Although for many years it was believed that the Gish sisters were born with the surname "De Guiche" or "de Guiche", their surname was, in fact, Gish. Biographer Charles Affron explains the source of the inaccuracies regarding the name in Lillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life: "The Gish name was initially the source of some mystification. In 1922, at the time of the opening of Orphans of the Storm, Lillian reported that the Gish family was of French origin, descending from the Duke de Guiche.... [S]uch press-agentry falsification was common. Just a few years later the story was modified slightly so that de Guiche becomes the more illustrious Duc de Guise.... [A]mong the Gish ancestors were a great-uncle probably murdered on a business trip to Philadelphia and four cousins who served in the Civil War ... James Leigh Gish was the youngest of four sons of David Gish (1814–1888) and Diana Caroline Waltz."
playbill.com
"The Magnificent Yankee, Royale Theatre, January 22 – June 8, 1946. Playbill, New York, N.Y. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
"Miss Lillian Gish Interview" conducted by actress Mariette Hartley on January 22, 1987, the 112th anniversary of D. W. Griffith's birth. YouTube, originally published there by Dana Harris on December 25, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
