Following electronics training in the army, George first began TV work at Cambridge-based Pye Television. In the 1950s and 60s he was one of just a handful of projection specialists in the UK with the skills to set up and operate the Eidophor and GE Talaria projectors. Video projection technology in this period was cutting-edge but, at the same time, temperamental. The light valve at the heart of the machine needed to be switched to standby mode at least an hour before use. Lining up the projector in a new venue took at least two hours, even in the hands of a skilled operator like George. Finally, transporting the huge projectors was problematic. The light valve couldn't be inverted so, if the projector was travelling by air, the valve had to be removed and given its own aircraft seat.
Both Eidophors and GE Talaria's were used at NASA mission control to display data for the Apollo missions. George operated them for equally memorable but more technically demanding temporary installations - he managed the projection of Muhammed Ali's world title fights at venues such as Old Trafford and the Odeon Leicester Square. In 1974 he was at Aintree to project TV images of Red Rum's second Grand National win. In 1984 George joined Samuelson Communications as manager of their video projection division.
Charles Beddow (Chairman of Blitz), then a director at Samuelsons, pays tribute to George as a man who combined calm authority with a very dry sense of humour: "Myself and my colleagues in Blitz - and in the past Samuelsons - owe so much to George's knowledge and dedication. He was technically brilliant but, just as valuable, he always remained calm in a crisis. I remember one occasion when we were providing a live multi-venue TV relay across the UK. We received a call from the Manchester venue to say they were having problems with the signal quality. George advised them over the phone and, after a few minutes, told us, 'The problem has gone away'. When we pressed him for details, he revealed that the problem had not been solved, but that a crane had just fallen into the cinema, which was now being evacuated!"
Throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, George worked regularly for London Weekend Television, providing on set video relays for TV shows including Blind Date, Surprise Surprise and You Bet, as well as special performances such as the Royal Variety Show. In 1998, at the age of 75, George supervised projection for Prince Charles' 50th Birthday Gala at the Lyceum Theatre.
George Gilbert died on 11 April 2003 after a short illness. He leaves a wife, Dorothy, to whom he'd been married for 59 years, a daughter Shirley and grandchildren Amanda and Adam.
(Ruth Rossington)
