Born in
Wolverhampton, he worked in a local nail factory and in an accountant's office, before joining the Calder O'Berne Opera Company, and then working as a
music hall singer. After moving to London, he acquired an Urban Bioscope projector and, in 1898, launched the Anglo-American Bio-Tableaux, a variety film show that initially concentrated on news subjects. On the death of his father-in-law, G. Adney Payne, he succeeded to the directorship of the London Syndicate Halls. From 1903, he greatly increased his holdings by buying suburban and provincial halls and turning them into
variety theatres. He also attempted to corner the market in leading performers by offering them increased salaries, but tough contracts. He opened the
London Palladium as a flagship of his music hall empire in 1910, by which time he owned some 40 music halls, half of them in London. Gibbons severed his connection with the Palladium in 1912. During the
First World War, he was active in the
Royal Army Service Corps as a Lieutenant-Colonel, and later organised food and emergency supplies during
strikes affecting the railway system. He was knighted for public services in the
1920 New Year Honours List. In 1928, he returned as managing director of the General Theatres Corporation which initiated a programme of
cine-variety at the theatre. Within a few months, a boardroom wrangle led to his resignation. His considerable fortune was dissipated on other theatrical projects, leading to bankruptcy shortly before his death in London in 1933, aged 62. He was married twice: to Nellie Payne, who died in 1911, and then to Doris Lee; they were later divorced. == References ==