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Dorothy and Lillian Gish both debuted in Griffith`s An Unseen Enemy. Dorothy would go on to star in over 100 short films and features, many of them with Lillian.
Linda Arvidson, Griffith’s secret wife while they were working at the American Biograph Company, remembered in her autobiography, When The Movies Were Young, “Lillian and Dorothy just melted right into the studio atmosphere without causing a ripple. For quite a long time they merely did extra work in and out of pictures. Especially Dorothy, as Mr. Griffith paid her no attention whatsoever and she kept on crying and trailed along. She also continued to play in many one and two reel Biograph films, learning the difficult technique of silent film acting, and preparing for opportunity when it came. Dorothy was still a person of insignificance, but she was a good sport about it; a likable kid, a bit too perky to interest the big director, so her talents blushed unnoticed by Mr. Griffith. In The Unseen Enemy the sisters made their first joint appearance. Lillian regarded Dorothy with all the superior airs and graces of her rank. At a rehearsal of The Wife, of Belasco and DeMille fame, in which picture I played the lead, and Dorothy the ingénue, Lillian was one day an interested spectator. She was watching intently, for Dorothy had had so few opportunities, and now was doing so well, Lillian was unable to contain her surprise, and as she left the scene she said: ‘Why, Dorothy is good; she’s almost as good as I am.’ Many more than myself thought Dorothy was better.”
She was married to James Rennie (1890-1965), a Canadian-born actor who was her co-star in Remodeling Her Husband (filmed in 1920, it was directed by Dorothy`s older sister, Lillian, in her only directorial outing). They were married in 1920 in a double ceremony with actress Constance Talmadge and businessman John Piagoglou, and were divorced in 1935.
She died in 1968 from bronchial pneumonia at the age of 70 at a clinic in Rapallo, Italy where she had been a patient for two years, with sister Lillian at her side. Dorothy Gish was entombed in Saint Bartholomew`s Episcopal Church in New York City in the columbarium in the undercroft of the church. Her sister Lillian was later interred beside her.
Dorothy Gish served as a dean at Messiah College in Pennyslvania in the early to mid 1960s.
For her contribution as an actress in motion pictures, Dorothy Gish was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California.
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"I wanted to be a tragedienne. I only wanted sad parts. When mother read the press notices when I was on the road, saying I was a `comedienne`, the tears rolled down my cheeks. I thought comedians had to have black on their faces or red beards."
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