Name Ethel Lang Role Actress | Spouse Brunto Gibb Movies Harvest Gold | |
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Ethel Isabel Lang (AM) (1902 – November 1995) was an Australian actress prominent in radio and stage roles. She was a performer since the age of seven she appeared in school plays and concerts before being asked to play Napoleon's son in The Royal Divorce. She appeared in numurous stage roles including Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice. She married elocution teacher James Brunton Gibb in 1923. They frequently appeared on stage together.
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Career Highlights
She started her career in radio in 1924, While raising a family during The Depression and World War II and beyond, she had an independent career:
Like her husband, she was generous in her support of charitable events, notably Legacy. On occasion, she adjudicated at eisteddfods and produced performances by the Brunton Gibb Players, when she used her married name.
Recognition
She received the AM in 1992 for services to the arts and community.
Personal life
Ethel Isabel Lang married James Brunton Gibb LTCL (13 January 1897 – 28 June 1968) on 1 September 1923.
They had a son Peter in 1924, a daughter (Judith) Wendy in 1925 a daughter Barbara Joan around 1928 and a son David in 1939. The whole family used "Brunton" as though it were part of their surname.
Peter and Wendy Brunton Gibb both excelled in elocution. Wendy appeared in the 1949 Charles Chauvel film Sons of Matthew, left for London and joined Dan O'Connor's British Commonwealth Players and in 1953 became Mrs Michael Benge.
Peter served with the RAAF during WWII and married in 1946.
Barbara was educated at Fort Street High School and worked as a radio and stage actress associated with Doris Fitton's Independent Theatre and Mercury Theatre under the name Barbara Brunton, marrying journalist Stuart Revill in 1952.
David became Professor of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care at UNSW in 2001. He is commemorated at Sydney High School by the David Brunton Gibb Prize for Soccer.