Marla Gibbs

Early life and education

Marla Gibbs was born Margaret Theresa Bradley on June 14, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois, to Douglas Bradley, a self-taught mechanic, who also owned an ice company, and Ophelia (née Kemp) Birdie, a business woman who also owned a theater, a hotel, and a boarding home haberdashery. She attended Corpus Christi Elementary School. After graduating from Corpus Christi in 1945, Gibbs attended St. Elizabeth High School, where she completed her freshman year and the first semester of her sophomore year. During the middle of her sophomore year, Gibbs transferred to Wendell Phillips Academy High School. When she was 16, her father died and 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. After months in Detroit, Gibbs returned to Chicago, re-enrolling at Phillips where she graduated in June 1949.

Career

In 1963, Gibbs relocated to Los Angeles to recuperate from an ulcer and began working as a reservations agent for United Airlines. She 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.

In 1975, she was cast in the CBS comedy series The Jeffersons as Florence Johnston, the family's maid. For the first two years with CBS, Gibbs continued working for United Airlines. She would work at CBS during the day and then leave for her second job, where she worked the night shift. When the series became an established success, CBS requested that she take a leave of absence from her United job. Gibbs's performance on the series garnered her five nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and one nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

In 1981, she starred in a 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, after The Jeffersons was cancelled after 11 seasons, Gibbs became the lead actress in a new NBC sitcom, 227. 227 was adapted from a play directed by Cambridge Players' then-president Ed Cambridge and was presented to NBC by Cambridge at Gibbs's Crossroads Theater in Los Angeles, where he served as artistic director. The series aired until 1990, producing 116 episodes. Much like her character Mary Jenkins in the show, Gibbs also bestowed tough love to her co-star Regina King in real life. Gibbs said in a 2023 interview, about casting King as her daughter Brenda, "I fought for Regina [to be cast]. She had light brown hair and light eyes and she really looked like Hal," referring to Hal Williams, who played Mary's husband and Brenda's father. Gibbs said: "Regina went to regular school while she was on the show, and her friends would tell her the clothes her character wore made her look like a doofus. I had to tell her, ‘Now, look, do you want to be on TV? Or do you want to be with your friends, watching TV? You’re not dressing the way you want to dress; you’re dressing the way I make you dress. We can have an argument about it if you want to.’ She never forgot that." She also added: "Sometimes she’d come ask me if the clothes made her look too [young]. And I’d say, ‘I’ll tell you one thing: If you get too old, [the producers] are going to send your behind to college, and you won’t be on the show anymore! So be young as long as you can!’" Two decades later, Gibbs teamed with former 227 co-star Jackée Harry, in The First Family, where Gibbs had a recurring role as Grandma Eddy, the mother of Harry's character. She worked with Harry again in the independent film Forbidden Woman.

Other ventures

From 1981 to 1999, Gibbs owned a jazz club in South Central L.A. called Marla's Memory Lane Jazz and Supper Club. She released a number of albums as a singer. In 1990, she moved her Crossroads Arts Academy and Theatre into the former Leimert Theatre in Los Angeles. Plans included the construction of a second stage, but the project ended in debt in June 1997.

Personal life

Gibbs was married to her high school sweetheart Jordan Gibbs from 1955 to 1973 and the couple had three children.

On July 31, 2014, 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. On January 11, 2016, Gibbs and former 227 co-star Jackée Harry attended the funeral of Grammy Award-winning singer Natalie Cole at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles. Gibbs co-starred opposite Cole in the television film Lily in Winter.

On November 13, 2024, Gibbs appeared at the Wilmington Library in Wilmington, Delaware, for A Conversation With Marla Gibbs, where she reminisced an almost 50 year career in television, delivering stories about her private life, both on-screen and off, especially that of her longtime friendship with Sherman Hemsley, who died in July 2012, who also played her TV boss on The Jeffersons.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Golden Globe Awards

The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented annually for excellence in both international film and television. Gibbs has earned 1 nomination.

Primetime Emmy Awards

The Primetime Emmy Awards are presented annually in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming. Gibbs has earned 5 nominations.