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Chicago native Marla Gibbs was living in Detroit and working for United Airlines when the company transferred her to Los Angeles.
Miss Gibbs performed in Los Angeles Theatre via PASLA (Performing Arts Society of Los Angeles), and studied with her daughter, Angela, at the Mafundi Institute and Watts Writers Workshop.
After playing small roles in TV movies and on Barney Miller, Miss Gibbs was cast as Florence on The Jeffersons.
Florence was originally supposed to be a bit part, but Miss Gibbs’ sassy performance made her a regular. She was given her own spin-off, Checking In, which didn't last long because of a writers strike and because the show lacked the magic chemistry between her and Sherman Hemsley. After returning to The Jeffersons, she appeared in a play called 227, produced by daughter Angela. The play’s success led to her buying the TV rights and creating a series, which lasted five years. She also contributed as a writer and the vocalist of the show’s theme song.
She has made regular TV appearances as Hughley's mother on The Hughleys and as Aunt Irma on the daytime drama Passions. She was also on The Surreal Life and Living in TV Land, and helped lampoon a famous The Jeffersons episode on 2002’s The Rerun Show.
Miss Gibbs participated in Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues in New York City and stays active in Los Angeles theatre running workshops and hosting productions at her Crossroads Theater in the Crenshaw district in South Los Angeles.
A winner and multiple nominee of the NAACP Image Award, Miss Gibbs was also Emmy-nominated five times for portraying Florence Johnston. She is an avid singer, and owns Marla’s Memory Lane and Jazz Supper Club in Los Angeles.
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