Marla Gibbs Comes Clean

Marla Gibbs, who rose to fame playing a maid on The Jeffersons, asserts that in real life she has always preferred to do her own dust-busting. "I have to get up and start cleaning this place after I get off the phone," Gibbs says, referring to the interview she was giving to TV Guide Online from her Los Angeles home.

The 69-year-old mother of three says she only once hired a maid, and that was back during the original run of The Jeffersons, about 20 years ago. In some ways, Gibbs admits, having a housekeeper around made life even more complicated. "She was Chinese, and she would cook this food," she recalls, "and we had no idea what we were eating."

Gibbs still enjoys watching reruns of The Jeffersons, now a staple on cable's Nick-at-Nite and still seen on TV stations around the country through the syndicated Screen Gems Network (check local listings). "It was such a wonderful, wonderful company," says the actress, who currently keeps busy with guest spots on Touched by an Angel and The Hughleys. Still, Gibbs, who also headlined the '80s laugher 227, has no desire to star in another sitcom. "Been there, done that," she says.

Next up, Gibbs appears in the big-screen drama The Visit, and she's also developing a one-woman show on the late actress-singer Pearl Bailey. "After 20 years of doing comedy," she points out, "I find dramatic work more challenging."