Lois Gibson, 77, writer

Story editor wrote for 'Fugitive,' 'Invaders'

By VARIETY STAFF

Writer and story editor Lois Gibson died Sunday in Malibu after a long illness. She was 77.

A native New Yorker, she attended Hofstra University and did postgraduate studies at the Sorbonne. In the late 1940s, she worked for pioneering publisher Ian Ballantine as a translator and editor in the exploding paperback industry.

She moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s and joined the story department at CBS Television, where she discovered and helped develop "The Untouchables." She served as one of the producers of "Shirley Temple Storybook," a series of sixteen ABC specials and worked as a story editor and consultant for TV producers Desi Arnaz, William Asher, Quinn Martin and Rod Amateau.

During the '60s, she created and developed storylines for shows such as "The Fugitive" and "The Invaders." She did the same in the '80s for medical series, "Quincy, M.E." and "Kay O'Brien." During the 1970s, she wrote TV reviews for the L.A. Free Press, and in the mid-1980s, she wrote the Hidden Treasures column of the in the L.A. Times Magazine.

Gibson also wrote the story for the 1974 feature film "Crypt of the Living Dead." A member of the Actors Studio Playwrights group and the Dramatists Guild of America, she wrote the book for the musical "Nobody's Heart," based on the life and lyrics of Lorenz Hart.

She is survived by her husband, actor Henry Gibson; three sons, Jonathan, business affairs exec at NBC/Universal; Charles, two-time visual effects Oscar winner; James, a screenwriter and two grandchildren.

Donations may be made to the Boston Terrier Rescue Fund.