I Owe Everything TO GOD

THE JEFFERSONS AND 227 ACTRESS IS GOING STRONG AT 92 YEARS YOUNG

- Lindsay Hoffman

Marla Gibbs was working part-time as a United Airlines reservations agent when she auditioned for the role of housekeeper Florence Johnston on The Jeffersons. “I’d been with [United] for 10 years and had an unlimited pass and my choice of shift,” she recalled. “I knew a bird in the hand was better than 20 in the bush — what if this TV show didn’t last?”

Of course, The Jeffersons would run for 11 seasons, becoming one of TV’s longest-running sitcoms and allowing Marla to quit her day job. “I owe everything to God,” Marla, 92, told Closer at the Children Uniting Nations 24th Annual Academy Awards Celebration & Viewing Dinner. “I make one step, he makes two. I don’t forget to make my steps so he can make his two.”