The Only Major Actors Still Alive From NBC's 227

When the long-running CBS sitcom "The Jeffersons" finally came to an end in 1985 after an 11-season run, a successor soon stepped up to take its place. NBC's "227" was based on a play by Christine Houston, which "The Jeffersons" star Marla Gibbs had starred in and her daughter had produced. The play was a big enough hit that it generated lots of interest, including from "The Jeffersons" creator Norman Lear, who wanted to produce it as a Broadway show. But after some rewrites from Gibbs to lighten the tone a little, "227" ended up becoming a sitcom.

"227" was co-created by "The Jeffersons" writer Michael G. Moye (who's credited as C.J. Banks) and Bill Boulware, the latter of whom would go on to work as a producer and writer on the 1990s hit "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." Gibbs, however, was one of the driving forces behind the series, as well as its star. "I was an uncredited producer. I was an exec producer with all rights, courtesies, and privileges, whatever that means, but no credit," as she once explained in an interview with the Television Academy. "But I took it anyway because it was a great way to learn this business."

Premiering in 1985, "227" ran for five seasons and 116 episodes (enough to qualify for syndication) before wrapping up in 1990. 36 years later, only three of the main actors from the show are still alive — and Gibbs is one of them.

Marla Gibbs may be 95 years old, but that doesn't mean she has retired from acting. She recently returned to NBC to guest star in an episode of "Chicago Med" (pictured above) alongside her daughter, Angela Elayne Gibbs, with the pair playing a fictional mother and daughter.

Gibbs has been a regular feature on TV screens ever since "227," with other recent guest roles in shows like "Grey's Anatomy," "Days of Our Lives," and Mel Brooks' "History of the World, Part II." She also had a cameo role in the "Breaking Bad" sequel movie "El Camino" as a woman who shows up to Best Quality Vacuum and actually wants to buy a vacuum cleaner (and not a new identity to escape a criminal past, which is Best Quality Vacuum's real money-spinning service).

A few weeks before her 95th birthday, Gibbs shared a photo of herself in a gym on Instagram using a weights machine, along with a caption that gives some insight into her incredible longevity: "At my age it's easy to just lay in bed. Then I remember ... as long as I'm breathing, I still have a chance to enjoy life."

Far from a one-off stint, Jackée Harry's turn as Sandra Clark (the polar opposite and enemy-turned-friend of Marla Gibbs' well-adjusted housewife Mary Jenkins) on "227" marked the beginning of her legacy as a sitcom staple. Having gotten her start with a multi-year gig on the soap opera touchstone "Another World" in the early 1980s, Harry followed her run on "227" by starring in "The Royal Family," a comedy series that only aired for a single season despite being created by none other than Eddie Murphy. Not long after, though, she struck sitcom gold once again when she secured the role of the Landry family matriarch Lisa Landry on "Sister Sister." The beloved 1990s show would keep Harry busy for the rest of the decade.

Six years later, Harry scored yet another notable sitcom role when she was cast as the gossip-loving salon owner Vanessa in Chris Rock's comedic quasi-memoir "Everybody Hates Chris." Then, after that series ended, she landed the role of Pauletta Birdsong, the rowdy sister-in-law who causes headaches for Christopher B. Duncan's William Johnson when he becomes the second-ever Black U.S. President in "The First Family" (which ran for two seasons). Along the way, Harry remained a steady presence on the small screen, popping up in way too many popular sitcoms, reality shows, and Christmas-themed TV movies (?) to recount here. She even revived her stage acting career after "227" ended, having made her Broadway debut in the late 1970s.

Nowadays? Not much has changed. In 2021, Harry returned to her soap opera roots when she started her run as Paulina Price in "Days of Our Lives." She's also lent her voice to the animated "Everybody Hates Chris" revival and does a good deal of voice acting in general.

Regina King was naught but a humble teenager when she made her screen debut as Brenda, the daughter of Mary (Marla Gibbs) and Lester Jenkins (Hal Williams), on "227." These days, of course, she's a treasured star of the big and small screen, having rightly taken home an Oscar for her supporting performance as the caring, sensitive Sharon Rivers in Barry Jenkins' wondrous "If Beale Street Could Talk" film adaptation. King also voiced both the righteously angry Huey Freeman and his trouble-making brother Riley in Aaron McGruder's politically daring comic strip turned Adult Swim animated series "The Boondocks" across its run. She contains multitudes, to put it mildly.

Really, we could spend all day talking about King's career since "227" came to an end. Indeed, she's starred in 1990s movies both big ("Friday," "Jerry Maguire," "Enemy of the State") and odd ("Mighty Joe Young"), along with such cultural cinematic landmarks as "Boyz n the Hood" and 2004's Oscar-winning Ray Charles 2004's "Ray," in addition to 2018's "Beale Street" and 2021's star-studded kickass Western "The Harder They Fall." Her resume is only that much more impressive when you add her TV credits to the mix, not the least of which are her acclaimed turns on the celebrated Damon Lindelof HBO series "The Leftovers" and "Watchmen." What's more, King has carved out a nice space for herself as a director to boot, having helmed episodes of shows like "Animal Kindom," "This Is Us," and "Insecure" prior to making her well-received feature directing debut on 2020's top-notch stage-play-turned-movie "One Night in Miami..."

Suffice it to say, we'll be more than happy to line up for anything and everything that King has planned for the future.