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It's Never Too Late: A Memoir by Marla Gibbs

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.

It's Never Too Late: A Memoir by Marla Gibbs: Order Here.

The Jeffersons Star Marla Gibbs, 94, Reveals How She Survived a Nearly Fatal Brain Aneurysm and Stroke

Take Florence, the housekeeper she played on The Jeffersons for all of the sitcom's 11 seasons (1975–85). Florence once got a scary, barking doberman to heel by simply saying, "Don't be no fool." And headstrong housewife Mary Jenkins on the 1985–90 sitcom 227 didn't take guff from anyone, especially her maneating neighbor Sandra, played to Emmy-winning perfection by Jackée Harry.

But in Gibbs' new memoir It's Never Too Late (HarperCollins), featuring a foreword written by her 227 daughter Regina King, the 94-year-old actress reveals previously unseen sides of herself. She grew up in a dysfunctional household where she was raised, in part, by an emotionally abusive grandmother, was married for 18 years to a man who was both emotionally and physically abusive, and she didn't achieve widespread success as an actress until she was in her 40s.

"My work," she writes in It's Never Too Late, has been about making people happy, acting out stories in theaters and on soundstages."

n 2023, the mom of three — her eldest child and only daughter, Angela, 71, is also a successful actress — told PEOPLE about her driving force. "God is really the source. What people don’t realize is the challenges you go through are there to get you to your path. All the trauma I experienced, my marriage ending, that was all pushing me forward. Finally, when I made it out [to Los Angeles to pursue acting], I realized God had everything laid out for me, just waiting for me."

What was perhaps the greatest challenge of her life arrived in 2006 when she suffered a brain aneurysm followed by a stroke that nearly killed her. In an exclusive excerpt from her memoir, Gibbs, whose most recent TV roles have included guest spots on Grey's Anatomy, Will Trent and Chicago Med, reflects on her long journey to healing.

Most people do not survive brain aneurysms, so I knew God still had plans for me. The more my strength and memory came back, the more trouble I got into. As I said before, I’m Gemini and my mind is always curious and always working ... not always for the better.

For instance, I did not want to use the diapers while in rehab. I wanted to go to the bathroom on my own. The bathroom was right next to my bed so I could not understand why I needed help to get there. Every time they would leave the room, I would sneak out of the bed and end up on the floor.

My family finally had to ask them to tie me to the bed. I watched carefully as the nurses tied me up, so I could untie myself as soon as they left. And you guessed it ... I'd be on the floor again. I said to myself, “Marla we gotta stop ending up down here, we’re not getting anywhere.” There was just something inside me that kept saying, “It ain't over.” But when I got home and looked at the old woman staring back at me in the mirror I said, “Maybe it is over.” Maybe my days as an actress are gone.

Recovery was hard and it took every ounce of physical, mental and spiritual strength I could muster. I started questioning why it happened, especially when I still had so many plans for my life. I was getting ready to tour with my new jazz CD, but as they say, man makes plans and God laughs. This wasn’t funny though. I sank into a deep depression. I felt like maybe it was time for me to go. I didn’t want to get up. I didn’t want to do anything.

My family had a caretaker come and help. She would fix breakfast and help them clean, but it was just a difficult time. It’s humbling when you can’t do anything for yourself. My mind told me I could walk, but I couldn’t without help.

I went to outpatient rehab for occupational, physical and speech therapy. As I progressed, they had me do a light jog across the room. My friend, Chrystal Carmichael from Detroit, came to help. The first day she got here, we went walking, and then I wanted to show her I could jog, and I fell and hit my head.

It was embarrassing but mostly it was disheartening. I complained to the rehab center, and the nurse said, “We didn’t tell you to jog at home!” I finally accepted where I was at in my recovery. I had always been an independent woman who juggled multiple projects. Now, I was totally dependent and could do nothing. Acceptance of where I was in my recovery was essential to me healing, and I think acceptance is key to healing in life.

It's Never Too Late publishes Feb. 24 by HarperCollins and will be available wherever books are sold.

‘Tracker’ Renewed For Season 4 At CBS

The network announced the renewal Thursday along with a slew of others, which was to be expected given that the procedural is the No. 1 show on broadcast television.

Tracker‘s Season 3 premiere managed 17M viewers after 35 days of multi-platform viewing, according to Nielsen, effectively on par with Season 2’s 17.34M audience average. While it typically adds a few million viewers in long-tail viewing, most of that is racked up in the first week, suggesting a loyal weekly audience base that is an impressive feat for any show, but particularly a network offering these days.

Based on the bestselling novel The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver, Tracker stars Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, “a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family,” per the official logline.

In Season 3, which returns on March 1, Colter is wrestling with hard truths about his family’s history. In the wake of these shocking revelations, and aided by his trusted team, Colter must put the past in the rearview to focus on what he does best: using his instincts and survival skills to find the missing and collect rewards.

Hartley executive produces with Ken Olin, Elwood Reid, Connie Dolphin, Sharon Lee Watson and Alex Katsnelson. 20th Television is the studio.

PRESENTERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE “83RD ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES

Presenters for the 83RD ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES include: Amanda Seyfried, Ana de Armas, Ayo Edebiri, Charli xcx, Chris Pine, Colman Domingo, Connor Storrie, Dakota Fanning, Dave Franco, Diane Lane, George Clooney, Hailee Steinfeld, Hudson Williams, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Joe Keery, Judd Apatow, Julia Roberts, Justin Hartley, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Hart, Kyra Sedgwick, Lalisa Manobal, Luke Grimes, Macaulay Culkin, Marlon Wayans, Melissa McCarthy, Mila Kunis, Miley Cyrus, Minnie Driver, Orlando Bloom, Pamela Anderson, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Sean Hayes, Snoop Dogg, Wanda Sykes, Will Arnett and Zoë Kravitz.

The Golden Globes, often referred to as “Hollywood’s Party of the Year®,” is the largest awards show in the world to celebrate the best of film, television and now podcasting. Multi-Emmy Award®-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment (WCE) will return as executive-producing showrunners for the 83RD ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES. Dick Clark Productions will plan, host and produce the 83RD ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES, which has been viewed in more than 185 countries and territories worldwide. This year’s votes were again tabulated by KPMG, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.

*Paramount+ Premium plan subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service, as well as on-demand. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to stream live, but will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs.

Juliet Mills and Maxwell Caufield ‘Didn’t Think About’ 18 Year Age Difference

“It didn’t occur to me, and Juliet maintains to this day it really didn’t occur to her either,” said Caulfield, an accomplished stage actor who also appeared on Dynasty as Miles Coby and in Grease 2 and Gettysburg, but might be best known for his role as fading pop star Rex Manning in the 1995 comedy Empire Records. “She had such a youthful quality — always has, always will do. It’s presumptuous of me to even think that I was going to hook up with her; that wasn’t really where it was at. It just happened so fast, it caught us both off guard.”

“We didn’t think about it,” added Mills, who is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1970 sitcom Nanny and the Professor and her Daytime Emmy-nominated run on Passions in the 2000s. “We didn’t talk about it, either. It was just two people who just communicated on such a high level, or in different ways. We had so much in common, because we were both English, to start with. We’re both actors. And we just had a communication, instantly. It was like saying, ‘Hello, where have you been! I know you!’ And I do believe in reincarnation.”

In fact, according to Caulfield, Mills’ sister, The Parent Trap star Hayley Mills, theorized that Caulfield might be the reincarnation of Juliet’s male twin, who died in infancy. “I don’t believe you were the twin,” Juliet replied. “Well, that shoots that theory down,” said Caulfield, laughing. “I believe I knew you in some relationship in another life, that I believe, ” Mills went on.

Caulfield has often been outspoken about his love story with Mills; in a 2023 Reddit AMA, he announced that Mills was “the cat’s whiskers,” and when a Reddit user asked if he had “ever sung ‘Say No More’ for Empire fans,” he replied, “I’m gonna sing it to Juliet tonight.” In the same AMA, he declared that the happiest moment in his life “has to involve my wife Juliet. Eating mushrooms on the edge of the Grand Canyon.”

Caufield and Mills met in 1980, when he was performing in The Elephant Man, and married that same year. It was a first marriage for Caufield, and a third for Mills, who had been married to songwriter Russell Alquist Jr. from 1961 to 1974, and construction manager Michael Miklenda from 1975 to 1980. Mills had two children from her previous marriages, while Caufield has no biological children.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead Reveals Her Passionate Dislike for ‘Passions’

The Hand the Rocks the Cradle actress was recently a guest on Zach Sang’s podcast to discuss her career, which began when she was just a teen. At age 14, she landed the role of Jessica Bennett on the supernatural soap Passions, a daytime drama known for its totally unhinged storylines, campy tone, and eccentric characters, including witches, talking dolls, and unexpected love triangles. The gig marked her first major break in Hollywood and set the stage for a career that would span television, film, and beyond.

But the experience wasn’t exactly a dream come true.

“Passions is cool,” said Sang. “Like, there are talking dolls, and there were curses, and there were a lot of witches on screen. It was the frequency of a soap, right? So was it every day?”

“It was every day. We shot an episode a day,” revealed the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World actress. “I mean, that was a great training ground just for like technical stuff: you got to know your lines, you got to hit your mark… You’re just shooting, shooting, shooting…so that was good, at least for like learning the ropes, in that sense. But I can’t say that it was deeply rewarding.”

The off-the-rails Passions was well known for its bizarre and chaotic storylines, which pushed the soap to extremes when it came to tone, plot, and logic. From time travel to poor Timmmy being stuck in a well for over a month, the series gleefully broke every daytime convention imaginable, creating one of the most unforgettable soaps in TV history. And strangest.

As Jessica Bennett, Winstead played the “good” Bennett daughter, who often protected others from her scheming sister Kay (Taylor Anne Mountz and later Deanna Wright) while she also dealt with witches (Tabitha Lenox), living dolls (Timmy), and the occasional prophecy. This made Jessica one of the few “normal” residents in the bizarre town of Harmony. Her storylines focused on family loyalty, sibling rivalry, and the challenges of growing up amid the chaos. But unfortunately for Winstead, that challenge applied to both on and off camera.

In Off Camera with Sam Jones, Winstead opened up more about the experience a bit more, which veered more towards the negative. “I didn’t particularly enjoy the experience,” said the Ahsoka actress. “Luckily, I had worked a little bit before that, even if it was just in Utah and on little parts and things. But I had such an amazing experience on everything I had done leading up to this, that I kind of knew this wasn’t what everything was like.”

“There was a real militant vibe about the whole thing, which wasn’t friendly, and it wasn’t encouraging or warm. They had all these rules about parents, like my mom wasn’t allowed on set, ” revealed Winstead. “She had to be on the premises, but they wouldn’t let her on set. She had to stay in my dressing room all day long, and then there were times where she would kind of try and quietly be there [for me], and [they] would be like, ‘We’ll just pretend we didn’t see you around here.”

“So, I just was miserable. I was really unhappy. Even at 14, I just knew that this was bad,” said Winstead. “It was not what I thought I was getting into when I went out to L.A. to try to be an actor.”

The actress revealed she ultimately broke her contract to quit the show. Soon after leaving Passions, Winstead began landing roles that led to far more positive experiences on set and set her on the path to a successful career.

Talk Show Appearance

AIRING Oct 20, 2025

Justin Hartley (show "Tracker") answers some hard-hitting questions while playing pingpong during a round of "Ping It On."

Talk Show Appearance

AIRING Oct 13, 2025

Justin Hartley

Talk Show Appearance

Tuesday, Oct. 14 – ALLISON JANNEY swings by the studio to chat about “The Diplomat,” and JUSTIN HARTLEY talks with Kelly and Mark about “Tracker.”

Prime Video Biblical Drama ‘Joseph Of Egypt’ Adds Six To Cast

Written and executive produced by Craig Wright. Joseph of Egypt tells the Old Testament story about Joseph (Adam Hamshi), who, betrayed by jealous brothers, defies all expectations and rises to incredible power in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. But when his past catches up with him, he is confronted with the ultimate test.

Mansour will play Asenath; Ommi is Senebsen, Maleki will portray Potiphar; Rappa is Benjamin; Visotcky will play Zebulun; Abdo will portray Bastis.

The main cast also includes Alexander Siddig as Jacob, Babak Tafti as Simeon, Daniel Peera as Reuben, and Iris Bahr as Leah. Recurring cast members are Dakota Shapiro as Ashur, Tannaz Shastiri as Eliuram, Ruben Vernier as Gad, Amir Malaklou as Judah, Moran Atias as Bilhah, Necar Zadegan as Zilapah, Matisse Ratron-Neal as Issachar, Shani Atias as Rachel, Siya Maleki as Levi, Navid Negahban as Khasekhemre, the Pharaoh and Omid Abtahi as Ankuh.

Joseph of Egypt is co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios and The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins‘ 5&2 Studios. Wright serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Jenkins is executive producing under his 5&2 Studios banner.

Mansour played the female lead Hope Bennett on AMC’s The Walking Dead: World Beyond, which ran for two seasons. Her additional series credits include Apple’s Home Before Dark and Paramount+’s Players, among others. She’s repped by IAG, 42, and Karl Austen of Jackoway Austen Tyerman

Ommi is currently a series regular on Apple TV+’s Tehran and heavily recurred on Netflix’s Kaos. She is repped by by Stewart Talent & Vault Entertainment.

Maleki is known for his recurring roles on Law & Order: Organized Crime, The Chosen, Homeland, Scandal, Devious Maids, and NBC daytime drama Passion. His film work includes 300: Rise of an Empire, The Mortal Instruments, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, among others. He’s repped by Tina Randolph Contogenis at Eris Talent Agency and Angela Durden at Citizen Skull Management.

Rappa can be seen in the latest season of AMC’s drama Dark Winds as Ernesto Cata. He made his feature film debut in the thriller Sovereign, released in July. Rappa is repped by SWAG Talent Group and Crossbeam Talent.

Visotcky has guest-starred or recurred in television series including NCIS: Origins, Snatchers, Perpetual Grace, LTD and Midnight, Texas among others. He studied at Stella Adler and other studios in Los Angeles and New Mexico and is the co-founder of a Los Angeles theatre company. He’s repped by Lynette O’Connor at The O’ Agency.

Abdo appeared opposite Nicole Kidman in the feature Queen of the Desert. He also worked alongside Tom Hanks and Ben Whishaw in Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram for the King and recurred on Amazon’s series Patriot. Abdo is repped by Bohemia Entertainment and Nevername Artists Agency.

New Tracker Trailer Reunites Colter and Russell — Here’s Everything We Know Ahead of the Season 3 Premiere

Talk Show Appearance

AIRING Sep 24, 2025

Jesse Metcalfe discusses his skincare line

For Older News Visit The Daytime Soap Operas News Archives: Here!

Facts

1. June 10, 2003 Passions aired its 1000th episode

2. Lindsay Korman (Theresa) & Mark A. Provert co-wrote "Kiss Me" the song she sang on the show

3. That's ALAN OPPENHEIMER providing the voice of sinister patriarch Alistair Crane on Passions. The veteran thespian boasts a wide and impressive range of credits, including the Broadway production of Sunset Boulevard, where he played Cecil B. DeMille opposite Glenn Close's Norma Desmond; Murphy Brown, where he spent several seasons as retired FYI honcho Gene Kinsella; and the feature film Little Big Man, with Faye Dunaway and Dustin Hoffman. Among his television guest-starring appearances are stints on Hogan's Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie, Bonanza, The Partridge Family, Bewitched, Knight Rider, Happy Days, Murder, She Wrote, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Touched by an Angel.

   Oppenheimer has also enjoyed a prolific voiceover career, no surprise to anyone who has been intimidated just by the sound of him on Passions. His vocal incarnation of the despotic Alistair is doubtless influenced by his past portrayals of power-hungry Skeletor in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the self-confident Vanity Smurf in The Smurfs, and the charismatic crooner/crusader Mighty Mouse.

4. A Passions spokesperson reports that the music and lyrics for the song, entitled "Breathe", were written by John Henry and Jane French and performed by Jane French. NBC Productions commissioned the team to compose the ditty and were obviously thrilled with the results

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