Grace Gibson

Gibson was born in El Paso, Texas, USA, in 1905 to Calvin Newton Gibson and Mexican Margaret Escobara (Schultz) and finished her schooling in California.

She started her career in her native US working for the Radio Transcription Company of America, as a distributor of radio programs, when recruited by Alfred Bennett, general manager of Sydney radio station 2GB, who was visiting the United States. Together they set up American Radio Transcription Agencies (later Artransa Pty Ltd), which sold American recorded radio programs throughout Australia, and Gibson moved to Sydney, Australia in 1934.

Gibson was on a buying trip in the US in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and as a result she was prevented from returning to Australia for several years. Whilst stranded, she became manager of her former company, Radio Transcription Company of America.Lane, Richard and National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, 1994, The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama 1923-1960: A History Through Biography, Melbourne University Press, Carlton South, Vic

In 1944 she set up her own company, Grace Gibson Radio Productions Pty. Ltd., based in Savoy House, Bligh Street, Sydney. The company would become one of the biggest producers of radio drama with broadcast productions that would air in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong and Canada.[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gibson-grace-isabel-12534/text22557 Murphy, Lynne, 'Gibson, Grace Isabel (1905–1989)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University] accessed 5 February 2012 Her company produced over 30,000 programs for Australian radio.{{Cite web |date=1983 |title=Yanks Down Under (film) |url=https://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/yanks-down-under/clip1/ |access-date=29 September 2023 |website=Australian Screen: An NFSA Website}}

The company's first show was the documentary series Here are the Facts. That was followed by a number of popular daytime soap operas and other shows such as Doctor Paul, Portia Faces Life, Night Beat, Dossier on Dumetrius, Cattleman, I Christopher Macauley, Chickenman, Chuck Chunder, Captain Kremmen, and Mr. and Mrs. North.

Gibson continued to produce radio dramas from her Australian headquarters for the South African market until as late as 1971, long after television had replaced radio as the main place to hear drama in the home in most countries. This was because South Africa was virtually the last place in the English-speaking world to introduce television.{{Cite web|url=https://lowvelder.co.za/239861/history-television-sa/|title = The history of television in SA|date = 4 December 2014}}

She retired in 1978 and sold Grace Gibson Radio Productions Pty. Ltd. in the same year.

Gibson was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1987 in recognition of her services to radio in Australia.{{Cite web |title=Mrs Grace Gibson PARR |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883228 |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Australian Honours Search Facility}}

Gibson was three times married and died in 1989 in Potts Point, Sydney aged 84.

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• Richard Lane, The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama 1923-1960 : A History through Biography, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: National Film and Sound Archive; and Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 1994

• [https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/remembering-grace-gibson-vintage-radio-dramas Remembering Grace Gibson with Vintage Radio Dramas] at National Film and Sound Archive
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130616131831/http://nfsa.gov.au/collection/radio/women-in-radio/grace-gibson/ Read more about Grace Gibson], and listen to an oral history interview done with her on the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's [http://nfsa.gov.au/ website].
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140626062720/http://nfsa.gov.au/collection/radio/women-in-radio/ Women in Early Radio in Australia] at National Film and Sound Archive
• [https://www.womenaustralia.info/entries/gibson-grace-isabel/ Gibson, Grace Isabel] at Australian Women's Register
• Moran, Albert ‘Some beginnings for Australian television’, Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media & Culture, 1991, Vol. 4 No. 2
• [https://www.radioheritage.net/LLRI06.asp Dr Paul, Popular Radio Serial] at radioheritage.net
• [https://radioechoes.com/?page=series&genre=OTR-Soap&series=Dr%20Paul Series: Dr Paul] at radioechoes.com
• [http://www.offshoreradiomuseum.co.uk/page1094.html Doctor Paul] at offshoreradiomuseum.co.uk
• [https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/fromthevaults/3978/portia-faces-life-and-dr-paul-from-the-fifties/ Portia Faces Life and Dr Paul (from the Fifties)] at elsewhere.co.nz
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcttVyafbD8 Dr Paul: Radio's Great Story of Adult Love] on YouTube
• [https://archive.org/details/gregory-keen-dossier-on-dumetrius-ep-096 Complete episodes of Dossier on Dumetrius] on Wayback Machine
• [http://www.gracegibsonradio.com/ Grace Gibson Radio Retail Store] - online store which sells radio serials, dramas and comedies from Grace Gibson Productions
• [https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/asset/99538-radio-soaps-and-yes-what-tim-bowden Radio Soaps: Blue Hills (1949–76), Yes, What? (1936–40), Dr Paul (1949–70) and Portia Faces Life (1952–70)] - commentary by Tim Bowden

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Category:1905 births

Category:1989 deaths

Category:Australian radio producers

Category:American emigrants to Australia

Category:American people of Mexican descent

Category:20th-century Australian women

Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia

Category:American women radio producers

Category:Australian women company founders

Category:Australian film production company founders