His father was editor of the El Paso Herald-Post newspaper, and Kibbee learned how to set type at age 7.

[4] In 1930, he made his debut on Broadway in the play Torch Song, which won acclaim in New York and attracted the interest of Hollywood.

Kibbee's specialty was daft and jovial characters; he is perhaps best remembered for the films 42nd Street (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Captain Blood (1935), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), though he also played the expatriate inn owner in Joan Crawford's Rain (1932).

One of his few starring performances during this period was the title role of Babbit (1934), a much altered and compressed version of the Sinclair Lewis novel.

[3] Kibbee died of Parkinson's disease at the Percy Williams Home for actors in East Islip, New York on May 24, 1956.

Kibbee is also mentioned in the iconic Hot August Night concert/album performed by Neil Diamond in 1972 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles: Thank you people in the audience!