First there was Geoffrey Hibbert, born in 1922, in England (somewhere!).
His screen debut was in The Common Touch (he played the lead, at age 19?) in 1941. Other films included Love on the Dole and The Shipbuilders. He also did plenty of stage work, specifically with the Players' Theatre.
Even though he isn't listed in the playbill for the original London production of Sandy Wilson's The Boy Friend, he did play a role, or was perhaps a replacement, and impressed the powers that be enough to be asked to travel with the show to Broadway. He took his wife (who was pregnant with Hibbert #2) to the US, where they lived "for the duration" on Long Island...and Geoffrey commuted into Manhattan to play his Boyfriend-y role, along with new-comer, Julie Andrews, who debuted in the part of Polly.
The show was a success and ran for over a year.
Geoffrey died at the age of46.
Geoffrey's son, Edward Hibbert, was born on Long Island, on September 9, 1955 (which makes him 1 month older than me!). Once The Boy Friend closed, the family returned to England, where Edward was eventually (once he learned to walk!) schooled at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
He moved to the US in 1980, and by the 1990s, he was finding work on television (Murder She Wrote, Columbo, Cosby, Law & Order, The Nanny, Fantasy Island and many more!). His break came with Fraiser, playing Gil Chesterton (above) for 29 episodes.
He also provided the voice for Zazu in The Lion King sequels.
Edward is also a literary agent (perhaps not fully trusting his acting success?), a partner at Donadio & Olsen.
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