| John Gibson | |
| Birth Date: | July 15, 1948 |
| Birth Place: | Michigan, US |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, US |
| Years Active: | 1975–1986 |
| Partner: | Vanna White (1981-1986) |
John Gibson (July 15, 1948 – May 17, 1986) was an American actor, model, and dancer, known for The Warriors, The Young and the Restless, One Life to Live. and his national profile as a Chippendales dancer.
He was engaged to television personality Vanna White at the time of his death in a plane crash on May 17, 1986.
Born near Detroit, in 1948, Gibson attended Northville High School and earned a degree from the University of Michigan before marrying his college girlfriend.[1] [2] Feeling constrained and listless working at his father's used car lot, Gibson left both the job and marriage and, following a year as a self-described "ski bum" in Aspen, Colorado, he moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, where he worked as a carpenter, waiter and pursued a real estate license.[3] [4]
While in Florida, Gibson sent photos of himself to the newly introduced Playgirl magazine for consideration. The magazine flew him to California for a shoot and selected him to be the magazine's April 1975 centerfold,[5] a move he credits with "[turning] my life around" and giving shape to a new career path, rooted in his looks and personality.[6] Gibson moved to Los Angeles, California, and began working as a model for catalogs, advertisements, and in small roles in film and television.[7]
Gibson came to international prominence in 1980 as one of the highest-profile members of the Chippendales male exotic dance troupe. At the height of the group's fame, Gibson made talk show and personal appearances on behalf of the troupe, appeared regularly in the press, and his name and likeness were featured on posters, calendars, board games, and other merchandise sold worldwide. In 1982, he was selected as the cover model for the troupe's popular annual calendar, embarking on another national press tour in support of the troupe.
Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, Gibson began taking acting classes and, in 1979, he was cast as one of the "baseball furies" in the action thriller film The Warriors. Gibson continued to act, primarily in television, appearing on Three's Company, Eight is Enough, and CHiPS, often in roles playing on his perceived attractiveness.
In 1981, he was cast as "Jerry 'Cash' Cashman," on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless,[8] a role he played for more than a year. Cashman owned a gentleman's club on the show and occasionally performed himself, something the producers tailored to Gibson's own background. In 1983, he returned to daytime television, playing "Tom 'Hawk' Haney" on One Life to Live and appeared on The Fall Guy. Gibson's final acting appearance prior to his death was in 1984's The Cartier Affair with David Hasselhoff and Joan Collins.
Gibson's long relationship with, and engagement to, model and Wheel of Fortune hostess Vanna White made him a regular fixture in tabloids and celebrity media journalism of the day.[9]
This led to intense media attention after his death, causing a grieving White, on a leave of absence from the show, to publicly condemn tabloid publications for their intrusive and sensationalized coverage of the tragedy.[10] [11] White has since cited her relationship with Gibson, and the support she received from fans in the wake of his death, as a particularly formative time in her life and career, directly impacting her perspective on both.[12] [13] [14]
Gibson died in a plane crash on May 17, 1986, near Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, California. He was piloting a rented Socata Trinidad TB20 plane when it crashed and caught fire after hitting a curb on Roscoe Boulevard. National Transportation Safety Board officials later attributed the crash to jet turbulence, finding Gibson's plane struck the jet wash from a C-130 military transport plane landing just ahead of him.[15]
The crash, one of two fatal incidents near the airport that weekend, left Gibson's body so severely burned that identification required dental X-ray comparison.[16]