Norman Gibbs

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Norman Gibbs
Birth name:	Norman Alexander Gibbs, Jr.
Date of birth:	30 August 1947
Place of birth:	Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Roles:	Background actor; Stand-in
Character(s):	Voyager officer; Kazon-Ogla guard; Kazon-Nistrim officer

Norman Gibbs (born 30 August 1947; age 76) is an actor who appeared as regular background operations officer on the first and second seasons of Star Trek: Voyager. He received no credit for his appearances but was identified by the call sheets of the episodes. He also appeared as a Kazon-Ogla guard in the second season episode "Initiations". In addition, Gibbs worked as 2nd unit stand-in for Tim Russ on the first season episode "Learning Curve".

Biography

Norman Gibbs was born in the Bronx, NYC, and attended DeWitt Clinton High School before studying theatre at California Institute of the Arts. [1]

In 1972, he was indicted for the illegal importation of and possession with the intent to distribute approximately fourteen pounds of cocaine, worth over $1,500,000 from Mexico, this after the actor had recently appeared in two films with similar fictional plots to his crime, The French Connection (1971) and The Godfather (1972; with Ron Veto). (Valley News [Van Nuys, CA], pg ?, 8 Sept 1972, et al.)

He later had featured roles in the television drama Disaster on the Coastliner (1979, with Lloyd Bridges, William Shatner, Michael Pataki, and Jerry Ayres) and in episodes of The Bionic Woman (1977, with Whit Bissell), Salvage 1 (1979, with Paul Sorensen), Trapper John, M.D. (1979), and Palmerstown, U.S.A. (1980, with Don Keefer and John Schuck).

Gibbs is perhaps best known on screen for his part as the First Jive Dude in the comedy Airplane! (1980, with Lloyd Bridges, Jonathan Banks, Marcy Goldman, Gregory Itzin, Cyril O'Reilly, Kenneth Tobey, Jason Wingreen, Sandra Lee Gimpel, Leslie Hoffman, and Paula Moody), a role which he and his friend and fellow jive talker Al White all the lines for. [2]

Between 1982 and 1984, he was featured in several episodes of Hill Street Blues where he worked with James B. Sikking, Barbara Bosson, Barbara Babcock, Milt Tarver, Alexandra Johnson, and Tony Plana. Further acting work includes the fantasy romance Kiss Me Goodbye (1982, with Paul Dooley, Michael Ensign, and Robert Miano), the crime thriller Blue Thunder (1983, with Malcolm McDowell, Jack Murdock, Paul Lambert, James Read, Tony Brubaker, and Eurlyne Epper-Woldman), and the action drama Runaway Train (1985, with John Bloom, Dennis Ott, Don Pugsley, Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr., Loren Janes, Tony Epper, and Marshal Silverman).

Gibbs also guest starred in episodes of Lou Grant (1980, with Milt Tarver), The White Shadow (1980-1981, with Joan Pringle, James Cromwell, and Karl Bruck), Flamingo Road (1982, with John Beck), Fatal Vision (1984, with Joel Polis, Mitchell Ryan, Wendy Schaal, Alexandra Johnson, Paddi Edwards, Kenneth Tigar, Richard Lineback, Brian Thompson, Matthew Faison, and Peter Vogt), Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1985, with Ray Reinhardt), and NYPD Blue (1994, with Louis Giambalvo, Gordon Clapp, and Don Stark).

Star Trek appearances

Voyager officer
Star Trek: Voyager
Recurring character
(uncredited)

Kazon-Ogla guard
VOY: "Initiations"
(uncredited)

Kazon-Nistrim officer
VOY: "Maneuvers"
(uncredited)

Recurring appearance

• VOY:
  • "The Cloud" (Season 1)
  • "Eye of the Needle"
  • "Emanations"
  • "Prime Factors"
  • "State of Flux"
  • "Heroes and Demons"
  • "Cathexis"
  • "Jetrel"
  • "Learning Curve"
  • "Elogium"
  • "The 37's"
  • "Initiations" (Season 2)
  • "Parturition"
  • "Tattoo"
  • "Resistance"

External link

• Norman Gibbs at the Internet Movie Database