Gilbert Thompson, television actor and teacher, dies at 91

Between earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Temple University, Gilbert Thompson went into acting as a cast member of Action in the Afternoon, which was shot on the back lot of the WCAU-TV studio on City Avenue and promoted as television’s only live daily network Western in 1953.

It wasn’t an easy gig, according to Mr. Thompson’s daughter, Lori Maxfield.

“Inside the building, they would have the bar scene, and they would ride their horses on the lot,” she said of the actors. “It would seem like they were just strolling into the bar. But actually they had to run all the way around the parking lot to get to where those swinging doors would be. He said that was just so hard.

“Then they would be riding their horses, and there would be cars driving by on the street. So you had city noise on what was supposed to be a setting that was out in the country.”

Mr. Thompson, 91, who worked in the broadcasting industry before going into teaching, a career that included 15 years on the faculty at Pennsylvania State University, died Thursday, April 30, of obstructive lung disease at Valley View Haven Retirement Home in Belleville, Pa.

After Action in the Afternoon ended in January 1954, Mr. Thompson continued working at WCAU and WFIL (now WPVI) on live children’s shows, including Pixanne and Chief Halftown.

His daughter said she “felt like I hit the jackpot” getting to know actress Jane Norman, who played Pixanne.

“My parents were friends with her and her husband, and we always had these huge Fourth of July parties when we lived in Philadelphia,” she said. “One year, [Norman] came, and my cousin to this day still talks about it. As a kid, you wouldn’t believe these people would come to a party and you’d really see that person.”

Ms. Maxfield said her father was a happy and personable man who always was interested in people. He began teaching at Penn State in 1987 and took a keen interest in his students, giving them tips if they had an upcoming interview.

He also liked to be theatrical around family and friends and make them laugh, she said.

“Everything was always kind of like he was acting,” she said. “On his birthday, it would take so long for him to open the presents and read the cards, because he would read every line with this big voice.”

Mr. Thompson joined the Navy after graduating from Northeast High School in 1946 and later attended Temple. He met Emalee Ann Earon while performing at the Lambertville (N.J.) Music Circus and married her in 1952, and the couple later sang together on cruise ships.

A member of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, Mr. Thompson was a broadcasting account executive with CBS and its subsidiary Columbia Records. He also worked as an ABC regional manager. He later taught at Suffolk County (N.Y.) Community College before moving to State College, Pa., in 1985.

At Penn State, he taught a variety of subjects, including marketing, oral communications, and sales management, his daughter said. During his tenure, he received a 1996 faculty award after one of his sales management students with the highest honors over four years at the School of Business Management recognized Mr. Thompson as the teacher who had the biggest influence on him.

After retirement, Mr. Thompson and his wife attended many athletic events on campus and were active in the community, particularly with Special Olympics.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Thompson is survived by four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife and daughter Lee Ann.

Funeral services are to be held at a later date.