Guy Bridges Kibbee (March 6, 1882 – May 24, 1956) was an American stage and film actor.

Early years

Kibbee was born in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. His father was editor of the '' El Paso Herald-Post'' newspaper, and Kibbee learned how to set type at age 7. At the age of 14, he ran away to join a traveling show. His younger brother was actor

Milton Kibbee Milton Kibbee (January 27, 1896 – April 17, 1970) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 360 films between 1933 and 1953. He was the brother of actor Guy Kibbee and his daughter was actress Lois Kibbee. He died in Simi Valle ...

Career

Kibbee began his entertainment career on

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

s. He became an actor in traveling stock companies. He began to lose his hair at 19. In his early days on stage, he was a romantic leading man. In 1930, he made his debut on Broadway in the play ''Torch Song'', which won acclaim in New York and attracted the interest of Hollywood. Shortly afterwards,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

signed Kibbee, and he moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He later became part of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

's stock company, contract actors who cycled through different productions in supporting roles. Kibbee's specialty was daft and jovial characters; he is perhaps best remembered for the films '' 42nd Street'' (1933), ''

Gold Diggers of 1933 ''Gold Diggers of 1933'' is a pre-Code Warner Bros. musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics), staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline ...

'' (1933), '' Captain Blood'' (1935), and '' Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939), though he also played the

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

inn owner in

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

's ''

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

'' (1932). One of his few starring performances during this period was the title role of '' Babbit'' (1934), a much altered and compressed version of the

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

novel. He is also remembered for his performance as Mr. Webb, editor of the Grover's Corners, New Hampshire newspaper, and father of Emily Webb (played by

Martha Scott Martha Ellen Scott (September 22, 1912 – May 28, 2003) was an American actress. She was featured in major films such as Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956), and William Wyler's '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), playing the mother of Charlto ...

) in the film version of the classic

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

play ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 thro ...

''.

Personal life

Kibbee's first wife was Helen Shay, with whom he raised a family in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

until their divorce. One of their sons was

Robert Kibbee Robert Joseph Kibbee (August 19, 1921 – June 16, 1982) was an American university administrator who was Chancellor of the City University of New York. Biography Kibbee was born on Staten Island, New York. His father was Hollywood actor Guy Kibbe ...

, an academic who became chancellor of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. His second wife was the former Ethel "Brownie" Reed. They had a daughter, Shirley Ann, and were married for 31 years.

Death

Kibbee died of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

at the Percy Williams Home for actors in

East Islip, New York East Islip is a hamlet and CDP in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, United States. At the time of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 14,475. History and overview Originally referred to as "East of Islip", the name was ac ...

on May 24, 1956.

In popular culture

"Guy Kibbee eggs" is a breakfast dish consisting of a hole cut out of the center of a slice of bread, and an egg cracked into it, all of which is fried in a skillet. The actor prepared this dish in the 1935 Warner Bros. film ''

Mary Jane's Pa ''Mary Jane's Pa'' is a 1935 American drama film directed by William Keighley and written by Tom Reed and Peter Milne. The film stars Aline MacMahon, Guy Kibbee, Tom Brown, Robert McWade, Minor Watson, and Nan Grey. The film was released by ...

'', hence the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

. The dish is also known by other names, such as " egg in a basket" and "egg in a frame". Kibbee is also mentioned in the iconic ''

Hot August Night ''Hot August Night'' is a 1972 live double album by Neil Diamond. The album is a recording of a Diamond concert on August 24, 1972, one of ten sold-out concerts that Diamond performed that month at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. This also mar ...

'' concert/album performed by

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

in 1972 at the

Greek Theatre Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...

in Los Angeles:

Filmography

Television appearances

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kibbee, Guy 1882 births 1956 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Male actors from El Paso, Texas Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in New York (state) 20th-century American male actors Warner Bros. contract players People from East Islip, New York