Marla Gibbs (June 14 1931) is a five-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee, and NAACP Image Award winning African-American television actress, mostly starring, in movies, and sitcoms.
She is best known for her role as Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley's sarcastic maid, Florence Johnston on The Jeffersons (and its short-lived spinoff, Checking In), as well as the starring role of Mary Jenkins on the television series 227. She has also appeared as guest stars in several African American sitcoms, including, The Hughleys, Martin, Chappelle's Show, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Marla Gibbs also had done voice-over work for The Animated TV series, 101 Dalmatians.
Marla has also appeared in a couple of NBC promos, and appeared with other famous celebrities on NBC's 60th Anniversary Celebration, the three-hour event was broadcast on May 12, 1986.
Gibbs owned a jazz club in South Central L.A. called Marla's Memory Lane Jazz and Supper Club from 1981 to 1999. She released a music CD "It's Never Too Late" in May 2006. Marla Gibbs also co-wrote 227's theme song with television songwriter Ray Colcord.
In recent years, Gibbs had a recurring role on the NBC daytime drama Passions as "Aunt Irma".
Her sister was the late actress Susie Garrett.
She used to work for United Airlines, and she continued working there even after she landed a part on "Jeffersons, The" (1975). She did not quit until the show became a hit.
Since leaving TV in 1990, Marla has been operating the Vision Theater Complex (which closed in 1997) and Marla's Memory Lane jazz supper club, both in Los Angeles.
Sister of Susie Garrett.
Left-handed.
Graduate of Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago.
High school classmate of Sam Cooke.
Married at age 13, she had three children by the time she was 20.
Honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
Is one of the very few actors to play the same regular character on two different series simultaneously. In April 1981, she played Florence Johnston on both "Jeffersons, The" (1975) and "Checking In" (1981). Richard Anderson (I), David Hasselhoff and Fred Dalton Thompson are among the other actors to have done this.
