John Amos, ‘Good Times’ dad and ‘Roots’ star, dies at 84

John Amos, who starred arsenic the household patriarch connected the deed 1970s sitcom Good Times and earned an Emmy information for his relation successful the seminal 1977 miniseries Roots, has died. He was 84.

Amos’ publicist, Belinda Foster, confirmed the quality of his decease Tuesday. No different details were instantly available.

He played James Evans Sr. connected Good Times, which featured 1 of television’s archetypal Black two-parent families. Produced by Norman Lear and co-created by histrion Mike Evans, who co-starred connected All successful the Family and The Jeffersons, it ran from 1974 to 1979 connected CBS.

“That amusement was the closest depiction successful world to beingness arsenic an African American household surviving successful those circumstances arsenic it could be,” Amos told Time mag successful 2021.

His character, on with woman Florida, played by Esther Rolle, originated connected different Lear show, Maude. James Evans often worked 2 manual labour jobs to enactment his household that included 3 children, with Jimmie Walker becoming a breakout prima arsenic oldest lad J.J.

Such was the show’s interaction that Alicia Keys, Rick Ross, and the Wu-Tang Clan are among the musicians who name-checked Amos oregon his quality successful their lyrics.

Amos and Rolle were anxious to represent a affirmative representation of a Black family, struggling against the likelihood successful a nationalist lodging task successful Chicago. But they grew frustrated astatine seeing Walker’s quality being made foolish and his relation expanded.

“The information is that Esther’s criticism, and besides that of John and others — immoderate of it precise pointed and idiosyncratic — earnestly damaged my entreaty successful the Black community,” Walker wrote successful his 2012 memoir Dyn-O-Mite! Good Times, Bad Times, Our Times.

After 3 seasons of captious acclaim and precocious ratings, Amos was fired. He had go captious of the show’s achromatic penning unit creating storylines that helium felt were inauthentic to the Black characters.

“There were respective examples wherever I said, ‘No, you don’t bash these things. It’s anathema to Black society. I’ll beryllium the adept connected that, if you don’t mind,’” helium told Time magazine. “And it got confrontational and heated capable that yet my being killed disconnected the amusement was the champion solution for everybody concerned, myself included.”

Amos’ quality was killed successful a car accident. Walker lamented the situation. “If the determination had been up to me, I would person preferred that John enactment and the amusement stay much of an ensemble,” helium wrote successful his memoir. “Nobody wanted maine up beforehand each the time, including me.”

Amos and Lear aboriginal reconciled and they shared a hug astatine a Good Times unrecorded TV reunion peculiar successful 2019.

Amos rapidly bounced back, landing the relation of an big Kunta Kinte, the centrepiece of Roots, based connected Alex Haley’s caller acceptable during and aft the epoch of slavery successful the U.S. The miniseries was a captious and ratings blockbuster, and Amos earned 1 of its 37 Emmy nominations.

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“I knew that it was a life-changing relation for me, arsenic an histrion and conscionable from a humanistic standpoint,” helium told Time magazine. “It was the culmination of each of the misconceptions and stereotypical roles that I had lived and seen being offered to me. It was similar a reward for having suffered those indignities.”

Born John Allen Amos Jr. connected Dec. 27, 1939, successful Newark, New Jersey, helium was the lad of an car mechanic. He graduated from Colorado State University with a sociology grade and played connected the school’s shot team.

Before pursuing acting, helium moved to New York and was a societal idiosyncratic astatine the Vera Institute of Justice, moving with defendants astatine the Brooklyn House of Detention.

He had a little nonrecreational shot career, playing successful assorted insignificant leagues. He signed a free-agent declaration successful 1967 with the Kansas City Chiefs, but manager Hank Stram encouraged Amos to prosecute his involvement successful penning instead. He had jobs arsenic an advertizing and drama writer earlier moving successful beforehand of the camera.

Amos’ archetypal large TV relation was arsenic Gordy Howard, the weatherman connected The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1970 to 1973. As the show’s lone Black character, helium played consecutive antheral to bombastic anchor Ted Baxter.

Among Amos’ movie credits were 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 successful Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s 1994 video Natural Born Killaz.

He was a predominant impermanent prima connected The West Wing, and his different TV appearances included Hunter, The District, Men successful Trees, All About the Andersons, Two and a Half Men, and The Ranch.

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

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