(March 11, 1898 - June 4, 1968)
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Dorothy was the younger sister of Lillian Gish. Their mother supported the family after Mr. Gish abandoned his family. In 1912 Mary Pickford, a childhood friend, introduced the sisters to direct D. W. Griffith and they began acting at the Biograph Studios. Dorothy starred in over 100 short films and features, many of them with Lillian.
In the silent film, Hearts of the World (1918), a film about World War 1 and the devastation of France, Dorothy found her first foothold, striking a personal hit in a comedy role as the 'little disturber", a street singer. Her characterization launched her as a star of comedy films.
She recalled her comedy persona in the article "And So I Am A Comedienne", published in Ladies Home Journal (July, 1925). "Today my objection to playing comedy is that it is so often misunderstood by the audiences in the theater and the picture houses. It is so often thought to be a lesser art and something which comes to one naturally...."
When the film industry converted to talking pictures, she chose to take a respite from film work and return to the American stage where she had spent her childhood. In 1939 both sisters found the role of a lifetime in Life With Father starring Howard Lindsay and Dorothy Stickney. Lillian was introduced to Lindsay backstage and surprised the producers with her desire to head the first company to go on the road, with Dorothy taking the same part for the second road company.
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