Marla Gibbs is celebrating her 91st birthday today.
She was born Margaret Theresa Bradley on June 14, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois at Cook County Hospital. She is the middle of three sisters and was raised in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s south side. Her father, Douglas Bradley, a native of Waterproof, Louisiana was a self-taught mechanic who owned an ice company. He died in 1947. Her mother, Ophelia Birdie on the other hand was a businesswoman who occasionally ran numbers in the gambling trade and died in 1967.
In 1936, Gibbs’s parents divorced, with her mother remarrying Charles Cady and relocating to Detroit, Michigan. Gibbs and her siblings remained in Chicago with their father and grandmother Hattie Sims. Gibbs attended Corpus Christi Elementary School; graduating in 1945. After graduating elementary school, Gibbs attended St. Elizabeth High School; where she completed her freshmen year and first semester of her sophomore year. During the middle of her sophomore year, Gibbs transferred to Wendell Phillips Academy High School. She also attended Northern High School for a semester during her junior year. After months in Detroit, Gibbs returned to Chicago, re-enrolling at Phillips where she graduated in June 1949. Several years later, Gibbs returned to Detroit, Michigan, where she attended Peters Business School.
She is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer and television producer, whose career spans five decades. Gibbs is known for her role as George Jefferson’s maid, Florence Johnston, in the CBS sitcom, The Jeffersons (1975–1985), for which she received five nominations for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She is also known for her role in 227 and more. In August of 2021, Gibbs started playing the role of Olivia Price, mother to Jackee Harry’s Paulina Price on Days of Our Lives.
Please help us wish her a happy birthday.
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