One thing we’ve been able to confirm in the years since we’ve been reporting on the lives and legacies of our favorite Old School entertainers, is that great success does not come with out great pain and failures. When it comes to the life of legendary actress, Marla Gibbs, that theory holds truer than ever before. The 90-year-old actress brought us plenty of laughs as “Florence” every time she took jabs at “George Jefferson” on “The Jeffersons,” but we never knew her road to get their was far from funny.
ABANDONED BY MOM & AFRAID OF BECOMING HER
Marla Gibbs did an interview with Huffington Post and she revealed what her childhood was like. It turns out she dealt with a lot of abandonment issues after her mother walked out on herself and her dad when Marla was just four years old:
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!
