fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931)[1] is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer and television producer, whose career spans five decades. Gibbs is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, in the CBS sitcom, The Jeffersons (1975–1985), for which she received five nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Marla Gibbs
Gibbs at the NAACP convention, 2000.
Born	Margaret Theresa Bradley (1931-06-14) June 14, 1931 (age 91) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actress singer comedian writer television producer
Years active	1973–present
Known for	Florence Johnston – The Jeffersons Mary Jenkins – 227
Spouse	Jordan Gibbs ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1973)​
Children	3
Relatives	Susie Garrett (sister)

Gibbs also starred in the show's spin-off Checking In (1981) and the NBC sitcom, 227 (1985–1990); Gibbs co-produced the latter series, played the lead role of Mary Jenkins, and sang the theme song.[2] Gibbs has won seven NAACP Image Awards.[3] In later years, Gibbs played supporting roles in films The Meteor Man (1993), Lost & Found (1999), The Visit (2000), The Brothers (2001), Madea's Witness Protection (2012), Grantham & Rose (2015), and Lemon (2017) and the Shondaland produced TV shows Station 19 (2018) and Grey's Anatomy (2022). In August 2021, Gibbs began a run as Olivia Price on the NBC daytime drama, Days of Our Lives.

Biography

Early life and education

Marla Gibbs was born Margaret Theresa Bradley in Chicago, Illinois at Cook County Hospital. The middle of three sisters, Gibbs was raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the city's south side. Her father, Douglas Bradley, a native of Waterproof, Louisiana (d. 1947) was a self-taught mechanic who owned an ice company. Her mother, Ophelia Birdie (née Kemp; d. 1967) was a businesswoman who occasionally ran numbers in the gambling trade.[4] In 1936, Gibbs's parents divorced, with her mother remarrying Charles Cady and relocating to Detroit, Michigan. Gibbs and her siblings remained in Chicago with their father and grandmother Hattie Sims.[5] Gibbs attended Corpus Christi Elementary School; graduating in 1945.[5]

After graduating elementary school, Gibbs attended St. Elizabeth High School; where she completed her freshmen year and 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 step-father in Detroit, Michigan where she attended Northern High School for a semester during her junior year.[5] After months in Detroit, Gibbs returned to Chicago, re-enrolling at Phillips where she graduated in June 1949.[6][7] Several years later, Gibbs returned to Detroit, Michigan, where she attended Peters Business School.

Career

In 1963, Gibbs relocated to Los Angeles to recuperate from an ulcer, and began working as a reservations agent for United Airlines.[8] 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 as Florence Johnston, the family's maid, in the CBS comedy series The Jeffersons. For the first two years of her acting job with CBS, Gibbs continued working at her job as a United Airlines reservations agent.[8][9] She would work at the CBS television studio during the day and then go to United Airlines, where she worked the night shift.[8] When the series became an established success, CBS requested that she take a leave of absence from her job at United Airlines.[9]

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 the short-lived spin-off of The Jeffersons, titled Checking In.[3] 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."[9]

In 1985, when The Jeffersons was cancelled after 11 seasons, Gibbs was the lead actress in the 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 L.A. He served as artistic director. The series aired until 1990, producing 116 episodes. Two decades later, Gibbs teamed again with former 227 co-star 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, Martin, Touched by an Angel (with Della Reese), Judging Amy, ER, and Southland.[10] 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,[11] and in 2014 she starred in the independent film, Grantham & Rose.[12][13]

In 2015, Gibbs made two appearances in the Shonda Rhimes' drama series, Scandal.[14] She later guest starred on Hot in Cleveland, American Horror Story: Hotel and This Is Us. In 2018, she was cast in a recurring role on the ABC drama series Station 19.[15] Gibbs also has 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.[16] In film, she co-starred in Lemon and Please Stand By.

In 2019, 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.[17]

In 2021, Gibbs began appearing as Olivia Price in a recurring role on Days of Our Lives. That same year, for her contributions to the television industry, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[18]

Other ventures

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.^{[citation needed]} In 1990, she moved her Crossroads Arts Academy and Theatre into the former Leimert Theatre in Los Angeles.[19] Plans included the construction of a second stage, but the project ended in debt in June 1997.[19][20]

Personal life

Gibbs has been married once and had three children. Gibbs was married to her high school sweetheart Jordan Gibbs from 1955 to 1973; the couple had three children:[3] Angela, Dorian and Joseph. Her older sister is the late actress Susie Garrett, who played Cherie's grandmother Betty Johnson on the NBC series Punky Brewster. Her daughter Angela, also an actress, appeared on the TV show Sanford and Son and films 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 Maya Angelou, who died on May 28, and Ruby Dee, who died on June 11.[21] 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, California.[22] Gibbs co-starred opposite Cole in the television film Lily in Winter.[23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	Sweet Jesus, Preacherman	Beverly Solomon
1974	Black Belt Jones	Betty	Uncredited
1977	Passing Through	Secretary
1991	Up Against the Wall	Louise Bradley
1991	Last Breeze of Summer	Mary	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	Mrs. Underwood
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?	Nadine
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
2016	Second Sight	Nana
2017	Lemon	Lilly
2017	The Last Revolutionary	Millie
2017	You Can't Fight Christmas	Beverly Lawrence
2018	Please Stand By	Rose
2018	Love Jacked	Rose
2018	HeadShop	Mrs. Keys
2019	El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie	Jean
2021	Alone Together	Anna
2022	Spirit Halloween: The Movie	Grandma G

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
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
1975	Barney Miller	Mrs. McBee	Episode: "Vigilante"
1975	The Missing Are Deadly	Nurse	Television film
1976	Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers	Beth Euphrates	Miniseries
1979	You Can't Take It with You	Rheba	Television film
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
1985–1990	227	Mary Jenkins	Series regular, 115 episodes
1990	Menu for Murder	Marty Hallard	Television film
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"
1994	Lily in Winter	Maize Covington	Television film
1995	Dream On	Mrs. Perry	Episode: "Little Orphan Eddie"
1995	Burke's Law	Jessica Wallace	Episode: "Who Killed the Hollywood Headshrinker?"
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
1997–1999	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Old Mother Hubbard / Grandmother (voice)	2 episodes
1998–2002	The Hughleys	Hattie Mae Hughley	16 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"
2002	The Rerun Show	Dr. Beamish	Episode: "The Facts of Life: Shoplifting/The Jeffersons: A Bedtime Story"
2002	Arliss	Mrs. Jones	Episode: "Profiles in Agenting"
2004	Listen Up	Jackie Widmer	Episode: "Thanksgiving"
2004–2005	Passions	Aunt Irma	Recurring role Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
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"
2012–2013	The First Family	Grandma Eddy	11 episodes
2013	Mr. Box Office	Florence Johnston	Episode: "The Golden Apple"
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"
2016–2017	The Carmichael Show	Francis	2 episodes
2017	Jalen Vs. Everybody	Grammie	Pilot
2017	This Is Us	Theresa	Episode: "I Call Marriage"
2017	Teachers	Mrs. Potts	Episode: "Snap Judgement"
2017–2018	Black-ish	Mabel	2 episodes
2017	Trial & Error	Mrs. Kratt	2 episodes
2018	Beyond	Edna	Episode: "Six Feet Deep"
2018	The Thundermans	Sweet Gam Gam	Episode: "Cookie Mistake"
2018	Station 19	Edith	3 episodes
2018	Rel	Miss Jenkins	Episode: "Laundry Room"
2018	NCIS	Rosie Brown	Episode: "Beneath the Surface"
2019	The Neighborhood	Miss Simpson	Episode: "Welcome To The Yard Sale"
2019	Live in Front of a Studio Audience	Florence Johnston	Episode: “Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons”
2019	A Black Lady Sketch Show	Mary Jenkins	Episode: "3rd & Bonaparte Is Always in the Shade"
2019	One Fine Christmas	Alice	Television film
2019	Bless This Mess	Belle	Episode: "Goose Glazing Time"
2020	One Day at a Time	Mrs. Jones	Episode: "One Halloween at a Time"[24]
2020	The Last O.G.	Mama Jarvis	Episode: "Ballin"
2021	Young Sheldon	Doris	Episode: "The Geezer Bus and a New Model for Education" (Season 4, Episode 13)
2021–present	Days of Our Lives	Olivia Price
2022	Grey's Anatomy		Episode: "S19E1Everything Has Changed"

References

External links

• Marla Gibbs at IMDb
• Marla Gibbs at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Marla Gibbs at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• Image of Tom Bradley and Marla Gibbs passing his Crenshaw campaign headquarters during a parade in Los Angeles, California, 1989. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

На других языках

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[de] Marla Gibbs

Marla Gibbs (* 14. Juni 1931 in Chicago, Illinois) ist eine US-amerikanische Schauspielerin, Sängerin und Fernsehproduzentin.

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- [en] Marla Gibbs

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[es] Marla Gibbs

Marla Gibbs (nacida Margaret Theresa Bradley; 14 de junio de 1931) es una actriz, cómica, cantante, escritora y productora de televisión estadounidense, cuya carrera abarca cinco décadas. Gibbs es conocida como la sirvienta de  George Jefferson, Florence Johnston, en la sitcom de la CBS, Los Jefferson (1975–85), por el cual recibió cinco nominaciones para los premios Primetime Emmy a la mejor actriz de reparto - Serie de comedia. También protagonizó el spin-off de la serie,Checking In (1981) y el sitcom de la NBC, 227 (1985–90); Gibbs co-produjo esta última serie, interpretó el papel principal de Mary Jenkins, y cantó el tema de la serie.[1] Gibbs ha ganado un total de siete premios NAACP Image. En los últimos años, Gibbs ha interpretado papeles secundarios en las películasThe Meteor Man (1993), Lost & Found (1999), The Visit (2000), The Brothers (2001), Madea's Witness Protection (2012), Grantham & Rose (2015), y Lemon (2017).

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[ru] Марла Гиббс

Марла Гиббс (англ. Marla Gibbs, наст. имя Маргарет Тереза Брэдли (англ. Margaret Theresa Bradley), род. 14 июня 1931 (1931-06-14)) — американская актриса, певица, сценарист и телевизионный продюсер, пятикратный номинант на премию «Эмми». Гиббс известна благодаря ролям в длительных афро-ситкомах «Джефферсоны» (1975—1985) и «227» (1985—1990).

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