen her at a time when anyone else would have been distraught with anxiety, come quietly in from the set, eat her luncheon calmly and collectedly (for first of all, Lillian believes in keeping fit for her work), then pick up some little book of philosophy and read it steadily until they sent for her.