We all know Marla Gibbs as the amazing actor that she is. She always had us crackin’ up off her slick verbal jabs she used to take at “George Jefferson” as her role as “Florence” on The Jeffersons. In fact, if you’re a true lover of Old School sitcoms, you’re probably still laughing at Marla on the show’s reruns.

Now here’s something that many didn’t know, Marla Gibbs actually has a daughter and a sister who are both actresses that we’re familiar with. They’re mainstream fame wasn’t as long lasting as Gibbs,’ but they still made their mark in the acting world. Check them out below.

Does Marla Gibbs’s Sister Look Familiar? Yep…

We’ll start with Gibb’s big sis.’ Her name is Susie Garrett and if she looks familiar to you it’s because she’s had several guest roles on her sister’s show, The Jeffersons, 227, and also The Twilight Zone, and the ’60s sitcom, My Three Sons. Her most popular role was as one of the stars of the ’80s sitcom, Punky Brewster, where she played an RN (registered nurse) and grandmother to “Punky’s” friend on the show.

Old School fun fact about the “Punky Brewster” sitcom: Actress Cherie Johnson — who played Susie Garrett’s character’s granddaughter on the show and also “Punky Brewster’s” best friend — is actually the real life niece of the show’s creator. Who would’ve thought that show was actually created by an African American? Interesting.

Meet Marla Gibbs’s Daughter

Her daughter is Angela Gibbs. She’s been acting for decades and is also a director, producer, writer, and acting coach. Her acting credits include films, Love Jacked, Straight Outta Compton; as well as television shows, “Shameless,” “Insecure,” “End of the World: As We Know It,” “On My Block,” “American Crimes: The People vs OJ Simpson,”  and she was a regular on Adult Swim’s “Black Jesus.”

Angela is very well known for her work behind the scenes in entertainment as well. She has won two NAACP Image Awards for her theatrical productions which include the Broadway play, “Checkmates,” starring Denzel Washington, Ruby Dee, and Paul Winfield; and “The Meeting,” starring Dick Anthony Williams, Taurean Blacque and others.

For nine years Angela was also the senior writer for the Trumpet Awards. Angela has also taught at Spelman in the Drama Dept.

Here’s another Old School fun fact: The “227” sitcom was actually an adaptation of a stage play that Marla Gibbs and her daughter Angela produced. It was so good that it caught the attention of Norman Lear, producer of All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Good Times, and Maude, he teamed up with Marla to make the TV show concept a reality and the rest is history.

So as you can see, Marla Gibbs has a ton of talent running through her fam.’

And there you have it ILOSM family, like we always say: We learn something new everyday around these parts.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, Old School news with a new point of view

The post Marla Gibbs’ Sister, Daughter Are Known Actresses, But Many Never Knew They Were Related appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Marla Gibbs, who is widely known for her role as “Florence” on The Jeffersons and as “Mary Jenkins” on 227, was all over our TV screens back in the day, but guess what? That didn’t stop her from keeping her REGULAR part-time day job that she had well before we ever knew her as the Marla Gibbs! Wait ’til you see what job she was working at EVERY night during some of her years on The Jeffersons…

MARLA GIBBS WAS SERIOUS ABOUT HER JOBS!

Ms. Gibbs was answering phones and booking flights for United Airlines EVERY day, while she was also starring on The Jeffersons, one of the most popular shows on prime time TV at that time. I kid you not!

She explained why in a Washington Post interview a few years ago…

What were you doing before you started acting?

I had been working for United Airlines for 11 years when I got “The Jeffersons” and I stayed with them an additional two years. I was doing both things. Because in my world, a bird in the hand is worth twenty in the bush, so I wasn’t ready to give up the airline yet. Besides I had unlimited passes.

How often were you working for the airline while you were filming the show?

Every day. I worked part-time for the airline then. So I talked United into letting me come in at 7 because we’d finish the show at about 5 and I would get out. United was in downtown Los Angeles then, so I could catch the freeway and come up right next to United and be in my seat saying “Good evening, this is Ms. Gibbs. United Airlines — Ms. Gibbs, can I help you?” I was on the phone — reservations. Sometimes some people would say they recognize my voice. I’d just say, “really?”

Could you imagine calling to book your flight and then “Florence” answers the phone?!! I’m sure there were probably some folks who drove to the airport trying to get a glimpse of the Jeffersons superstar after they figured out it was her on the other end of the line. How did she manage to get her co-workers to keep her secret quiet? With social media and camera phones, that would have NEVER happened in today!

The fact that Marla Gibbs kept her regular job for so long, makes you wonder if she was doing it simply because she loved it, or because those Jeffersons checks weren’t too healthy in the beginning of her stint on the show. Whatever the reason is, it sure does take a humble person to be able to do what she did…she clearly wasn’t on any “I’m a superstar” tip back then. So props to her…

MARLA GIBBS IS STILL DOING HER THNG AT 92!

It’s good to see that Marla Gibbs is still doing one job that we know for a fact she loves, and that’s acting on various TV shows and such, including The Jeffersons Reboot special, and the now-canceled hit shows, Scandal and The Carmichael Show.”

Gibbs is spreading her talents across other shows as well. At the time of her interview, she told the Washington Post “I just finished shooting Hot in Cleveland, which is another one of my favorite shows. And of course Betty White is everybody’s favorite,” when asked what else she had in the works.

It looks like this 92-year-old isn’t slowing down one bit! Go ‘head Ms. Gibbs!

The post Marla Gibbs Explained Why She Quietly Kept Very Regular Side Job While Starring On “Jeffersons” appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

We all know Marla Gibbs as the amazing actor that she is. She always had us crackin’ up off her slick verbal jabs she used to take at “George Jefferson” as her role as “Florence” on The Jeffersons. In fact, if you’re a true lover of Old School sitcoms, you’re probably still laughing at Marla on the show’s reruns.

Now here’s something that many didn’t know, Marla Gibbs actually has a daughter and a sister who are both actresses that we’re familiar with. They’re mainstream fame wasn’t as long lasting as Gibbs,’ but they still made their mark in the acting world. Check them out below.

Does Marla Gibbs’s Sister Look Familiar? Yep…

We’ll start with Gibb’s big sis.’ Her name is Susie Garrett and if she looks familiar to you it’s because she’s had several guest roles on her sister’s show, The Jeffersons, 227, and also The Twilight Zone, and the ’60s sitcom, My Three Sons. Her most popular role was as one of the stars of the ’80s sitcom, Punky Brewster, where she played an RN (registered nurse) and grandmother to “Punky’s” friend on the show.

Old School fun fact about the “Punky Brewster” sitcom: Actress Cherie Johnson — who played Susie Garrett’s character’s granddaughter on the show and also “Punky Brewster’s” best friend — is actually the real life niece of the show’s creator. Who would’ve thought that show was actually created by an African American? Interesting.

Meet Marla Gibbs’s Daughter

Her daughter is Angela Gibbs. She’s been acting for decades and is also a director, producer, writer, and acting coach. Her acting credits include films, Love Jacked, Straight Outta Compton; as well as television shows, “Shameless,” “Insecure,” “End of the World: As We Know It,” “On My Block,” “American Crimes: The People vs OJ Simpson,”  and she was a regular on Adult Swim’s “Black Jesus.”

Angela is very well known for her work behind the scenes in entertainment as well. She has won two NAACP Image Awards for her theatrical productions which include the Broadway play, “Checkmates,” starring Denzel Washington, Ruby Dee, and Paul Winfield; and “The Meeting,” starring Dick Anthony Williams, Taurean Blacque and others.

For nine years Angela was also the senior writer for the Trumpet Awards. Angela has also taught at Spelman in the Drama Dept.

Here’s another Old School fun fact: The “227” sitcom was actually an adaptation of a stage play that Marla Gibbs and her daughter Angela produced. It was so good that it caught the attention of Norman Lear producer of All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Good Times, and Maude, he teamed up with Marla to make the TV show concept a reality and the rest is history.

So as you can see, Marla Gibbs has a ton of talent running through her fam.’

And there you have it family, like we always say: We learn something new everyday around these parts.
-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, Old School news with a new point of view

The post Marla Gibbs’ Sister, Daughter Are Known Actresses…But Many Never Knew They Were Related appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

‘Round here, at I Love Old School Music, we love us some Marla Gibbs. Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, we loved her as “Florence Johnston,” on The Jeffersons and as “Mary Jenkins” on 227. The thing that she just revealed, is that she wasn’t shown as much love as she deserved on neither of those sitcoms back in the day.

In a prior interview with Reel Urban News, the beautiful 90-year-old actress discussed what it was like for her during her days as the lead character on 227. What we didn’t know, is just how much creative influence Gibbs had behind the scenes, which led to the show’s success. According to Gibbs, she pretty much helped to mold the episodes, but was never given official credit for doing so, nor subsequent pay for that particular job title either. Although she deserved to be properly credited/compensated for her creativity, she did however, get a few perks on the job.

“I never received credit as executive producer for ‘227,’ but I got all of the rights, courtesies and privileges which they didn’t think I would use. But I used every one of them. […] “It was very important to me that the show be exactly what I wanted it to be.”

Here’s Why We Have Gibbs To Thank For The Jeffersons

That was NOT Ms. Gibbs first time lending a hand in keeping a sitcom authentic, by chance, she’d done the exact same thing on The Jeffersons. Gibbs was green to the acting world at that time and wasn’t aware that at a table reading, the actors were to read their lines, then get up from the table, while the producers and writers remained to work on the script and such.

Marla Gibbs: “Oh my God! ‘The Jeffersons,’ we did 200 shows. It was great the whole cast was great. It was my first show. I didn’t always understand how things went, but I paid attention to what the writers were doing. The executive producers were Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West. Don was from England. I could see he was the head writer, so I would pay attention to what he was doing. He became my ally. It became very fun and gratifying for me working on that show.”

Marla said Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, and the rest of the cast would look at her like she was crazy for remaining at the table after the reading, but then something spectacular happened. Gibbs soon realized that the White writers and producers had zero clue about how African Americans talked. Therefore, she boldly and naively did something actors were not supposed to do – she interrupted their meeting and said, “Excuse me…Black people don’t talk that way…”

Her cast members were stunned, as they looked on silently, from a distance, to see what reaction Gibbs would get. Turns out, the writers quickly realized they needed help being ‘Black’ and decided to then allow all of the Jefferson cast to remain at the table to offer their input from then on. And boom, magic happened!

Marla Gibbs didn’t create 227, nor The Jeffersons. But as y’all can see, if it were not for her bold actions, neither of the shows would have been as authentically relatable as they still are today. Thank you Ms. Gibbs! Watch her full interview below.

The post Marla Gibbs Reveals How Her Secrets About “The Jeffersons” & “227” Shortchanged Her Pockets appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

ABANDONED BY MOM & AFRAID OF BECOMING HER

Via Huffington Post: Gibbs learned at an early age the value of hard work. Her father was a mechanic. Her mother was an entrepreneur who had several successful businesses. They divorced when she was 4, and her mother left the home to pursue her own dreams. That was painful for Gibbs, but she acknowledges her parents taught her the ability to adapt and change. She still recalls her mother saying, “If you hold your hand closed nothing can get out, but nothing can get in.”

ON HOW HER MOTHER’S ABANDONMENT LED TO HER OWN INSECURITIES ABOUT BECOMING A PARENT

Via HF: “I didn’t have my mother around. When you don’t have your mother, it becomes very difficult, and you don’t get the kind of nurturing you want,” [Marla Gibbs] says. “I never really believed I could be a good mother. You follow what you grew up with — even the parts you don’t like because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do. Babies don’t come with manuals. It’s guess work, but as they get older, you kind of gel into it.”

Does she think she was a good mother? “That’s what my kids say!”

Life isn’t always fair, but Ms. Gibbs is a perfect example of what it looks like to turn lemons into lemonade. And at 90 years young, she’s not slowing down one bit! She is still acting, and we can’t wait to see what TV shows and other projects she pops up next. Keep being an inspiration Ms. Gibbs, we see you!

The post Marla Gibbs Painfully Recalled What Her Mother Did To Her At Very Young Age appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Marla Gibbs, who is widely known for her role as “Florence” on The Jeffersons and as “Mary Jenkins” on 227, was all over our TV screens back in the day, but guess what? That didn’t stop her from keeping her REGULAR part-time day job that she had well before we ever knew her as the Marla Gibbs! Wait ’til you see what job she was working at EVERY night during some of her years on The Jeffersons…

MARLA GIBBS WAS SERIOUS ABOUT HER JOBS!

Ms. Gibbs was answering phones and booking flights for United Airlines EVERY day, while she was also starring on The Jeffersons, one of the most popular shows on prime time TV at that time. I kid you not!

She explained why in a Washington Post interview a few years ago…

What were you doing before you started acting?

I had been working for United Airlines for 11 years when I got “The Jeffersons” and I stayed with them an additional two years. I was doing both things. Because in my world, a bird in the hand is worth twenty in the bush, so I wasn’t ready to give up the airline yet. Besides I had unlimited passes.

How often were you working for the airline while you were filming the show?

Every day. I worked part-time for the airline then. So I talked United into letting me come in at 7 because we’d finish the show at about 5 and I would get out. United was in downtown Los Angeles then, so I could catch the freeway and come up right next to United and be in my seat saying “Good evening, this is Ms. Gibbs. United Airlines — Ms. Gibbs, can I help you?” I was on the phone — reservations. Sometimes some people would say they recognize my voice. I’d just say, “really?”

Could you imagine calling to book your flight and then “Florence” answers the phone?!! I’m sure there were probably some folks who drove to the airport trying to get a glimpse of the Jeffersons superstar after they figured out it was her on the other end of the line. How did she manage to get her co-workers to keep her secret quiet? With social media and camera phones, that would have NEVER happened in today!

The fact that Marla Gibbs kept her regular job for so long, makes you wonder if she was doing it simply because she loved it, or because those Jeffersons checks weren’t too healthy in the beginning of her stint on the show. Whatever the reason is, it sure does take a humble person to be able to do what she did…she clearly wasn’t on any “I’m a superstar” tip back then. So props to her…

MARLA GIBBS IS STILL DOING HER THNG AT 89!

It’s good to see that Marla Gibbs is still doing one job that we know for a fact she loves, and that’s acting on various TV shows and such, including the recently canceled hit shows, Scandal and The Carmichael Show.”

Gibbs is spreading her talents across other shows as well. At the time of her interview, she told the Washington Post “I just finished shooting Hot in Cleveland, which is another one of my favorite shows. And of course Betty White is everybody’s favorite,” when asked what else she had in the works.

It looks like this 90-year-old isn’t slowing down one bit! Go ‘head Ms. Gibbs!

ILOSM family reminisce with us to this hilarious Jeffersons clip…

https://youtu.be/pmxflexREKc

The post Marla Gibbs Revealed Why She Quietly Kept Very Regular Side Job While Starring On “Jeffersons” appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Here at I Love Old School Music, we love us some Marla Gibbs. Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, we loved her as “Florence Johnston,” on The Jeffersons and as “Mary Jenkins” on 227. The thing that she just revealed, is that she wasn’t shown as much love as she deserved on neither of those sitcoms back in the day.

In a prior interview with Reel Urban News, the beautiful 90-year-old actress discussed what it was like for her during her days as the lead character on 227. What we didn’t know, is just how much creative influence Gibbs had behind the scenes, which led to the show’s success. According to Gibbs, she pretty much helped to mold the episodes, but was never given official credit for doing so, nor subsequent pay for that particular job title either. Although she deserved to be properly credited/compensated for her creativity, she did however, get a few perks on the job.

“I never received credit as executive producer for ‘227,’ but I got all of the rights, courtesies and privileges which they didn’t think I would use. But I used every one of them. […] “It was very important to me that the show be exactly what I wanted it to be.”

Here’s Why We Have Gibbs To Thank For The Jeffersons

That was NOT Ms. Gibbs first time lending a hand in keeping a sitcom authentic, by chance, she’d done the exact same thing on The Jeffersons. Gibbs was green to the acting world at that time and wasn’t aware that at a table reading, the actors were to read their lines, then get up from the table, while the producers and writers remained to work on the script and such.

Marla Gibbs: “Oh my God! ‘The Jeffersons,’ we did 200 shows. It was great the whole cast was great. It was my first show. I didn’t always understand how things went, but I paid attention to what the writers were doing. The executive producers were Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West. Don was from England. I could see he was the head writer, so I would pay attention to what he was doing. He became my ally. It became very fun and gratifying for me working on that show.”

Marla said Sherman Hensley, Isabel Sanford, and the rest of the cast would look at her like she was crazy for remaining at the table after the reading, but then something spectacular happened. Gibbs soon realized that the White writers and producers had zero clue about how African Americans talked. Therefore, she boldly and naively did something actors were not supposed to do – she interrupted their meeting and said, “Excuse me…Black people don’t talk that way…”

Her cast members were stunned, as they looked on silently, from a distance, to see what reaction Gibbs would get. Turns out, the writers quickly realized they needed help being ‘Black’ and decided to then allow all of the Jefferson cast to remain at the table to offer their input from then on. And boom, magic happened!

Marla Gibbs didn’t create 227, nor The Jeffersons. But as y’all can see, if it were not for her bold actions, neither of the shows would have been as authentically relatable as they still are today. Thank you Ms. Gibbs! Watch her full interview below.

The post Marla Gibbs Reveals How Her Secrets About “Jeffersons” & “227” Shortchanged Her Pockets appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

We all know Marla Gibbs as the amazing actor that she is. She always had us crackin’ up off her slick verbal jabs she used to take at “George Jefferson” as her role as “Florence” on The Jeffersons. In fact, if you’re a true lover of Old School sitcoms, you’re probably still laughing at Marla on the show’s reruns.

Now here’s something that many didn’t know, Marla Gibbs actually has a daughter and a sister who are both actresses that we’re familiar with. They’re mainstream fame wasn’t as long lasting as Gibbs’, but they still made their mark in the acting world. Check them out below.

Does Marla Gibbs’s Sister Look Familiar? Yep…

We’ll start with Gibb’s big sis.’ Her name is Susie Garrett and if she looks familiar to you it’s because she’s had several guest roles on her sister’s show, The Jeffersons, 227, and also The Twilight Zone, and the 60’s sitcom, My Three Sons. Her most popular role was as one of the stars of the 80’s sitcom, Punky Brewster, where she played an RN (registered nurse) and grandmother to “Punky’s” friend on the show.

Old School fun fact about the “Punky Brewster” sitcom: Actress Cherie Johnson — who played Susie Garrett’s character’s granddaughter on the show and also “Punky Brewster’s” best friend — is actually the real life niece of the show’s creator. Who would’ve thought that show was actually created by an African American? Interesting.

Meet Marla Gibbs’s Daughter

Her daughter is Angela Gibbs. She’s been acting for decades and is also a director, producer, writer, and acting coach. Her acting credits include films, Love Jacked, Straight Outta Compton; as well as television shows, “Shameless,” “Insecure,” “End of the World: As We Know It,” “On My Block,” “American Crimes: The People vs OJ Simpson,”  and she was a regular on Adult Swim’s “Black Jesus.”

Angela is very well known for her work behind the scenes in entertainment as well. She has won two NAACP Image Awards for her theatrical productions which include the Broadway play, “Checkmates,” starring Denzel Washington, Ruby Dee, and Paul Winfield; and “The Meeting,” starring Dick Anthony Williams, Taurean Blacque and others.

For nine years Angela was also the senior writer for the Trumpet Awards. Angela has also taught at Spelman in the Drama Dept.

Here’s another Old School fun fact: The “227” sitcom was actually an adaptation of a stage play that Marla Gibbs and her daughter Angela produced. It was so good that it caught the attention of Norman Lear producer of All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Good Times, and Maude, he teamed up with Marla to make the TV show concept a reality and the rest is history.

So as you can see, Marla Gibbs has a whole bunch of talent running through her fam.’

And there you have it family, like we always say: We learn something new everyday around these parts.
-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, Old School news with a new point of view

The post Marla Gibbs’s Sister, Daughter Are Known Actresses…But Many Never Knew They Were Related appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Jamie Foxx took to Instagram on May 24 to express his gratitude after being selected to play the role of George Jefferson for the Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons broadcast.

Via Instagram, Jamie Foxx addressed his fans as he gave admiration to Marla Gibbs.

“As I write this caption, tears are welling up in my eyes,” Jamie writes, “thinking about when she walked into that apartment and delivered those iconic lines, it was reminiscent of how she walked into all of our lives over 40 years ago and changed us forever…with her quick wit and sharp tongue, she challenged George and us as a society every day.”

“She took a character of service and turned it into a character of strength and honor…she made us laugh…she made us cry… with confidence and ease… and she made us rush to that TV with the knobs on it and tune into her soul. And now to be in her presence, I am humbled… don’t know how GOD blessed me so much, but I’ll take it… @marlagibbs4real at 88 years young you still take our breath away…”

Jamie Remember Sherman Hemsley Giving Him Advice>>>

The post Jamie Foxx Gives Beautiful Tribute To Marla Gibbs After ‘Jeffersons’ Remake appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

At 87 years young The Jeffersons and 227 acting legend, Marla Gibbs, has proven that she still has the same go-getter spirit that she had when she was in her heyday. She’s still fulfilling her passion of acting and she always seems to find a spot on some of the hottest television shows of today’s era.

Well now, her grandbaby is fulfilling her own passion and Ms. Gibbs could not be more proud. Gibbs has just announced that her executive producer granddaughter, Sonya Winton-Odemtton, has inked a new deal with HBO and we’re about to witness some of that #BlackGirlMagic on our TV screens.

In an Instagram post, Marla Gibbs big upped her grandbaby with a photo of her and business partner, along with this message:

Marla Gibbs- “I’m so proud of my granddaughter Sonya and her writing partner Jay for their new deal with HBO, to create their own show!! Congrats 🎊🍾 #hbo #dreamscometrue #family”

Details of Gibb’s granddaughter’s deal:

Via Deadline– Jonathan I. Kidd and Sonya Winton-Odamtten, co-executive producers of HBO’s upcoming drama series Lovecraft Country, have signed a one-year overall deal with the premium cable network, their first overall agreement. Under the pact, the writing team will continue to work on Lovecraft Country, from Misha Green, Jordan Peele and J. J. Abrams, as well as develop new projects for the network.

Now Meet Gibbs’ Granddaughter, Her Actress Daughter & Her Famous Sister>>>

The post Beautiful: Actress Marla Gibbs Proudly Announces Her Granddaughter Lands New HBO Show appeared first on I Love Old School Music.