Marla Gibbs

In her two-and-a-half hour Archive interview, Marla Gibbs talks about getting her start as an actress in Los Angeles after working many jobs and raising a family in the Midwest. She speaks in great detail about the role and the series with which she is most identified, "Florence Johnston" on The Jeffersons. She recalls how she retained her job at United Airlines while appearing on the series until she was comfortable that her work on the series would be steady. She describes the premise of the show, talks about the series ensemble, and outlines the series work-week, which started with a read-through on Wednesday and a taping the following Tuesday. Gibbs comments on the brief spin-off series Checking-In and her return to The Jeffersons. She then recounts how she landed her next series, 227, which was developed from a play in which she starred. She talks about the casting of the series, the production, and her role as uncredited producer. She describes her work outside of television as the owner of several performance spaces in Los Angeles. She then talks about her later work on television, including on The Hughleys, ER, and Passions. Throughout the interview she stresses the importance of keeping active and healthy and staying mentally young. Gary Rutkowski conducted the interview on July 27, 2006 in Los Angeles, CA.