John Amos, Star of TV’s ‘Good Times’ and ‘Roots,’ Dies at 84: NPR

John Amos poses for a portrait on May 11, 2016 in New York. Amos, who played the role of the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom “Good Times” and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 84.

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Amy Sussman/Invision/AP

LOS ANGELES – John Amos, who played the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom “Good Times” and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 84.

Amos’ publicist, Belinda Foster, confirmed the news of his death on Tuesday. Other details were not immediately available.

He played James Evans Sr. in “Good Times,” which featured one of the first black two-parent families on television. Produced by Norman Lear and co-created by actor Mike Evans, who co-starred in “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” the film ran from 1974 to 1979 on CBS.

“That show was actually the closest thing to life as an African American family living in those circumstances as it could possibly be,” Amos told Time magazine in 2021.

His character, along with his wife Florida, played by Esther Rolle, originated in another Lear show, “Maude.” James Evans often worked two jobs to support his family, including three children, with Jimmie Walker becoming a breakout star as eldest son J.J.

The show’s impact was so great that Alicia Keys, Rick Ross and the Wu-Tang Clan were among the musicians who mentioned Amos or his character in their lyrics.

Amos and Rolle wanted to paint a positive picture of a black family struggling against the odds in a public housing project in Chicago. But they became frustrated as they saw Walker’s character made silly and his role expanded.

“The fact is that Esther’s criticisms, as well as those of John and others — some of which are very sharp and personal — have seriously damaged my appeal in the black community,” Walker wrote in his 2012 memoir “Dyn-O-Mite! Good times, bad times, our times.”

Amos criticized the storylines of “Good Times” as inauthentic

After three seasons of critical acclaim and high ratings, Amos was fired. He had become critical of the show’s white writing staff who created storylines that he felt were inauthentic to the black characters.

“There were several instances where I said, ‘No, you don’t do these things. It is an anathema to black society. I’ll be the expert on that, if you don’t mind,” he told Time Magazine. “And it became so confrontational and heated that my death off the show was ultimately the best solution for everyone involved, including myself.”

Amos’ character was killed in a car accident. Walker lamented the situation. “If the decision had been up to me, I would have preferred that John had stayed and that the show had remained more of an ensemble,” he wrote in his memoir. “No one wanted me up front all the time, including myself.”

Amos and Lear later reconciled and shared a hug during a “Good Times” live TV reunion special in 2019.

“A Life-Changing Role” in “Roots”

Amos quickly recovered and was cast in the role of an adult Kunta Kinte, the center of “Roots,” based on Alex Haley’s novel set during and after the era of slavery in the US. The miniseries was a critical and ratings blockbuster, and Amos earned one. out of 37 Emmy nominations.

“I knew it was a life-changing role for me, as an actor and just from a humanistic point of view,” he told Time Magazine. “It was the culmination of all the misconceptions and stereotypical roles I had lived and been presented to me. It was like a reward for suffering these humiliations.”

Born John Allen Amos Jr. on December 27, 1939 in Newark, New Jersey, he was the son of an auto mechanic. He graduated from Colorado State University with a sociology degree and played on the school’s football team.

Before acting, he moved to New York and worked as a social worker at the Vera Institute of Justice, where he worked with suspects in the Brooklyn House of Detention.

He had a brief professional football career, playing in several 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. He had jobs as an advertising and comedy writer before appearing in front of the camera.

Amos’s first major TV role was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” from 1970-73. As the show’s only black character, he played straight man to bombastic host Ted Baxter.

Amos’s film credits include ‘Let’s Do It Again’ with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, ‘Coming to America’ with Eddie Murphy and its 2021 sequel, ‘Die Hard 2’, ‘Madea’s Witness Protection’ and ‘Uncut Gems’ with Adam. Sandler. He was in Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s 1994 video ‘Natural Born Killaz’.

He was a frequent guest star on ‘The West Wing’ and his other TV appearances included ‘Hunter’, ‘The District’, ‘Men in Trees’, ‘All About the Andersons’, ‘Two and a Half Men’ and “The farm.”

In 2020, Amos was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He served in the New Jersey National Guard.