1. Marla Gibbs was born on Margaret Bradley; June 14,1931 and is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer, and television producer whose career spans seven decades.
23 Facts About Marla Gibbs
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Marla Gibbs is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons, for which she received five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
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Marla Gibbs was born Margaret Bradley on June 14,1931, in Chicago, Illinois, at Cook County Hospital.
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The middle of three sisters, Marla Gibbs was raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the city's south side.
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Marla Gibbs's mother, Ophelia Birdie was a businesswoman of Haitian descent who occasionally ran numbers in the gambling trade.
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Marla Gibbs's mother married Charles Cady and relocated to Detroit.
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When she was 16, her father died and Marla Gibbs was sent to live with her mother and stepfather in Detroit where she attended Northern High School for a semester during her junior year.
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Several years later, Marla Gibbs returned to Detroit, Michigan, where she attended Peters Business School.
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In 1963, Marla Gibbs relocated to Los Angeles to recuperate from an ulcer and began working as a reservations agent for United Airlines.
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Marla Gibbs first acted in local Los Angeles black theater before she got her first acting job in the early 1970s, in the blaxploitation films Sweet Jesus, Preacher Man and Black Belt Jones.
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Marla Gibbs came easy to me so I'm like Florence in giving smart answers, but I was shy so I wouldn't have dared to say some of the things Florence said.
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In 1985, when The Jeffersons was cancelled after 11 seasons, Marla Gibbs was the lead actress in the NBC sitcom 227.
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Two decades later, Marla Gibbs teamed with former 227 co-star Jackee Harry in The First Family, where Marla Gibbs had a recurring role as Harry's mother Grandma Eddy.
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Marla Gibbs worked with Harry again in the independent film Forbidden Woman.
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Marla Gibbs guest starred on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin, Touched by an Angel, Judging Amy, ER, and Southland.
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In 2015, Marla Gibbs made two appearances in the Shonda Rhimes' drama series, Scandal.
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Marla Gibbs had starring roles in two television pilots: Old Soul alongside Ellen Burstyn and Rita Moreno for NBC in 2014, and ABC's Jalen Vs Everybody in 2017.
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In 2019, Marla Gibbs reprised her role as Florence on Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons, less than a month before her 88th birthday.
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In 2021, Marla Gibbs began appearing as Olivia Price in a recurring role on Days of Our Lives.
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Marla Gibbs released a number of albums as a singer.
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Marla Gibbs was married to her high school sweetheart Jordan Marla Gibbs from 1955 - 1973.
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On July 31,2014, Marla Gibbs attended the Leimert Park Village Book Fair in Los Angeles to pay tribute to Maya Angelou, who died on May 28, and Ruby Dee, who died on June 11.
23.
Marla Gibbs co-starred opposite Cole in the television film Lily in Winter.