Many of the surviving cast members have retired and stayed out of the spotlight.

(Original Caption) USA ... (Photo by Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - JANUARY 18: Pictured is Mike Evans (as Lionel Jefferson) in the CBS television ... [+] situation comedy, THE JEFFERSONS.

Norman Lear's "The Jeffersons," an "All in the Family" spinoff, was a record-setting Black comedy. But it made important history in other ways.

Gibbs herself played the Jeffersons' maid, Florence Johnston. At the time a TV novice and mother of three, Gibbs had been working as a reservation agent for United Airlines and figured she'd have a ...