Virginia Gibson (born Virginia Gorski; April 9, 1925 – April 25, 2013) was an American dancer, singer and actress of film, television and musical theater.[1]
Early years
Gibson was born on April 9, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was of Polish and Irish lineage[2] and graduated from St. Alphonsus Parochial School.[3]
Career
Gibson started her career in musicals in her hometown of St. Louis. In 1937, she was one of 35 girls chosen for the St. Louis Opera Company's ballet productions.[4] She danced in the chorus of a production of The Student Prince there in 1940,[5] and in 1943 she was part of the dancing chorus of the summer season of the Muny Opera.[6] In the fall of 1943, she was one of three dancers from that group to sign contracts to perform in Roll Up Your Sleeves on Broadway.[7] She used her birth name on Broadway through 1949.[8] In 1947, she returned to perform at the Muny Opera as the star of No, No, Nanette.[3]
Gibson was signed by Warner Bros. in 1950[9] and made her film debut in Tea for Two (1950).[10] Billed as a starlet, she was a member of a group of Hollywood actors who traveled across the country in 1951-1952 promoting the 50th anniversary of movie theaters. With Roscoe Ates and Charles Starrett, she toured eastern Oklahoma greeting the public. In Hollywood, she played supporting or leading roles in a number of Warner Bros. musicals. Her most famous film role was Liza in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).[11] Warner Bros. elected to not renew her contract option. Gibson later said: "There are just so many musicals, and they had Doris Day. And who can shine in comparison to her vivacity?"[9]
On television, Gibson was a regular on Captain Billy's Showboat (1948).[12] She also starred in So This Is Hollywood (1955).[12]: 987 She was a regular performer on The Johnny Carson Show (1955–56).[12]: 540 In 1956, she returned to Broadway to play Ethel Merman's daughter in the musical Happy Hunting. She then became one of the stars of Your Hit Parade,[12]: 1209 one of the most popular TV shows of the 1950s, for one season. She had a three-month stint as a jazz singer on the TV version of Young Doctor Malone. From 1962 to 1971, she cohosted (with Frank Buxton[2] and later Bill Owen) the ABC-TV children's documentary program Discovery.[2]
Gibson also appeared in commercials for a cake mixes, cameras, candy bars, detergents and various soap products, hair sprays and paper towels.[13]
When her performing career ended, Gibson taught at the HB Studio in New York.[8]
^ abcdTerrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 159. ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.
^"Virginia Gibson's Image". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. July 7, 1963. p. Programs and Personalities p 4. Retrieved February 22, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2).
^Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, pg. 34, Ideal Publishers.
