John Amos, who starred because the household patriarch on the hit Seventies sitcom Good Instances and earned an Emmy nomination for his function within the seminal 1977 miniseries Roots, has died. He was 84.
He died Aug. 21 of pure causes in Los Angeles. Amos’ publicist, Belinda Foster, confirmed the information of his dying Tuesday.
He performed James Evans Sr. on Good Instances, which featured one among 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 1974-79 on CBS.
“That present was the closest depiction in actuality to life as an African American household residing in these circumstances because it may very well be,” Amos instructed Time journal in 2021.
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 Arduous 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.”
Amos’ Good Instances character, together with spouse Florida, performed by Esther Rolle, originated on one other Lear present, Maude. James Evans usually labored two handbook labor jobs to assist his household that included three kids, with Jimmie Walker changing into a breakout star as oldest son J.J. Such was the present’s impression 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.
“Many followers contemplate him their TV father,” his son Kelly Christopher Amos mentioned in a press release. “He lived a great life. His legacy will dwell on in his excellent works in tv and movie as an actor. My father liked working as an actor all through his complete life. He was my dad, my greatest buddy, and my hero.”
The elder Amos and Rolle had been desperate to painting a optimistic picture of a Black household, struggling towards the percentages in a public housing mission in Chicago. Nonetheless, 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 — significantly broken my enchantment within the Black group,” Walker wrote in his 2012 memoir Dyn-O-Mite! Good Instances, Dangerous Instances, Our Instances.
After three seasons of critical acclaim and high ratings, Amos was fired. He had develop into vital of the present’s white writing workers creating storylines that he felt had been inauthentic to the Black characters.
“There have been a number of examples the place I mentioned, ‘No, you don’t do these items. It’s anathema to Black society. I’ll be the skilled on that, when you don’t thoughts,’” he instructed Time journal. “And it obtained confrontational and heated sufficient that in the end my being killed off the present was the perfect answer for everyone involved, myself included.”
Amos’ character was killed in a automotive accident. Walker lamented the state of affairs. “If the choice had been as much as me, I might have most popular that John keep and the present stay extra of an ensemble,” he wrote in his memoir. “No person needed me up entrance on a regular basis, together with me.”
Amos and Lear later reconciled they usually shared a hug at a Good Instances dwell TV reunion particular in 2019.
Amos rapidly bounced again, touchdown the function of an grownup Kunta Kinte, the centerpiece of Roots, primarily based on Alex Haley’s novel set throughout and after the period of slavery within the U.S. The miniseries was a vital and rankings blockbuster, and Amos earned one among 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 varied 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 a substitute. He had jobs as an promoting and comedy author earlier than transferring in entrance of the digicam.
Amos’ first main TV function was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Present, from 1970-73. Because the present’s solely Black character, he performed straight man to bombastic anchor Ted Baxter.
He was a frequent visitor star on The West Wing, and his different TV appearances included Hunter, The District, Males in Bushes, All Concerning 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.
He’s survived by daughter Shannon, a former leisure government, and Kelly Christopher, a Grammy-nominated video music director and editor. They had been from his first marriage to Noel Mickelson, whom he met in school. His second marriage to actor Lillian Lehman additionally led to divorce.
Revealed – October 02, 2024 11:50 am IST