It's Never Too Late

The star of classic television series, including The Jeffersons and 227, reveals her difficult journey from a tempestuous childhood to becoming a confident Hollywood powerbroker and groundbreaker who paved the way for today’s superstar talents.

Marla Gibbs has been a Hollywood icon for generations of fans. Now, at ninety-three, she chronicles her climb from a difficult youth in which she yearned for safety and love, to the high-stakes world of Hollywood where she became a confident powerbroker learning to work behind the scenes for fair pay, access, and more creative control for herself and her colleagues.

Told in her forthright voice, It’s Never Too Late illuminates Gibbs’ daring move to Los Angeles to rebuild her life after an abusive marriage, how she became an actor, and how she eventually learned to balance acting with show running. She was a “Boss Bae” decades before the term would become entertainment industry shorthand for a power flex. While developing 227 her lawyer won her “all rights, courtesies and privileges of an executive producer without the credit.” Though the authority she wielded behind the scenes created deep tensions on and off the set, her hard-luck young life had prepared her to succeed even as her tenacity was put to the test. Her experiences laid the groundwork for powerbrokers like Shonda Rhimes and Issa Rae.

An inspiring personal portrait of triumph and Hollywood that reminds us we can leave the past behind, It’s Never Too Late is the true tale of a remarkable life and a wise guidebook for aspiring artists, entrepreneurs, and entertainment fans.

Author Biography

Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, five-time Emmy-nominated actress Marla Gibbs wears many hats: mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and icon. She starred as the witty, wisecracking maid Florence for eleven seasons on the CBS hit comedy, The Jeffersons, and as the loving matriarch Mary on the NBC hit series, 227, where she made history as the executive producer. At 93 years young, she remains active, doing cameos in television and film projects, including This Is Us, NCIS, Days of Our Lives, UnPrisoned, and Will Trent. An eight-time NAACP Image Award winner, Marla continues to receive numerous prestigious honors, including Essence Magazine’s Woman of the Year, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Black Filmmaker’s Foundation Award, and many more.

Throughout her life, she has poured her resources into the community in numerous ways: opening a jazz supper club, co-founding a performing arts school and theatre with her daughter, and supporting countless community organizations. Beyond acting, Marla’s first love is music. She co-wrote and sang the 227 theme song, and in recent years, released her own original jazz album, It’s Never Too Late—which is a motto she lives by.