LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Amos won an award for starring as the family patriarch in the hit 1970s comedy “Good Times.” emmy The actor who was nominated for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries “Roots” has died. He was 84 years old.
He died of natural causes in Los Angeles on August 21st. Amos’s publicist Belinda Foster confirmed the news of his death on Tuesday.
He played James Evans Sr. on “Good Times,” which featured TV’s first black two-parent family. Creator Norman Lear It was co-produced by actor Mike Evans, who co-starred in “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” and aired on CBS from 1974 to 1979.
“That show was as close to reality as possible to the life of an African-American family living in those conditions,” Amos told Time magazine in 2021.
Amos’ film credits include “Let’s Do It Again” with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, “Coming to America” with Eddie Murphy and its 2021 sequel, and “Die” with Adam. Her credits include “Hard 2,” “Madea’s Witness Protection,” and “Uncut Gems.” Sandler. He appeared in Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s 1994 video “Natural Born Killaz.”
Amos’s “Good Times” character, along with his wife Florida, played by Esther Rolle, came from another of Lear’s shows, “Maude.” James Evans frequently worked two manual labor jobs to support his family, which included three children, and Jimmy Walker’s breakout role as his eldest son, J.J.
The show’s influence was such that Alicia Keys, Rick Ross, and the Wu-Tang Clan were among the musicians who cited Amos and his character in their lyrics.
“Many of his fans consider him to be his television father,” his son Kelly Christopher Amos said in a statement. “He lived a good life. His legacy will live on as an outstanding work in television and film as an actor. My father loved working as an actor throughout his life, and he He was my father, my best friend, and my hero.”
The elders, Amos and Rolle, were eager to portray a positive image of a black family dealing with challenges in Chicago’s public housing projects. But they grew frustrated as Walker’s character was made fun of and his role expanded.
“Actually, Esther’s criticism, and John et al.’s criticisms — some of which are very sharp and personal — really hurt my appeal in the black community,” Walker recalled in 2012. Recorded “Dino Might! In good times, in bad times, in our times. ”
After three seasons of acclaim and critical acclaim, Amos was fired. He had been critical of the show’s white writing staff for creating storylines that felt inauthentic for the black characters.
“There were some instances where I said, ‘No, you wouldn’t do that.’ It’s a hatred of the black community. If you want, I’ll be the expert on that,” he told Time magazine. told. “The conflict became so intense that it ultimately became the best solution for everyone involved, including me, for me to leave the show.”
Amos’ character died in a car accident. Walker lamented the situation. “If the decision had been up to me, I think it would have been better for John to have stayed and for the show to have remained more of an ensemble,” he wrote in his memoirs. “No one, including me, wanted me to be on the front line all the time.”
Amos and Leah later reconciled and shared a hug on the 2019 live TV reunion special of Good Times.
Amos bounced back quickly and landed the role of adult Kunta Kinte, the centerpiece of “Roots,” based on Alex Haley’s novel set during and after American slavery. The miniseries was a huge hit with critics and ratings, and Amos took first place. Out of 37 Emmy nominations.
“I knew this was a life-changing role for me, both as an actor and as a person,” he told Time magazine. “It was a culmination of all the misconceptions and stereotypical roles that were given to me throughout my life. It was like a reward for going through that humiliation.”
Born John Allen Amos Jr. on December 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, the son of an auto mechanic. He graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in sociology and played on the school’s football team.
Before pursuing acting, he moved to New York and worked with defendants at the Brooklyn Detention Center as a social worker at the Vera Institute of Justice.
He had a short professional football career, playing in various minor leagues. He signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967, but coach Hank Stram encouraged Amos to pursue his interest in writing instead. Before getting in front of the camera, I worked as an advertising writer and comedy writer.
Amos’ first major television role was as weather forecaster Gordie Howard on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which aired from 1970 to 1973. As the show’s only black character, he played the straight man to bombastic anchor Ted Baxter.
He is a frequent guest star on “The West Wing,” and other television appearances include “The Hunter,” “The District,” “Men in Trees,” and “All About the Andersons.”・The Andersons,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “The Ranch.”
In 2020, Amos was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He served in the New Jersey National Guard.
His survivors include his daughter Shannon, a former entertainment executive, and Kelly Christopher, a Grammy-nominated video music director and editor. They were from his first marriage to Noel Mickelson, whom he met in college. His second marriage to actor Lillian Lehman also ended in divorce.
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Associated Press writer Caitlin Humani contributed to this report.
