He gained popularity as Gordy, the weatherman on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” which aired on Amazon Prime and later received an Emmy nomination for his role as the older Kunta Kinte in “Roots”.
John Amos, the Emmy-nominated actor best known for playing the strong father on Good Times, has died at 84. He was outspoken about the stereotypes on the show, which led to clashes with producers and his eventual departure.
John Amos passed away from natural causes on August 21 in Los Angeles, his son K.C. Amos confirmed.
Advertisement “It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” he said 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. His legacy will live on in his outstanding works in television and film as an actor.”
John Amos, a former football player at Colorado State University, found success in showbiz as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He earned an Emmy nomination for playing Toby, the older Kunta Kinte, in the 1977 miniseries Roots and also appeared on The West Wing as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace.
His movie career started with Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), and he played a restaurant manager in Coming to America (1988). Amos had worked for McDonald’s before acting in one of their popular commercials in the ’70s, which helped pay for his kids’ college.
After his role as Gordy, he was cast as James Evans Sr., the father and husband in Good Times, a CBS show about a Black family living in the Chicago projects. The show was a spinoff of Maude and became the first sitcom focused on an African-American family.
He was famous for many movies and TV shows. You can check what PBS News posted on Twitter about him:
“Everybody knew who Norman Lear was, I’d seen the pilot episode of All in the Family and thought, ‘There’s no way in the world they’re going to put that on television.’ … Sure enough, it became a hit.
Amos said in a 2014 interview for the Television Academy Foundation.
“So I read with Miss Rolle for Norman Lear, with just the three of us in his office. When we finished the reading, Norman looked at Esther, and Esther looked at me and looked at Norman and said, ‘He’ll do just fine.’”
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Amos starred on the show for three seasons but didn’t like the silly, stereotypical stories about the oldest son, J.J., played by Jimmie Walker. He openly spoke out about his concerns.
“We had a number of differences, I felt too much emphasis was being put on J.J. in his chicken hat, saying ‘Dy-no-mite!’
he said
“But I wasn’t the most diplomatic guy in those days, and [the show’s producers] got tired of having their lives threatened over jokes. So they said, ‘Tell you what, why don’t we kill him off? We can get on with our lives!’ That taught me a lesson — I wasn’t as important as I thought I was to the show or to Norman Lear’s plans.”
In 1976, John Amos’ character, James Evans Sr., was killed off in a car accident on Good Times. Born on December 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, Amos was inspired to pursue entertainment after attending a taping of The Archie Show as a child.
Before becoming a nutritionist, his mother worked as a housekeeper, and his father was a truck driver and mechanic.
“I was disappointed in a way, because none of them looked like Archie or Jughead or Veronica … Some of the magic disappeared, but the science of the industry became apparent to me.”
After leaving Good Times, Amos was cast as a congressman in the pilot for Onward and Upward, but he left that project too. He spent time in Africa, living in Liberia to connect with his roots, before being offered a role in Roots.
“It was just what I needed,” he said. “It took the bad taste of Good Times out of my mouth — not that Good Times had been all bad, but the circumstances under which I left and the acrimony between Norman Lear and myself … I realize that a lot of it I brought on myself. I was not the easiest guy in the world to get along with, or to direct. I challenged any and everybody. [Roots] was a vindication, a tremendous feeling of satisfaction.”
More recently, John Amos and his son worked on a documentary called America’s Dad. He is survived by his son K.C. and daughter Shannon, from his first marriage to Noel “Noni” Mickelson. In November, THR’s Gary Baum wrote about the difficult relationship between Amos’ children.
You can check out Amos’s recent photo with his son on Instagram.
Source: Hollywood Reporter