Florence Johnston

Florence Johnston

Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs) is the Jeffersons' wisecracking maid. Her first appearance is in the pilot episode, when she was interviewed and hired as the Jeffersons' housekeeper. She is lazy and not especially good at her job, and she regularly bickers with George, who repeatedly complains about Florence's laziness and cooking, paying her very little (in one episode, he says her cooking tastes like dog food; she replies it should because she's "cooking for a chihuahua"). Several times he was on the verge of firing her, but Louise, who thinks of Florence as one of the family, forces him not to. Originally a recurring character, Gibbs later became part of the core of the series as a regular character appearing in 207 of the 253 episodes.