Announcer. Hal Gibney was NBC's West Coast announcer for more than 20 years. He was best known as the announcer for "The Six Shooter" and "The Mickey Mouse Club". He was also the announcer for the radio and the original television version of "Dragnet". Harold T. Gibney was born on August 26, 1911. He was born in Woodland, California to parents William H. Gibney, (died August 15, 1933) and Hattie V. Gibney, (1888–1970). In 1920, the family moved to Alameda, California. Gibney graduated from San Mateo Junior College in 1930. Gibney's first radio gig was announcing at KTAB, (now KSFO) in San Francisco, California. In March 1935, Gibney relocated to Portland, Oregon where he joined the announcing staff of both Portland-based radio stations KGW, (now KPOJ) and KEX. Gibney's first noted announcing job was the KEX broadcast of the homecoming of the Oregon National Guard from Fort Lewis on June 25, 1935. He was joined by Van Fleming and Larry Keating. Gibney began announcing on a weekly basis for the first time with the first broadcast of the radio program "Safeway Circus Court" on November 2, 1935. The series came on KGW. He would stay with the program until he left KGW in January 1936. On January 16, 1936, Gibney left KGW, KEX and Portland altogether and went back to San Francisco where he joined NBC-affiliated station KPO, (now KNBR). His first major job there was part of the cast of "NBC Salutes KGW", a tribute to KGW in which many former and, at that time present, cast members celebrated KGW's unveiling of a 625-foot tower. Former employees at the celebration included Keating, Fleming, Helen Kleeb, Archie Presby, Jane Burns, Harry Anderson, Larry Allen, Mary Alice Moynihan, Glen Hurlbert & Dave Drummond. The special aired on August 14, 1937. Gibney left KPO in July 1939 and began working for NBC Radio and Radio City in Hollywood. At that point, Gibney became the official West Coast announcer for NBC. Within a year, Gibney could be heard announcing the Red Network's "Hawthorne House" and "The Standard Symphony". He was also heard on the Blue Network's "Speaking of Glamour" and "Capt. Flagg & Sgt. Quirt" which both premiered in 1941. "Jimmie Fidler from Hollywood", a gossip columnist program, was Gibney's last announcing gig before he enlisted in the military. On July 8, 1942, Gibney enlisted in the military. He became a private in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Even while in the service, Gibney continued his career as an announcer on the radio broadcasting his shows from the West Coast Training Center in Santa Ana, California. All of the show's he produced during his time in the military also included an all-army cast. Those shows were "Uncle Sam Presents" for the Red Network, "Soldiers with Wings" for CBS, "Wings Over the West Coast" for Mutual, and "Hello Mom" also for NBC. On January 28, 1946, Gibney was discharged from the Radio Production Unit of the Army Air Corps and returned to Hollywood. Upon his return to Hollywood, Gibney immediately got back to work. He went back to Jimmie Fidler and also began announcing for two new shows; "Names of Tomorrow Finding Stardom Today" in 1947 and the single season "The Dorothy Lamour Show" in 1948. On June 3, 1949; NBC Radio would premiere one of the most memorable radio programs of all time and the program was called "Dragnet". This would be the start of a whole franchise which included two films and four television series. The series starred Jack Webb as Detective Sgt. Joe Friday and Barton Yarborough as Sgt. Ben Romero. Gibney shared announcing responsibilities along with George Fenneman. Gibney, alternating with Fenneman, was known for announcing the almost infamous opening of the show which went as so: “Ladies and gentlemen... The story you are about to here is true. Only the names have changed to protect the innocent." Gibney stayed with the show until its end on the radio on September 20, 1955. Gibney served as the announcer for "The Penny Singleton Show". The series premiered as a summer replacement series on May 30, 1950 on NBC radio. The series starred "Blondie"'s Penny Singleton, comedian Jim Backus and Gale Gordon (of "Our Miss Brooks" fame). He was also the announcer for the entire two-year run of "Tales of the Texas Rangers" starring Joel McCrea. Gibney first announced for a television show when the successful radio show "Dragnet", (which Gibney also announced), premiered on NBC Television January 3, 1952. Gibney's voice was first heard on episode 3. Also starting with episode 3, each show ended with epilogue of sorts, narrated by Gibney, in which it was told the fate of the criminal and parties involved with the crime mentioned in any given episode. Gibney stayed with the show until its end on September 6, 1959. With "Dragnet" now on TV, Gibney still enjoyed success on radio. On September 23, 1953, Gibney began announcing another memorable radio program; "The Six Shooter". The series starred movie legend James Stewart as Britt Ponset, a drifting cowboy during the final years of the wild west. Another infamous opening coined by Gibney was the following: “The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-dyed brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother-of-pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both "the Six Shooter." Gibney was later replaced as announcer by John Wald beginning in January 1954. The series ended June 25 of that year. Gibney also was the announcer for the original run of "The Mickey Mouse Club" on ABC from 1955-1959. Gibney was married four times. His first marriage was to Gay Williams on April 26, 1935. Their marriage dissolved after the marriage of Hal's recently widowed mother and Gay's father. They divorced December 14, 1941. He married his second wife Juanita V. Fields on July 28, 1946. That marriage also ended in divorce. Gibney and third wife Marion McKinstry were married April 16, 1955. They divorced in 1970. He and his widow Julie Pratt-Tripp were married August 21, 1971. Gibney died on June 5, 1973 in Santa Barbara, California. He was 61 years old. He was survived by his fourth wife Julie. He had no children. Gibney is buried in Goleta Cemetery, Goleta, California.