Where is the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Film Theater RE-Located?
The Gish Theater - Little Dreams Grow ...
ian opaczewski
Published on Mar 27, 2018
A tribute and documentation of some of the final semesters the Lilian and Dorothy Gish Film Theatre will have at Bowling Green State University. To the Ohio Students this space is more than a theatre, it is a gateway to new possibilities and an advent of things to come. Tradition, honor, and respect are are values taught within the space as students display their work.The theatre is also a tribute to one of films most notable stars, Lilian Gish. A museum details many of her accomplishments and holds one of a kind film relics. It has been a symbol for film culture and history for over 40 years and soon will be removed with an unknown relocation.
By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Ralph Wolfe, the founder and, until recently, the curator of the Gish Film Theater, has mixed feelings about the venue’s move from its home in Hanna Hall.
“I am grateful for the preservation of the Gish sisters name and the fact that there will be a theater on campus,” he said.
The Gish Theater will be moved to the theater space in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. Some of the memorabilia of the Gish sisters, now in the Gish lobby, will be displayed in the space. Other items will be sent to the Jerome Library. Wolfe said that through his efforts BGSU has the largest collection of Gish sister memorabilia anywhere other than California and New York.
This and other details of the administration’s plans are the source of Wolfe’s disappointment.
The university plans to renovate a room in Olscamp Hall to be used for film studies and take the place of the Ralph Wolfe Viewing Center, which contains a collection of more than 3,000 video cassettes and DVDs. The room will be named in Wolfe’s honor.
He’s also concerned what will happen to the commemorative seats that recognize donors to efforts to fund the theater and its $500,000 endowment.
Wolfe said he was not consulted about the arrangements. “I had no involvement whatsoever.”
Describing the approach as “top-down management.”
Also last year, the title of curator of the Gish, which had been bestowed on him in 1982 by President Paul Olscamp at the initiation of the BGSU Foundation, was not approved. He was never told why.
On Friday Bowling Green State University issued a press release outlining where programs now in Hanna Hall will be relocated as the 96-year-old building undergoes renovation and expansion to become the Maurer Center, the new home for the College of Business.
The Women’s Center and the Geography Department will move to Hayes Hall. (Story here.)
From BGSU OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Bowling Green State University is making final preparations for the transformation of Hanna Hall into the Robert W. and Patricia A. Maurer Center, the new home for the College of Business.
A transformational gift from the Maurers of Bowling Green provided major support for the new facility that will bear their names in recognition of their longtime service and generosity to BGSU.
The $44.5 million renovation and expansion will include high-tech classrooms, an atrium gathering place, a student success center, a café and a wide range of meeting areas and other amenities to keep BGSU at the forefront of educating business students.
Construction will begin in fall 2018.
In preparation, the current occupants of the building – the Department of Geography, the Gish Film Theater and the Women’s Center – will be relocated to new homes at the end of the current academic year.
According to Provost and Senior Vice President Rodney Rogers, the geography department will move to Hayes Hall to be closer to the Department of Geology, which along with the Department of the Environment and Sustainability makes up the School of Earth, Environment and Society. Eventually the entire school will be brought together.
The Gish Film Theater will be moved to the Bowen-Thompson Student Union Theater. The theater will continue to recognize the contributions of Ohio actresses Dorothy and Lillian Gish with a display featuring photographs and other items from Lillian Gish’s estate. The rest of the Gish collection will be housed in University Libraries.
“This project allows us to meet the needs of tomorrow’s students while honoring the legacy of the Gish sisters,” Rogers said. “Moving the theater to the center of campus will highlight the Gishes’ contribution to early film for our students and the community.”
In addition, a lecture hall in Olscamp Hall will be updated to meet the teaching and learning needs of the University’s film program. The remodeled classroom and group viewing space will be named for Dr. Ralph H. Wolfe, replacing the current center in Hanna Hall.
Over his 50-year affiliation with BGSU, Wolfe, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and Gish Professor of Film Studies, championed film studies and was instrumental in the establishment of the Gish Film Theater. The BGSU Board of Trustees approved the naming of the viewing center in his honor in 2009.
BGSU announced last spring that the Women’s Center will also be moving to the center of campus to Hayes Hall— a more prominent location for a center that serves students, faculty and staff across the University.
Once completed in the summer of 2020, the Maurer Center will create an active space for faculty, students and business professionals to engage, collaborate and grow. Accessible interior spaces will promote interaction while classrooms, labs, offices and collaboration spaces will encourage spontaneous learning.
Provost Rodney Rogers stated in the release: “This project allows us to meet the needs of tomorrow’s students while honoring the legacy of the Gish sisters. Moving the theater to the center of campus will highlight the Gishes’ contribution to early film for our students and the community.”
In response to Wolfe’s concerns, Rogers stated: “We appreciate Dr. Wolfe’s longtime passion and contributions to the Gish Film Theater and the Gish collection, which have brought tremendous recognition to the University. We look forward to his continued involvement and counsel as we transition the theater and collection to their new homes.”
Last October the theater celebrated its 40th anniversary. (Story here.)
…………………………………………………………………….
By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Sunday’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Lillian and Dorothy Gish Film Theatre on campus took place under a shadow.
The theater in Hanna Hall faces relocation as Bowling Green State University makes plans to convert the 95-year-old building into a new home for the College of Business Administration.
That would mean the removal of the theater, its affiliated gallery and the Wolfe video collection and viewing room from Hanna Hall.
University officials have promised to find a new home for the facility on campus.
Wolfe, who is the founder and curator of the theater, said that he’s been told the theater would move into the theater space now in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. But that would not have room for the collections of memorabilia and the video collection, he said.
“The theater space in the student union can in no way rival the aesthetics of this space and will not have the gallery documenting the history of American film,” Wolfe said.
He said he saw no contradiction in the theater remaining after Hanna Hall becomes the home for the College of Business, given the film industry is so large.
Lillian Gish herself has visited the venue four times, first in 1976 when it was first named for her and her sister, and the last time in 1982 when the lobby and gallery space was dedicated, Wolfe said.
At that time, Academy Award-winning actress Eva Marie Saint also attended, the first time she’d returned to campus since her graduation in 1947.
James Frazer, Gish’s manager, who was the special guest for the occasion, said she was proud of the theater at BGSU. He traveled around the world with her as she promoted her view of American film, and that vision lives on in the theater. “This gives the right impression to the world.”
“Lillian Gish’s spirit resides in Hanna Hall,” Wolfe said.
University spokesman Dave Kielmeyer said that the student union is an option for the new location of the theater, but plans have not been finalized.
He said it would be spring before any further plan on Hanna Hall is presented to the board of trustees.
The celebration included a talk by Frazer about his career which began with a teenage infatuation with an actress, led to playing kid parts in Westerns, and culminated decades later with his affiliation with Gish. He traveled with her around the globe where she made presentations.
It was at one of those in 1971 at then Findlay College where Wolfe, a professor of English at BGSU, first met the legendary actress. She and her sister were born in Springfield, and she made her stage debut in Risingsun, before her mother moved her and her sister to New York, where the mother pursued acting, followed by her daughters.
Shortly after seeing Gish in Findlay, Wolfe approached then BGSU president Hollis Moore about awarding an honorary degree to Gish.
When the auditorium in Hanna Hall was renovated in 1976 to support the new film studies program, he recommended it be named for Gish.
The trustees agreed if Gish would attend the dedication. Wolfe reached her through Frazer. Gish said she was honored, but would be more honored if the theater was named for her sister as well.
She visited BGSU for the first time for the dedication and to receive an honorary doctorate. She returned the campus three more times, the last occasion in 1982.
The Gish space expanded as programs were moved out of the building. The Wolfe viewing center was opened in 2009.
An endowment, which was started with $500,000 in private donations including many from some of the biggest names in Hollywood, was established to support programming. Wolfe noted programming at the theater is free, as Gish wanted, and now includes three film series. Proceeds from the endowment were also used to create the viewing center which has a collection of video cassette recordings donated by Wolfe.
The celebration included the showing a tape of the broadcast of the ceremony in which Gish received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, where she was honored not just for her acting, but her business acumen and her dedication to film preservation.
Now it falls to Wolfe and his supporters to try to preserve the theater that bears her name.
………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
It was through Wolfe’s efforts that the university granted the legendary actress Lillian Gish an honorary doctorate. When the auditorium in Hanna was converted into a film theater to support the new film studies program, he approached her about naming the venue in her honor.
She said she’d prefer if it were named for her and her actress sister, Dorothy. She came to campus in 1976 to receive the honorary degree and participate in the dedication of the theater.
It was the first of four visits. The last was in 1982 when the lobby was dedicated. At that time, she brought BGSU alumna Eva Marie Saint with her. It was the first time Saint was back on campus since her graduation in 1947.
Films will continue to be shown in the venue through the end of the academic year in spring.
Her celebrated lack of vanity is apparent and a bit touching in her wish to dress like her friend.
Lillian, as a child, with Dorothy and her mother
Hambone and Hillie.
With Lindsay Anderson during filming of "Whales of August."
With more than 100 movies, 50 stage productions, two books and numerous articles and other projects behind her, she didn't have much extra time. She has worked hard and tirelessly over the years. "It was D.W. Griffith (the pioneer director) who taught me that working is more fun than playing," she says of her mentor.
ian opaczewski
Published on Mar 27, 2018
A tribute and documentation of some of the final semesters the Lilian and Dorothy Gish Film Theatre will have at Bowling Green State University. To the Ohio Students this space is more than a theatre, it is a gateway to new possibilities and an advent of things to come. Tradition, honor, and respect are are values taught within the space as students display their work.The theatre is also a tribute to one of films most notable stars, Lilian Gish. A museum details many of her accomplishments and holds one of a kind film relics. It has been a symbol for film culture and history for over 40 years and soon will be removed with an unknown relocation.
BG Independent News
Ralph Wolfe, the founder and, until recently, the curator of the Gish Film Theater, has mixed feelings about the venue’s move from its home in Hanna Hall.
“I am grateful for the preservation of the Gish sisters name and the fact that there will be a theater on campus,” he said.
The Gish Theater will be moved to the theater space in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. Some of the memorabilia of the Gish sisters, now in the Gish lobby, will be displayed in the space. Other items will be sent to the Jerome Library. Wolfe said that through his efforts BGSU has the largest collection of Gish sister memorabilia anywhere other than California and New York.
This and other details of the administration’s plans are the source of Wolfe’s disappointment.
The university plans to renovate a room in Olscamp Hall to be used for film studies and take the place of the Ralph Wolfe Viewing Center, which contains a collection of more than 3,000 video cassettes and DVDs. The room will be named in Wolfe’s honor.
He’s also concerned what will happen to the commemorative seats that recognize donors to efforts to fund the theater and its $500,000 endowment.
Wolfe said he was not consulted about the arrangements. “I had no involvement whatsoever.”
Describing the approach as “top-down management.”
Also last year, the title of curator of the Gish, which had been bestowed on him in 1982 by President Paul Olscamp at the initiation of the BGSU Foundation, was not approved. He was never told why.
On Friday Bowling Green State University issued a press release outlining where programs now in Hanna Hall will be relocated as the 96-year-old building undergoes renovation and expansion to become the Maurer Center, the new home for the College of Business.
The Women’s Center and the Geography Department will move to Hayes Hall. (Story here.)
From BGSU OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Bowling Green State University is making final preparations for the transformation of Hanna Hall into the Robert W. and Patricia A. Maurer Center, the new home for the College of Business.
A transformational gift from the Maurers of Bowling Green provided major support for the new facility that will bear their names in recognition of their longtime service and generosity to BGSU.
The $44.5 million renovation and expansion will include high-tech classrooms, an atrium gathering place, a student success center, a café and a wide range of meeting areas and other amenities to keep BGSU at the forefront of educating business students.
Construction will begin in fall 2018.
In preparation, the current occupants of the building – the Department of Geography, the Gish Film Theater and the Women’s Center – will be relocated to new homes at the end of the current academic year.
According to Provost and Senior Vice President Rodney Rogers, the geography department will move to Hayes Hall to be closer to the Department of Geology, which along with the Department of the Environment and Sustainability makes up the School of Earth, Environment and Society. Eventually the entire school will be brought together.
The Gish Film Theater will be moved to the Bowen-Thompson Student Union Theater. The theater will continue to recognize the contributions of Ohio actresses Dorothy and Lillian Gish with a display featuring photographs and other items from Lillian Gish’s estate. The rest of the Gish collection will be housed in University Libraries.
“This project allows us to meet the needs of tomorrow’s students while honoring the legacy of the Gish sisters,” Rogers said. “Moving the theater to the center of campus will highlight the Gishes’ contribution to early film for our students and the community.”
In addition, a lecture hall in Olscamp Hall will be updated to meet the teaching and learning needs of the University’s film program. The remodeled classroom and group viewing space will be named for Dr. Ralph H. Wolfe, replacing the current center in Hanna Hall.
Over his 50-year affiliation with BGSU, Wolfe, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and Gish Professor of Film Studies, championed film studies and was instrumental in the establishment of the Gish Film Theater. The BGSU Board of Trustees approved the naming of the viewing center in his honor in 2009.
BGSU announced last spring that the Women’s Center will also be moving to the center of campus to Hayes Hall— a more prominent location for a center that serves students, faculty and staff across the University.
Once completed in the summer of 2020, the Maurer Center will create an active space for faculty, students and business professionals to engage, collaborate and grow. Accessible interior spaces will promote interaction while classrooms, labs, offices and collaboration spaces will encourage spontaneous learning.
Provost Rodney Rogers stated in the release: “This project allows us to meet the needs of tomorrow’s students while honoring the legacy of the Gish sisters. Moving the theater to the center of campus will highlight the Gishes’ contribution to early film for our students and the community.”
In response to Wolfe’s concerns, Rogers stated: “We appreciate Dr. Wolfe’s longtime passion and contributions to the Gish Film Theater and the Gish collection, which have brought tremendous recognition to the University. We look forward to his continued involvement and counsel as we transition the theater and collection to their new homes.”
Last October the theater celebrated its 40th anniversary. (Story here.)
…………………………………………………………………….
By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Sunday’s celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Lillian and Dorothy Gish Film Theatre on campus took place under a shadow.
The theater in Hanna Hall faces relocation as Bowling Green State University makes plans to convert the 95-year-old building into a new home for the College of Business Administration.
That would mean the removal of the theater, its affiliated gallery and the Wolfe video collection and viewing room from Hanna Hall.
University officials have promised to find a new home for the facility on campus.
Wolfe, who is the founder and curator of the theater, said that he’s been told the theater would move into the theater space now in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. But that would not have room for the collections of memorabilia and the video collection, he said.
“The theater space in the student union can in no way rival the aesthetics of this space and will not have the gallery documenting the history of American film,” Wolfe said.
He said he saw no contradiction in the theater remaining after Hanna Hall becomes the home for the College of Business, given the film industry is so large.
Lillian Gish herself has visited the venue four times, first in 1976 when it was first named for her and her sister, and the last time in 1982 when the lobby and gallery space was dedicated, Wolfe said.
At that time, Academy Award-winning actress Eva Marie Saint also attended, the first time she’d returned to campus since her graduation in 1947.
James Frazer, Gish’s manager, who was the special guest for the occasion, said she was proud of the theater at BGSU. He traveled around the world with her as she promoted her view of American film, and that vision lives on in the theater. “This gives the right impression to the world.”
“Lillian Gish’s spirit resides in Hanna Hall,” Wolfe said.
University spokesman Dave Kielmeyer said that the student union is an option for the new location of the theater, but plans have not been finalized.
He said it would be spring before any further plan on Hanna Hall is presented to the board of trustees.
The celebration included a talk by Frazer about his career which began with a teenage infatuation with an actress, led to playing kid parts in Westerns, and culminated decades later with his affiliation with Gish. He traveled with her around the globe where she made presentations.
It was at one of those in 1971 at then Findlay College where Wolfe, a professor of English at BGSU, first met the legendary actress. She and her sister were born in Springfield, and she made her stage debut in Risingsun, before her mother moved her and her sister to New York, where the mother pursued acting, followed by her daughters.
Shortly after seeing Gish in Findlay, Wolfe approached then BGSU president Hollis Moore about awarding an honorary degree to Gish.
When the auditorium in Hanna Hall was renovated in 1976 to support the new film studies program, he recommended it be named for Gish.
The trustees agreed if Gish would attend the dedication. Wolfe reached her through Frazer. Gish said she was honored, but would be more honored if the theater was named for her sister as well.
She visited BGSU for the first time for the dedication and to receive an honorary doctorate. She returned the campus three more times, the last occasion in 1982.
The Gish space expanded as programs were moved out of the building. The Wolfe viewing center was opened in 2009.
An endowment, which was started with $500,000 in private donations including many from some of the biggest names in Hollywood, was established to support programming. Wolfe noted programming at the theater is free, as Gish wanted, and now includes three film series. Proceeds from the endowment were also used to create the viewing center which has a collection of video cassette recordings donated by Wolfe.
The celebration included the showing a tape of the broadcast of the ceremony in which Gish received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, where she was honored not just for her acting, but her business acumen and her dedication to film preservation.
Now it falls to Wolfe and his supporters to try to preserve the theater that bears her name.
………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
It was through Wolfe’s efforts that the university granted the legendary actress Lillian Gish an honorary doctorate. When the auditorium in Hanna was converted into a film theater to support the new film studies program, he approached her about naming the venue in her honor.
She said she’d prefer if it were named for her and her actress sister, Dorothy. She came to campus in 1976 to receive the honorary degree and participate in the dedication of the theater.
It was the first of four visits. The last was in 1982 when the lobby was dedicated. At that time, she brought BGSU alumna Eva Marie Saint with her. It was the first time Saint was back on campus since her graduation in 1947.
Films will continue to be shown in the venue through the end of the academic year in spring.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
Lillian
Gish and her art are finding a home at BGSU
Can
anything be written about a legend?
Lillian Gish,
famous the world over for her work in silent films, stage productions and sound
motion pictures, has probably been asked more questions by more reporters than
any other actor or actress in America. And with good reason, because no other
actor or actress alive today has appeared in as many productions, in every
decade of this century, as Lillian Gish.
Despite
her fame and abundant talent, this wisp of a woman with the strong, rich voice
is disarmingly humble. The actress seems delighted to be honored by Bowling
Green, the university only 20 miles from the site of her professional debut in Risingsun. An
Ohio native, Miss Gish has been officially recognized several times by the
university. She, in turn, has unofficially adopted Bowling Green as her
favorite university - endowing a scholarship fund, presenting her lecture
series, visiting campus four times since
1976 and delighting the University community with her spunky comments and vivid
recollections of a long-ago era. The occasion of her most recent visit was the
October dedication of an impressive collection of photographs in the Dorothy and Lillian Gish
Film Theater in Hanna Hall. Commemorating the enduring career of the
pioneer cinema star, the collection was originally displayed at the Museum of
Modern Art in New York City, for the 1980 Lillian Gish Retrospective.
Elegantly
dressed in a black velvet suit and a lacy white blouse, Miss Gish relaxes in a
loveseat in the University Guest House before the evening ceremony in Hanna
Hall begins. Her manager, James Frasher checks last minute details as special
invited guest Eva Marie Saint arrives, back from a tour of the campus, which
she had not seen for 36 years. Miss Gish sits back, preparing to begin the
interview, then looks down in chagrin.
"Oh, dear, I'm about to lose a button," she announces, her voice carrying across the room as though
she were giving an important line in one of her films. "Does anyone
sew?"
Actress Saint comes to the rescue,
offering to sew the dangling button in place.
"Oh, my dear, they told me you
were wearing black velvet, too,"
Miss Gish worries as she takes off her jacket.
Saint, dressed in a soft brown suit,
laughs, "Lillian, we'd look like the Bobbsey Twins if we both wore
black velvet tonight."
"Yes, well, I suppose you're
right. That would have been all right, though," Miss Gish smiles.
Her celebrated lack of vanity is apparent and a bit touching in her wish to dress like her friend.
The
two actresses, who first worked together in The Trip to
Bountiful in 1953, are obviously fond of each other. Miss Saint quickly
sews on the button and helps Miss Gish back into her jacket.
"Oh, that's so good of you, my dear." She is sincere, open and charming.
It
is becoming obvious why one never reads or hears disparaging stories of the
actress, well known for her admirable ability to easily make and keep friends.
While Gish is busy, her manager recalls the day in 1969 when he was hired to
manage Gish.
"My father said, 'Be careful,
that woman will change your life.' And she has. She's made me realize the
beauty of life. I'm younger today than when I started working for her. That's
her great gift. That's why she tunes in to young people. College kids respond
to her," Frasher says.
"She has great vitality and
generosity. Coming to Bowling Green is truly exciting to her. She loves seeing
the people, the trees, the town, the University. She has a very special feeling
about Bowling Green - the people here have been so good to her, and she wants
to return the good wishes. She doesn't visit any other university as often, or
show as much interest."
Gish
returns. She is an impressive woman at 5'7" and carries herself with
dignity. Always attractive, her delicate features radiate an inner joy,
retaining the beauty
of the young
actress who played opposite such leading men as Lionel Barrymore, Richard
Barthelmess, John Gielgud, Gregory Peck, Burt Lancaster and others.
"Oh, tell them how happy and proud they've made
me," she instructs when asked how she felt
about the University's acquisition of the photo collection.
"Of all theaters, if I could have my choice, it would be this one."
"Of all theaters, if I could have my choice, it would be this one."
Her
pride in the theater is obvious, mainly because it also honors her sister
Dorothy and her mother, Mary McConnell Gish, as well as Lillian. She is devoted
to their memories.
Lillian, as a child, with Dorothy and her mother
"I like people from Ohio," Gish declares. "Of course, since I was born here, I
may be prejudiced, but I do think they have the best manners and are more
considerate of the other fellow than most people are. I got my start just down
the road here, in Risingsun, so
I really feel like I've come home when I come here."
She
doesn't have much to say about modern films, but her disappointment in the
current products of the media so beloved to her is evident.
"Film is the universal
language. It can do great things. We have advanced, technically, in films
enormously, but intellectually and spiritually, we have gone in the opposite
direction." She pauses, then continues.
"I feel strongly that actors
and actresses today need to take responsibility for what they say and do in
film, even if they are only acting. They don't have to do the script. Look at
the crime in our country. A little boy of nine holds up a bank. Where did he
learn that? I'm not saying, but I have an idea."
"Film is the most powerful
thing that has been invented in this century," she continues.
"Many of the actors are still
concerned about messages, but the business end has taken over. There have
always been fights between the artists and the businessmen. Not many people
have both talents."
Hambone and Hillie.
She
has a bit of advice for University students hoping to make a career in the
performing arts.
"Use your body as an artist uses his canvas. Learn to
use it to speak. Study dancing. Take care of it."
She
has obviously taken excellent care of her body and is in wonderful health.
Beneath her apparent delicacy is a strong woman with strong convictions. Although
she must have expressed the same thoughts hundreds of times, she is animated
and enthusiastic when discussing her goals and interests.
"Live equally in your body, mind and spirit," Miss Gish advises.
"You must feel your faith inside, and live it outside. I know there's a higher power watching out for me."
"You must feel your faith inside, and live it outside. I know there's a higher power watching out for me."
She
has been a member of St. Bartholomew's Church in New York for many years and
attends whenever she is there. As for her traveling lifestyle, she says, "Mother
used to tell us that even if we couldn't find Qur own church, any church was
better than no church at all!" Her deep Christian convictions have
helped her lead a fruitful and joyful life, she adds. Her father's family was
German Lutheran and her mother's, Episcopalian. Miss Gish recently wrote an
article for "Guideposts," a Christian magazine with a large national
circulation, and is now working on a book about the history of religion in
film.
Because her father deserted the
family when Lillian was a toddler, she learned to take care of herself at an
earlier age than most youngsters.
"I learned to work as if everything depended on me, and
to pray as if everything depended on God," she says. "Theater people are wonderful,
though," she adds.
"They watched out for my sister and me when we were little girls. No one ever dared to swear in front of us unless he wanted a beating. The men would put their coats down on railroad benches for us to sleep on. We always had someone looking out for us as we moved from town to town."
"They watched out for my sister and me when we were little girls. No one ever dared to swear in front of us unless he wanted a beating. The men would put their coats down on railroad benches for us to sleep on. We always had someone looking out for us as we moved from town to town."
Her
life is still as busy and interesting as it was in those early days. People and
projects fill her days. She never married, but men have been in love with
Lillian Gish since she first appeared on screen as a teenager in 1912.
With Lindsay Anderson during filming of "Whales of August."
"I have loved many men, but have never been in love
with any of them," she says. "I never had the time."
With more than 100 movies, 50 stage productions, two books and numerous articles and other projects behind her, she didn't have much extra time. She has worked hard and tirelessly over the years. "It was D.W. Griffith (the pioneer director) who taught me that working is more fun than playing," she says of her mentor.
AIways
fiercely faithful to her friends, Miss Gish didn't forget the man who gave her
her start, even when the rest of the world did. Her career blossomed after the
1915 classic, Birth of a Nation. Griffith, however, eventually drifted into
poverty- his brilliance dulled by alcohol and broken dreams. Although there
were many stories that she and Griffith were in love, she recalls him fondly as
just a dear friend and teacher. The actress regards the veteran director as a
true genius of silent films. When he married a much younger and rather helpless
woman, Miss Gish took both the ailing Griffith and his bride under her wing and
helped care for them until Griffith died. The "talkies" were his
downfall.
Miss
Gish first resisted the new sound motion pictures and went back to stage work.
She still prefers silent film, believing it to have great power and impact on
audiences. Finally, though, she began acting in sound films and was a great
success.
Lillian
Gish seems to have led a charmed life. From the day her film Birth of a Nation
was released in 1915, she has been a star. Her pictures have made millions of
dollars. She is renowned as a superior stage actress. She made her 103rd movie,
A Wedding, in 1978 with Robert Altman and is planning still more films. An
Academy Award - the Oscar - was presented to Miss Gish in 1971. In addition to
all this, she has traveled throughout the United States, Europe, Russia and
Australia, narrating her presentation on the history of film at nearly 400
universities. That she manages to include visits to Bowling Green into her
hectic schedule is a tribute to the University which has dedicated and
renovated a theater in honor of the Gishes.
Ralph
Wolfe, a University English professor, first suggested naming the theater in
honor of Miss Gish, to commemorate her first performance in Wood County at the
age of five. Then-University President Hollis Moore was in favor of the idea,
so Wolfe contacted Miss Gish's agent, Frasher, and she accepted, on the
condition that the theater be named not only for her but also for her sister.
Thus the "Dorothy
and Lillian Gish Film Theater" was dedicated on June 11,1976. The next
day Moore presented Miss Gish an honorary Doctor of Performing Arts degree
during spring commencement exercises.
Since
that first visit, Miss Gish has shown true interest in the University,
especially the Film Studies Program. When Wolfe established a scholarship for
the annual film, studies award, Gish endowed it. She returned to Bowling Green
in the fall of 1976 for the theater's opening and again in 1979 to accept the
Popular Culture Association Achievement Award and speak at a campus film
restrospective at the theater.
The first phase of the theater
renovation project included the construction of a marquee, an improved movie
projection area and a lobby for featuring the Gish photographs. The
improvements were made possible through private funding. Alumni Howard Beplat,
James R. Good and Ronald Cohen of New York City, and Wolfe, who lives in nearby
North Baltimore, donated the funds to obtain the photographic collection from
the Museum of Modern Art. Wolfe had been invited to the 1980 retrospective and
contacted the curators about the possibility of adding the Gish photos to the
University theater. Through the joint efforts of Moore, Wolfe, the alumni office
and the Museum of Art, Bowling Green now owns the collection, which includes
stills from some of the Gishes' most famous films.
The
second and final phase of the theater renovation will also be dependent on
private funding. Improvements planned include the installation of new theater
seats. Gish is delighted with the entire project. "It would make Mother
and Dorothy so proud," she says.
She poses for a quick photograph. "Don't shoot up at me, dear. I'll play up to you," she insists pleasantly. After the photograph, the trio - Gish, Saint and Frasher - hurry out the door of the Guest House off to Hanna Hall. "Oh, look," Miss Gish points, delighted at several small squirrels tumbling through the grass on campus. She has the curiosity and "joie de vivre" of a young girl, and it's infectious.
She poses for a quick photograph. "Don't shoot up at me, dear. I'll play up to you," she insists pleasantly. After the photograph, the trio - Gish, Saint and Frasher - hurry out the door of the Guest House off to Hanna Hall. "Oh, look," Miss Gish points, delighted at several small squirrels tumbling through the grass on campus. She has the curiosity and "joie de vivre" of a young girl, and it's infectious.
Inside,
the Gish Film Theater is packed with nearly 200 invited guests. Visibly touched
by the honors shown the Gishes, the actress tells the audience that she knows
her mother and sister are present, too. "We three thank you,"
she says. Special
guest Miss Saint, a 1946 alumna, is also recognized as the University awards
her an honorary doctorate. Miss Gish helps President Paul Olscamp present the
award to Miss Saint. Following the ceremony, Miss Gish, despite her hectic day,
patiently greets guests and signs autographs. Alumni, faculty and friends
mingle, enjoying the photo collection, tasting refreshments, waiting to meet
the honored actress.
After
a lifetime of hard work, Lillian Gish certainly deserves to retire and relax.
However, she has no intention of slowing down.
In
December Miss Gish was the recipient of a prestigious Kennedy Center
Achievement Award, and during her stay in Washington, D.C., she was the guest
of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan.
The
actress is not content to rest on her honors and accomplishments. Her future
plans include writing another book, working on television specials and possibly
another film. She also continues to travel with her lecture program. The future
looks promising. Her legend continues to grow. With all these plans ahead will
Miss Gish have time to visit Bowling Green again? "Oh, yes, if I'm
invited and am free, sure," she smiles. "I enjoy it here very
much."
Lillian Gish blows a Kiss to BGSU Former
President Olscamp
Little Dreams Grow - The Gish Theater
Ian opaczewski
Published on Mar 27, 2018
A tribute and documentation of some of the final semesters the Lilian and Dorothy Gish Film Theatre will have at Bowling Green State University. To the Ohio Students this space is more than a theatre, it is a gateway to new possibilities and an advent of things to come. Tradition, honor, and respect are are values taught within the space as students display their work.The theatre is also a tribute to one of films most notable stars, Lilian Gish. A museum details many of her accomplishments and holds one of a kind film relics. It has been a symbol for film culture and history for over 40 years and soon will be removed with an unknown relocation.
Little Dreams Grow - The Gish Theater
Ian opaczewski
Published on Mar 27, 2018
A tribute and documentation of some of the final semesters the Lilian and Dorothy Gish Film Theatre will have at Bowling Green State University. To the Ohio Students this space is more than a theatre, it is a gateway to new possibilities and an advent of things to come. Tradition, honor, and respect are are values taught within the space as students display their work.The theatre is also a tribute to one of films most notable stars, Lilian Gish. A museum details many of her accomplishments and holds one of a kind film relics. It has been a symbol for film culture and history for over 40 years and soon will be removed with an unknown relocation.
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