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