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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.

Although beloved actor, Sherman Hemsley, played the loud and outspoken “George Jefferson” on the The Jeffersons, in real life he was a very shy brotha, who preferred to keep his personal life ultra private. Unfortunately, after he passed away on July 24, 2012 at age 74, that privacy was invaded when the intense drama among his loved ones came to a head. In fact, the battling caused Sherman’s body to lay embalmed in a refrigerator at an El Paso, TX funeral home for over THREE months before he was finally laid to rest.

The reasons for that has everything to do with a dispute over his will, a fight for his estate, a surprise brother, gay rumors, and friends. Yeah, it was a really jacked up situation, but one man who was reportedly close to Sherman, spoke out to clear up the drama.

Hemsley’s Will Dispute
Six weeks prior to his passing Sherman had written the will for his estate, which was valued at $50,000.00. Soon after he died, a friend named Flora Enchinton was listed as the sole beneficiary. In his will, Sherman- who was never married and had no kids- referred to Flora as his “beloved partner.”

Flora stated that she was not only Sherman’s manager, but that she lived with him for over a decade and that they were close friends for 20 years.

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Hemsley’s ‘Brother’ Reportedly Surfaced
After the will was filed a man, named Richard Thornton, came outta the woodwork, claiming to be Hemsley’s brother and contested the will. That is what ultimately stalled Sherman Hemsley’s burial and memorial service for three months.

Sherman’s friend, Flora Enchinton , then publicly contested Thornton’s validity:

Via ABC 7 News El Paso- “It is disgraceful,” Flora Enchinton said. “It is sad. This was a man with dignity.”I have never heard of anyone with the name of Richard Thornton in the 20 years I have known Sherman. … This is not what Sherman would have wanted. … Sherman left very worried about me, about me staying alone, what was going to happen me being alone if he was gone. That’s what worried him the most. I guess maybe he sensed what was going to happen. It just gives me these emotions and feelings (that) all of a sudden there’s these people that have never known anything about our life, about who we are, about what we’re all about, about what we endured,” Enchinton said about the validity of her role in Hemsley’s life being questioned.

Then Came Conflicting Reports About A ‘Gay Lover’

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Rumors soon surfaced, that Sherman Hemsley was gay and that Flora was acting as his ‘beard’ to cover up Sherman’s ‘secret gay relationship’ with their longtime friend, Ken Johnston. There was never any validity to those rumors, but yet they still ran rampant as the fight over Sherman’s will continued. However, Ken’s son apparently shut those rumors all the way down…

Son Of Sherman’s Friend ‘Set Record Straight’ About Flora & Father
Shortly after Sherman Hemsley was finally buried in November 2012, Ken Johnston’s son, Steven Johnston, reportedly spoke out to Diary of A Street King to ‘set the record straight’ about his father’s relationship to Sherman and Flora.  Steven claimed that Flora was really his father, Ken’s, girlfriend. According to Steven, Flora was a ‘gold-digger’ who took advantage of Sherman to ultimately be granted his estate.

Steven Johnston also claimed that Ken was Sherman’s real manager, not Flora:

“The media also erroneously reported that Flora knew Sherman for 20 years, when she didn’t get to really know him until the move in ’99 to El Paso. She became his ‘manager representative’ in helping out my father when he was sidelined by a stroke in 2003, but my father was still the manager. My father told me that they were always talking about getting back to Los Angeles and it was getting close to becoming a reality until my fathers stroke,” wrote Steven Johnston.

In November, Flora was granted Sherman Hemsley’s estate and the legal fight was over.

This drama is probably not what Sherman envisioned the end of his life would have been shrouded in. But thankfully, the man who brought so much joy to the world was finally able to rest peacefully after being buried in a military service in El Paso, TX on November 9, 2012.

The post After His Death, ‘Jeffersons’ Sherman Hemsley’s Reported Family Drama Was Heartbreaking appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Actress, Isabel Sanford a.k.a. “Weezy” from “The Jeffersons” had a side hustle that she started after becoming a big time TV superstar on and let’s just say, she was determined to keep her “piece of the Pi-i-ie” (I couldn’t resist singing that one). Scroll down to peep “Weezy’s” business savvy…

Isabelle Sanford’s Side Hustle Was Highly Inspired By “The Jeffersons”

After The Jeffersons became a huge success, Isabel Sanford moved on up to her very own $200,000.00 Los Angeles condo “in the sky.” Then she capitalized off of her TV fame, by opening up the exact same type of business that earned “Weezy” and “George Jefferson” that high rise Manhattan, N.Y. condo and plush lifestyle on the show. Isabel Sanford owned a dry-cleaning business. And get this – the name of it was “Weezy’s!” Smart move, right? Isabel’s marketing skills and business sense were on point.

Her Family Owned Operation

Her son, Sanford K. Sanford, ran “Weezy’s Dry Cleaning,” while his mother sat back, invested and collected those checks. Word on the Old School curb is that business was booming for Sanford and her family back then…Cha-ching!

More Facts Many Didn’t Know About Isabel Sanford:

1. She had a rough marriage- her husband, William Edward “Sonny” Richmond, at a young age and they had a really rocky relationship and separated soon after their three children were born. Here’s what was reported in an interview she did with People:

Marriage to a house painter shortly after high school graduation resulted in three children in quick succession, Pamela, Eric and Sanford—”I felt like an assembly line”—and a separation after only a few years. “The children didn’t miss him much, and I just let it go at that,” she shrugs. “He was weak and I was an ambitious young woman.” She proved it by acting at night in church groups while working as a $49-a-week keypunch operator at a welfare office.

After leaving her husband in New York and moving to Cali with her three kids, her husband William Edward “Sonny” Richmond, passed away after he was involved in an altercation with someone.

2. She’s the only one of her siblings to survive–  Isabel Sanford was the only one of her parents’- James Edward and Josephine Sanford- 7 children to actually survive past infancy. She was the last born and her other siblings reportedly were not healthy enough to make it. So sad.

3. Isabel’s mother did not want her to become an actress- Her mother was extremely religious and made her daughter go to church every Sunday and sometimes on weeknights. When Isabel was a teen, she told her Mom that she wanted to become an actress. However, her Mother was not having that, and forbade her to follow her dream because she believed that a career in entertainment was “the road to degradation,” according to “The Jeffersons” star. Isabel still followed her own mind, pursued her dream and got her start performing in local clubs…even working her way up to the Apollo Theater.

Disobeying Her Parent Paid Off

Usually parents know what’s best for their child, but we’re glad Isabel Sanford actually disobeyed her Mom’s rules that one time, or else we would’ve never known the loving Mother TV figure that we came to love as “Weezy.” We also would have never gotten to hear her yell in her signature raspy voice, “George!”

Isabel Sanford passed away on July 9, 2004 at the age of 87, after falling ill from a neck surgery she had a week prior. In the end, her life came full circle and it was well fulfilled. Job well done Ms. Sanford, continue to rest well.

The post “The Jeffersons” Actress Had A Clever Real-Life Side Hustle That Many Applauded Her For appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

We all love Mike Evans and the diversity he added to prime time TV back in the day. We came to know him as the character, “Lionel,” from “The Jeffersons” and it was he and his friend, Eric Monte’s, creative genius that gave us their sitcom creation, “Good Times.” But while we were getting to know Mike Evans, the actor, his daughter, Carlena Harris, was apparently getting to know him as her dad, whom she says neglected her all of her life. Carlena explains what they went through in an interview she did with The Charay Vaughn Show. The pain she expressed is just another reminder that it’s never too late to right our wrongs.

Evans’ Daughter On His Rejection Of Her

Carlena Harris: My mother and my grandmother raised me 100%. My father he was just…he was alive, but he definitely wasn’t involved and at times he would even say he didn’t know who my father was, so…he wasn’t even always claiming me, but at times he would, you know. But was he a good father? No, never was a good father…and so at [age] 13 we actually concluded this foolishness and took a blood test and [the results] came out 99.9% [that he was my father]. At that point, he couldn’t say I wasn’t his anymore. But after that, he [still] just chose for whatever reason, to continue being separate and I just had to live with the fact that I didn’t have an…earthly father who wanted me, but the thing with that is it certainly caused me to be closer to my heavenly father and got me to a point where I was content. I guess…I could have a human father, but a human father can only do but so much, but when the God of the universe is your daddy, it certainly makes a difference and I’m walking in that now.

On what it was like for her when her dad, Mike Evans, passed away…

CH: He died in December of ’06 and it’s interesting because he actually died of throat cancer. He was a smoker [and he died] without a tongue in his mouth, broke and very miserable. And so uh, it was actually quite a sad and tragic death and he ultimately died in his mother’s house.

Carlena on whether or not she and her father, Mike Evans, ever established any type of relationship prior to him passing away from cancer:

CH: No, not at all. The last time that I talked to him literally I was 21 years old and at that time is when…his last couple words in that conversation to me was that he didn’t know if he was even my father and I said ‘uh I have blood tests that say you are my father’ and he said “Well I don’t know, maybe you should consider my brother.” I said ‘WHAT?!! Who’s your brother? Nobody even knows who your brother is.’ This is clearly some stuff that took place with him and my Momma that I know nothing about…um, I’m clearly innocent and at that time I’m just like ‘I just don’t understand, I just don’t.’

So I mean it was a long story, he ended up calling me back because that was like pretty tragic and I was just like ‘Who’s my father?’ I’m calling my Momma, I’m calling my Grandmomma like ‘What’s going on?’ And they both told me “You know who your dad is, he knows who he is too, whatever.” I even put [out] an ad that was in the National Enquirer, Wendy Williams did something [on my story] and it was just, it was a mess. [But after] that point I decided ‘You know what? I’m not going to the media’…and eventually I decided I just had to suck it up, ‘this man doesn’t want me,’ you know? It was pathetic but I had to come to the conclusion that I can’t make a person acknowledge, accept, or want me. It just so happened that a couple years after that, he died and the rest is history.

How She Forgave Him

Carlena said things eventually started to change for her, after she said ‘God told her’ to go to L.A., where her sister, Tammy (who’s also Mike Evan’s daughter), was living in their Grandmother’s home. That was the same home that their Dad, died in. Carlena ended up having to sleep in the same room her dad died in and says she ‘felt his spirit’ talk to her, asking her to save his his home, which was about to be foreclosed.

She said that’s when she realized that in death, her father not only needed her, but also finally accepted her, which she says then allowed her to fully forgive him.

The post Daughter Of “Lionel” (From “The Jeffersons”) Revealed Her Painful Experiences With Him appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Remember “Jenny” from “The Jeffersons?” Although on TV she was married to “Lionel,” but REAL LIFE actress, Berlinda Tolbert, shocked many when she married her husband/former CBS journalist, Bob Reid, at lightening speed…probably before they even knew each other’s favorite color, but their love is real. Wait ’til you hear this…

Berlinda Tolbert and Bob got married after dating for only 11 DAYS! Nope, that is NOT a typo. They met in Atlanta in 1979, fell in love within a few days, and married a few days later in Rhode Island, NY, during Valentine’s Day weekend. The first seven years of their marriage was long distance- Berlinda lived in L.A. and Bob couldn’t leave his job in N.Y. So they often commuted.

BERLINDA & BOB NOW…

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Now…can we just take a minute to take this in?!! As y’all can see in the photo above…at 73 years young Berlinda is out here still putting a lotta these youngins to shame, making her 73 years look more like 53!

They’re pretty private. So, the above photo on the left is one of the most recent ones we’ve seen of Berlinda and Bob, it was taken a few years ago, but good enough. Their pic on the right was snapped around 1985.

Bob once spoke to told Ebony Magazine about how their once bicoastal marriage: “We had not had a chance to get to know each other well at all.” Neither of them were okay with that, so Bob changed to a CBS job that didn’t require him to travel. Jumping the broom in just 11 days may seem strange, but Berlinda and Bob have proved their naysayers wrong because word on the Old School curb is that they’re STILL together! Wow, and who said love at first sight wasn’t possible? Rare as hell, but still possible.

5 MORE POPULAR CELEBS WHO GOT MARRIED AT LIGHTING SPEED…

Muhammad Ali & 1st Wife, Sonji Roi

Dated for one month. Divorced in 2 years.

Michael Jackson & Lisa Marie Presley

Married after dating for four months. They’re marriage lasted two years.

Monica & NBA Player, Shannon Brown

Engaged after 6 months of dating. Married in 2010; divorced in October 2019.

Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon

Dated for one month. Married in 2008; divorced in 2016.

The post ‘Jeffersons’ Actress Still Gorgeous, But Some Called Her Crazy For Marrying Husband So Fast appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Turns out, he has some very interesting and deep reasons for this. Check out an interview Damon did with interviewer, Keith Boykin, below…

Damon Evans on how The Jefferson’s sitcom negatively affected his life…

Damon Evans: If I had to make that particular choice over again, that is accepting or not accepting the role of ‘Lionel’ and replacing actor Michael Evans, I definitely would have refused the role.

… The question asked of me will always be “Which ‘Lionel’ are you, the first or the second?” In retrospect, I think it was actually an impossible task to undertake because most people don’t seem to remember that Michael Evans was the first ‘Jefferson’ to appear on All in the Family. Both Weezy and George were cast later. Also, Sherman Hemsley was not the original George Jefferson.

Damon is referring to this fun fact about the show’s beginning cast: From the character’s first appearance on All in the Family, producer, Norman Lear, had pegged Sherman Hemsley to play “George Jefferson.” But when All in the Family became a hit, Hemsley was tied up on Broadway as the co-star of Purlie, and was understandably reluctant to break his contract. Lear improvised and hired Mel Stewart as a sort of “placeholder.” In the sitcom’s storyline, Stewart posed as “George Jefferson” when he joined “George’s” wife, “Louise” (played by Isabel Sanford), for dinner at the ‘Bunker’ home. It was later revealed that he was actually “Henry Jefferson,” “George’s” brother. 

Damon revealed that his sexual preference became an issue for him on The Jeffersons as well.

KB: Wow. I’m learning a lot today. It sounds like you didn’t enjoy doing the show. Did you?

Damon Evans: Not really. No! I uprooted myself from a role as a classical music student and was thrust in the public’s eye overnight. Talk about stress and adjustment issues. However, that said, the first year on the show was quite a heady experience. There I was a total unknown one day, and the next appearing on network television in one of the top 10 TV shows on the air. I had not even seen one episode of the show before I took over the part, and the producers discouraged me from ever watching any of the episodes in which Mike had appeared. There was such a marked difference in our interpretations of the role.

Losing my anonymity at such a young age was devastating to me. Besides, I was just becoming aware that I was a gay man and the conflict of the expectations of Hollywood and the role of ‘Lionel’ placed me in enormous emotional, psychological, and spiritual conflict with myself. My family, on the other hand, couldn’t have been happier. There I was ‘Lionel’ which was to them the epitome of what they wanted me to be, but ‘Lionel’ was just a role I played as an actor. To this very day, I don’t think they have a clue as to who I really am, and that’s there loss.

KB: You mean they don’t know you’re gay? 

Damon: No, they do know I’m gay but they won’t accept it.

Damon Evans on never meeting the 1st “Lionel.”

Evans also stated that he never had a chance to meet the first Lionel, played by Mike Evans, who was also the co-creator of the “Good Times” sitcom:

Damon Evans: I was the second ‘Lionel’ and I never met Mike, although I did meet his mother one Sunday in church during the first year I was doing the show. That is the closest I ever got to meeting and/or knowing Mike Evans, his mother. I always tell people that I am the one without the ‘fro and the one who married Jenny on TV. Sometimes, that is still not enough for some people to differentiate us apart.

On what advice he would tell others who want to follow in his footsteps and pursue an acting career.

Damon Evans: Don’t forsake their values to their ultimate goal. Because once you get there you’ll find out that there is no there there. And most of all, you don’t have yourself when you get there. Don’t forsake values. … I heard Gladys Knight say this, that we all get lost in the maze of materialism, but there’s a greater force if you believe in it, that brings us back home. Let’s just say this, I’ve taken detours but I always come back home.

Wow! I guess you can say that we all learn something new everyday, don’t we? Damon sure had all of us fooled. We wish that brotha the best though. Maestro cue the outro music! *Singing* “Well we’re moving on up! To the east si-i-ide!…”

[Source]

The post “Lionel” Confessed He Hated Being On “The Jeffersons” But He Sure Had Us Fooled appeared first on I Love Old School Music.