John Amos, who starred because the household patriarch on the hit Nineteen Seventies sitcom Good Occasions and earned an Emmy nomination for his function within the seminal 1977 miniseries Roots, has died. He was 84.
Amos’ publicist, Belinda Foster, confirmed the information of his demise Tuesday. No different particulars had been instantly out there.
He performed James Evans Sr. on Good Occasions, which featured one in every of tv’s first Black two-parent households. Produced by Norman Lear and co-created by actor Mike Evans, who co-starred on All within the Household and The Jeffersons, it ran from 1974 to 1979 on CBS.
“That present was the closest depiction in actuality to life as an African American household residing in these circumstances because it might be,” Amos instructed Time journal in 2021.
His character, together with spouse Florida, performed by Esther Rolle, originated on one other Lear present, Maude. James Evans usually labored two guide labor jobs to help his household that included three youngsters, with Jimmie Walker changing into a breakout star as oldest son J.J.
A 1977 picture displaying John Amos (as James Evans, Sr.) and Esther Rolle (as Florida Evans) within the CBS tv scenario comedy, ‘Good Occasions.’.
CBS through Getty Photos
Such was the present’s influence that Alicia Keys, Rick Ross, and the Wu-Tang Clan are among the many musicians who name-checked Amos or his character of their lyrics.
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Amos and Rolle had been wanting to painting a constructive picture of a Black household, struggling towards the percentages in a public housing venture in Chicago. However they grew pissed off at seeing Walker’s character being made silly and his function expanded.
“The very fact is that Esther’s criticism, and in addition that of John and others — a few of it very pointed and private — severely broken my attraction within the Black neighborhood,” Walker wrote in his 2012 memoir Dyn-O-Mite! Good Occasions, Unhealthy Occasions, Our Occasions.
After three seasons of important acclaim and excessive rankings, Amos was fired. He had change into important of the present’s white writing employees creating storylines that he felt had been inauthentic to the Black characters.
“There have been a number of examples the place I stated, ‘No, you don’t do this stuff. It’s anathema to Black society. I’ll be the knowledgeable on that, when you don’t thoughts,’” he instructed Time journal. “And it bought confrontational and heated sufficient that finally my being killed off the present was one of the best answer for everyone involved, myself included.”
Amos’ character was killed in a automotive accident. Walker lamented the scenario. “If the choice had been as much as me, I’d have most popular that John keep and the present stay extra of an ensemble,” he wrote in his memoir. “No person wished me up entrance on a regular basis, together with me.”
Amos and Lear later reconciled and so they shared a hug at a Good Occasions reside TV reunion particular in 2019.
Amos rapidly bounced again, touchdown the function of an grownup Kunta Kinte, the centrepiece of Roots, based mostly on Alex Haley’s novel set throughout and after the period of slavery within the U.S. The miniseries was a important and rankings blockbuster, and Amos earned one in every of its 37 Emmy nominations.
“I knew that it was a life-changing function for me, as an actor and simply from a humanistic standpoint,” he instructed Time journal. “It was the fruits of all the misconceptions and stereotypical roles that I had lived and seen being provided to me. It was like a reward for having suffered these indignities.”
Born John Allen Amos Jr. on Dec. 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, he was the son of an auto mechanic. He graduated from Colorado State College with a sociology diploma and performed on the college’s soccer staff.
Earlier than pursuing performing, he moved to New York and was a social employee on the Vera Institute of Justice, working with defendants on the Brooklyn Home of Detention.
He had a short skilled soccer profession, enjoying in numerous minor leagues. He signed a free-agent contract in 1967 with the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, however coach Hank Stram inspired Amos to pursue his curiosity in writing as an alternative. He had jobs as an promoting and comedy author earlier than transferring in entrance of the digital camera.
Amos’ first main TV function was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Present from 1970 to 1973. Because the present’s solely Black character, he performed straight man to bombastic anchor Ted Baxter.
Amongst Amos’ movie credit had been Let’s Do It Once more with Invoice Cosby and Sidney Poitier, Coming to America with Eddie Murphy and its 2021 sequel, Die Onerous 2, Madea’s Witness Safety and Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler. He was in Ice Dice and Dr. Dre’s 1994 video Pure Born Killaz.
He was a frequent visitor star on The West Wing, and his different TV appearances included Hunter, The District, Males in Timber, All In regards to the Andersons, Two and a Half Males, and The Ranch.
In 2020, Amos was inducted into the New Jersey Corridor of Fame. He served within the New Jersey Nationwide Guard.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
