Brian Gibson, a renowned English film director, was born on September 22, 1944, in Reading, Berkshire. He studied Natural Sciences at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, graduating with an upper-second class honors degree, and later pursued a degree in History of Science at Darwin College, Cambridge. Initially, Gibson intended to become a doctor, but his interests shifted towards journalism, and he edited Granta, the Cambridge University magazine.
After traveling to Turkey, Israel, and Syria, Gibson began his career at the BBC as a research assistant for Rene Cutforth's program "Europa." He then produced several outstanding editions of Horizon, a science TV magazine, earning a BAFTA award and the 1975 Prix Italia for the "Horizon" episode Joey, based on the story of Joey Deacon, a brain-damaged child who found a handicapped friend to unlock his latent intellect.
Gibson's subsequent work included directing The Billion Dollar Bubble, which introduced James Woods to British audiences, and Gossip from the Forest with John Shrapnel. He went on to direct Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills, featuring a talented cast including Colin Welland, Helen Mirren, and John Bird, as well as Breaking Glass with Hazel O'Connor, Phil Daniels, and Jonathan Pryce.
In Hollywood, Gibson directed Poltergeist II and several HBO specials, including biographies of Simon Wiesenthal and Josephine Baker. He followed up with the Tina Turner biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It, and The Juror. In 1998, he directed his last film, Still Crazy.
Gibson was married twice, first to Lynn Whitfield, the leading lady of his TV film "The Josephine Baker Story," with whom he had a daughter named Grace Gibson. The couple divorced in 1992, and Gibson remarried Paula Rae Gibson, with whom he had another daughter. Tragically, Gibson passed away on January 4, 2004, at the age of 59, due to Ewing's sarcoma, a form of cancer, at his London home.
