Actor John Amos, most notable for his work in in the sitcom “Good Times” and as a professional football player, passed away back on August 21 in the city of Los Angeles. The cause of his death has been listed as natural causes, according to information released by his son, film producer Kelly Christopher Amos.
“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” K.C., 53, revealed in a statement. “He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold … and he was loved the world over Many fans consider him their TV father.”
“He lived a good life,” K.C. went on to say of his father, according to The New York Post. “His legacy will live on in his outstanding works in television and film as an actor.”
Amos was born in Newark on December 27, 1939. He went to East Orange High School and graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in sociology. Before his acting career, Amos was a football player. He signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos in 1964 but was released on the second day of training camp after injuring his hamstring. He later briefly played with the Kansas City Chiefs before leaving the NFL for the Continental League.
Amos made his acting debut in an episode of “The Bill Cosby Show” in 1970.
The same year as his debut, Amos was also cast as the weatherman Gordon “Gordy” Howard in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He starred in 13 episodes of the program which between the years 1970 to 1977. The most popular role he played was that of James Evans, Sr. on Good Times. The show was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and was actually a spinoff of another series called Maude. Hilariously, Maude itself was a spinoff of the ever popular and always controversial All in the Family.
Imagine trying to make a show today built around a character like Archie Bunker. That would never happen. Even though the point of the show was to demonstrate how dumb and backwards it is to be racist. Jokes that were used to illustrate that truth would get people canceled for nigh unto eternity.
“Good Times” centered on an African American family living in an apartment in Chicago. Esther Rolle starred as James’ wife, Florida Evans, while Ralph Carter, Bern Nadette Stanis and Jimmie Walker played the Evans children. Ja’Net Dubois also starred as Florida’s best friend, Willona Woods.
Janet Jackson joined the cast in the show’s sixth and final season. Amos was only on “Good Times” for the first three seasons. His character was killed off in a car accident. He was reportedly fired from the show due to issues he had with the script’s portrayal of African Americans.
During an interview from 2017, Amos said, “When the show first started, we had no African American writers on the show, and some of the attitudes they had written, as per my character and, frankly, for some of the other characters as well, caused me to say … ‘We can’t do this, we can’t do that.’ And they’d say, ‘What do you mean we can’t do this?’”
“They’d go on about their credits …. and I’d look at each and every one of them and say, ‘Well, how long have you been black? That just doesn’t happen in the community. We don’t think that way. We don’t act that way. We don’t let our children do that,’” he continued.
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Amos later earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the popular miniseries Roots.
He went on to have roles in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “In the House,” “The West Wing,” “All About the Andersons,” “Men in Trees” and “The Ranch.” Amos was also in various films like “The Beastmaster,” “Lock Up,” “Die Hard 2,” “Coming to America” and “Coming 2 America.” His final acting project was the 2023 British drama film “The Last Rifleman.”
Amos was married twice and had two kids. The actor and his son created a documentary about his life that has not yet been released.