Marla Gibbs

Marla Gibbs
Gibbs in 2012.
Born	Margaret Theresa Bradley (1931-06-14) June 14, 1931 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Wendell Phillips High School
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, comedienne, writer, television producer
Years active	1973–present
Spouse	Jordan Gibbs ​ (m. 1955⁠–⁠1973)​
Children	3
Relatives	Susie Garrett (sister)
Website	Marla Gibbs Enterprises

Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931) is an American actress, comedienne, singer, writer and producer, whose career spans five decades.

Gibbs is best known for her role as Louise and George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, in the long-running CBS sitcom, The Jeffersons (1975–85), for which she received five nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also starred in the show's spin-off Checking In (1981), and for her leading role as Mary Jenkins in the NBC sitcom, 227 (1985–90), which she also co-produced and sang on the theme song. Gibbs has won a total of seven NAACP Image Awards.

In later years, Gibbs played supporting roles in films The Meteor Man (1993), Lost & Found (1999), The Visit (2000), The Brothers (2001), and Madea's Witness Protection (2012).

Early life

The younger of a sister, Marla Gibbs was born Margaret Theresa Bradley on June 14, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois to Ophelia Birdie (née Kemp) and Douglas Bradley. She attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago's south side graduating in 1949. Shortly after high school, Gibbs moved to Detroit, Michigan where she attended Peters Business School. She worked as a reservations agent for United Airlines before relocating with her children from Detroit to Los Angeles.

Career

Gibbs in 2014

Gibbs got her first acting job in the early 1970s, in the blaxploitation films Sweet Jesus, Preacher Man and Black Belt Jones. In 1975 she was cast as Florence Johnston, the family's maid, in the CBS comedy series The Jeffersons. For her performance on the series, Gibbs was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series five times, and once for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. In 1981 she starred in the short-lived spin-off of The Jeffersons, titled Checking In.

Gibbs responded in a 2015 interview on Broadway Showbiz, when asked if she'd based any of her characters on real-life people: "Yes, Florence was like my aunt and grandmother so I lived it. She came easy to me so I'm like Florence in giving smart answers, but I was also shy so I wouldn't have dared to say some of the things Florence said. I prefer to do whatever I can do at the moment. Whoever's hiring me at the moment...that's what I'm supposed to do. My favorite is drama. I'm doing that now (on Scandal), but also still doing comedy on Hot in Cleveland."

In 1985, when The Jeffersons was cancelled after 11 seasons, Gibbs was the lead actress in the NBC sitcom, 227. The series aired until 1990, producing 116 episodes. Two decades later, Gibbs teamed again with former 227 co-star and long-time friend Jackée Harry in The First Family, where Gibbs had a recurring role as Harry's on-screen mother Grandma Eddy. Then, she again worked with Harry in the independent film Forbidden Woman.

Gibbs had a number of supporting film roles, and guest starred on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Touched by an Angel (with longtime friend Della Reese), Judging Amy, ER, and Southland. From 1998 to 2002 she had a recurring role on The Hughleys. In 2012, Gibbs appeared in the Tyler Perry film Madea's Witness Protection, and in 2014 starred in the independent film, Grantham & Rose. In 2015, she had cameo appearance in the episode of Shonda Rhimes' drama series, Scandal.

Gibbs owned a jazz club in South Central L.A. called Marla's Memory Lane Jazz and Supper Club from 1981 to 1999. As a singer, she released a number of albums.

Personal life

She was married to her high school sweetheart Jordan Gibbs from 1955 to 1973; the couple had three children: Angela Gibbs, Dorian Gibbs and Joseph Gibbs. Her older sister is the late actress Susie Garrett. Her daughter Angela Gibbs is also an actress who appeared in movies such as Together Brothers, Drumline and Think Like A Man Too.

On July 31, 2014, Gibbs attended the Leimert Park Village Book Fair in Los Angeles, California to pay tribute to longtime friends Maya Angelou, who died on May 28, and Ruby Dee, who died on June 11.

On January 11, 2016, Gibbs and former 227 co-star and long-time friend Jackée Harry attended the funeral of Grammy Award-winning singer Natalie Cole at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, California. Gibbs co-starred opposite Cole in the TV movie Lily in Winter.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	Sweet Jesus, Preacherman	Beverly Solomon
1974	Black Belt Jones	Bartender	Uncredited
1975	The Missing Are Deadly	Nurse	Television film
1977	Passing Through	Secretary
1979	You Can't Take It with You	Rheba	Television film
1990	Menu for Murder	Marty Hallard	Television film
1991	Up Against the Wall	Louise Bradley
1991	Last Breeze of Summer		Short film
1993	The Meteor Man	Maxine Reed
1994	Lily in Winter	Maize Covington
1998	Border to Border	Dela
1999	Foolish	Odetta
1999	Lost & Found	Enid
2000	The Visit	Lois Waters	Method Fest Independent Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress
2000	Stanley's Gig	Eleanor Whitney
2001	The Brothers	Mary West
2005	Love on Layaway	Narrator
2006	The Ties That Bind	Delores	Short film
2006	The Heart Specialist	Ms. Overwood
2009	The What Goes Around	Ms. Lacey	Short film
2009	Afro Ninja	Aunt Mary
2009	Just Like Family	Mabel Jenkins
2009	Devil's Land	Judge Martha M. Levine
2010	Sunnyview	Mrs. Harris	Short film
2012	Who Killed Soul Glow?
2012	C'mon Man	Mrs. Crabtree
2012	Madea's Witness Protection	Hattie
2013	Forbidden Woman	Mrs. Simmons
2014	Grantham & Rose	Rose Price
2015	The Man in 3B	Ms. Mamie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Barney Miller	Mrs. McBee	Episode: "Vigilante"
1976	Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers	Beth Euphrates	Miniseries
1981	Checking In	Florence Johnston	Series regular, 4 episodes
1981	The Love Boat	Janet Dalton	Episode: "The Incredible Hunk/Isaac, the Marriage Counselor/Jewels & Jim"
1984	Pryor's Place	Miss Stern	3 episodes
1975-1985	The Jeffersons	Florence Johnston	Series regular, 207 episodes NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1981-1985) Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1985) Nominated — TV Land Award for Favorite Made-for-TV Maid
1985-1990	227	Mary Jenkins	Series regular, 115 episodes
1993	A Different World	Principal Shaw	Episode: "To Whit, with Love"
1993	In the Heat of the Night	Lilly Baker	Episode: "A Baby Called Rocket"
1993	Empty Nest	Josephine Douglas	Episode: "Mother Dearest"
1995	Dream On	Mrs. Perry	Episode: "Little Orphan Eddie"
1995	Martin	Miss Minnie	Episode: "Housekeeper from Hell" Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
1996	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Florence Johnston	Episode: "I, Done: Part 2"
1997-1998	101 Dalmatians: The Series	Duchess (voice)	8 episodes
1999	Martial Law	Dolores Parker	2 episodes
1999	Dawson's Creek	Mrs. Fran Boyd	Episode: "First Encounters of the Close Kind"
2000	Touched by an Angel	Millie	Episode: "The Invitation" Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
2001	Judging Amy	Zella Van Exel	Episode: "Between the Wanting and the Getting"
2002	The King of Queens	Nana Louise	Episode: "Patrons Ain't"
1998-2002	The Hughleys	Hattie Mae Hughley	16 episodes
2002	The Rerun Show	Dr. Beamish	Episode: "The Facts of Life: Shoplifting/The Jeffersons: A Bedtime Story"
2004	Passions	Aunt Irma	Recurring role Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
2004	Listen Up	Jackie Widmer	Episode: "Thanksgiving"
2005	ER	Cherise Barnes	Episode: "Only Connect"
2005	Cold Case	Georgie	Episode: "Best Friends"
2008	Lincoln Heights	Hazel Roberson	Episode: "The Day Before Tomorrow"
2011	House of Payne	Florence Johnston	Episode: "Curtis Jefferson"
2012	Southland	Ms. Miller	Episode: "Underwater"
2013	Mr. Box Office	Florence Johnston	Episode: "The Golden Apple"
2012-2013	The First Family	Grandma Eddy	11 episodes
2014	Old Soul	Agnes	Pilot
2015	Scandal	Rose	2 episodes
2015	Hot in Cleveland	Marcia	Episode: "Cleveland Calendar Girls"
2015	American Horror Story: Hotel	Cassie Royale	Episode: "She Wants Revenge"
2016	Childrens Hospital	Flossie	Episode: "Doctor Beth"

External links

• Marla Gibbs at IMDb
• Marla Gibbs at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television