It's Never Too Late - by Marla Gibbs (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"Marla Gibbs is one of the great architects of Black television and culture -- a woman whose brilliance, humor, and courage helped redefine how we saw ourselves on screen and beyond. It's Never Too Late is a true testament to Ms. Gibbs' resilience, vision, and faith. She takes readers from her turbulent, formative years in Chicago and Detroit, to a stormy life as a young wife who triumphed over spousal physical and mental abuse, to a hard working single mother, who not only held down her day job at an airline reservations center in Los Angeles, but began to simultaneously lay the foundation of a groundbreaking career in Hollywood. From The Jeffersons to 227, Ms. Gibbs didn't just play iconic roles -- she created spaces where truth, humor, and dignity could live side by side. It's Never Too Late is right on time -- an extraordinary reflection of a woman who opened doors for so many of us, including me, to walk through."

- Angela Bassett, Honorary Oscar Recipient, Emmy and NAACP Image Award-winning actress
"With the same wit and wisdom that made her most famous character 'Florence Johnston' unforgettable, Marla Gibbs delivers an intimate memoir that reveals the woman behind the laughter. From working multiple jobs to breaking barriers on 'The Jeffersons' and '227, ' Ms. Gibbs shares a life lived authentically by raising a family, uplifting her community, building an entrepreneurial legacy and discovering that love, faith and storytelling can transform everything. A must-read for anyone who believes it's never too late to shine, Marla Gibbs' life story is a masterclass in perseverance and grace." - Ava DuVernay, Emmy Award winning Director, Producer and Writer.