John Allen Amos Jr. (December 27, 1939 – August 21, 2024) was an American actor. He was known for his role as James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series Good Times. His other well known roles were as the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark miniseries Roots and for portraying Captain Meissner in Lock Up (1989) and Major Grant in Die Hard 2 (1990). His other television work includes The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a recurring role as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on The West Wing, and the role of the Mayor of Washington DC Ethan Baker in the series The District. Amos was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. In film, he played numerous supporting roles in movies such as The Beastmaster (1982), Coming to America (1988), and Coming 2 America (2021).
Early life
John Allen Amos Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey on December 27, 1939. He was the son of John A. Amos Sr., an auto mechanic, and Annabelle Amos. Amos grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, and graduated from East Orange High School in 1958. He attended Long Beach City College and graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in sociology; he played for both schools' football teams. Unable to run the 40-yard dash because of a pulled hamstring, he was released on the second day of training camp. He played for various teams during his career, the Canton Bulldogs (UFL 1964),
Acting career
thumb|275px|On [[Good Times (1974), L–R: Ralph Carter, BernNadette Stanis, Jimmie Walker, Esther Rolle, and Amos]]
Amos became first known in 1971 when he appeared with Anson Williams in a commercial for McDonald's. That same year, he had a small part in the cult film Vanishing Point, playing a radio engineer alongside Cleavon Little.
Amos' first major TV role was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, from 1970 until 1973. After the death of Betty White in 2021, Amos and Joyce Bulifant (who played Marie Slaughter) were the last surviving cast members of the show, excluding child actors.
Good Times
Amos is best known for his portrayal of James Evans Sr., the husband of Florida Evans, on the American sitcom Good Times (1974–1976). He had previously appeared three times on the sitcom Maude as Florida's husband Henry, who had a different history than James. (On Maude, Florida and Henry lived in Harlem in New York City where he was a fireman and she got work as a maid. On Good Times, Florida and James lived in a housing project in Chicago where he worked odd jobs, and she was a housewife.) Although cast as a hardworking middle-aged father of three, Amos was 34 when the show began production in January 1974; he was only eight years older than the actor who played his oldest son, Jimmie Walker, and 19 years younger than his screen wife, Esther Rolle. Like Rolle, Amos wanted to portray a positive image of an African-American family struggling against the odds in a poor neighborhood, but he expressed dissatisfaction after he saw the premise slighted by a lower level of comedy on Good Times.
During his tenure on the sitcom, Amos openly clashed with the writers of the show, pointing to the scripts' lack of authenticity in portraying the African-American experience. He notably criticized what he felt was too much of an emphasis on Jimmie Walker's character J.J. and a lesser regard for the other two Evans children. He also criticized J.J.'s stereotypical buffoonish personality. This led to his dismissal by executive producer Norman Lear at the end of season 3 in 1976. In a 2017 interview, Amos said that the sitcom's writers did not understand African Americans. He told them, "That just doesn't happen in the community. We don't think that way. We don't act that way. We don't let our children do that." His character was killed off by the writers, leading to a memorable scene in which his screen wife, Rolle, screamed, “Damn! Damn! Damn!”
Films, music, and other TV roles
thumb|Amos in 2000
In 1977, Amos starred in the ABC-TV Miniseries Roots, In 1980, he starred in the television film Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story. Amos played an Archie Bunker-style character in the 1994 sitcom 704 Hauser, In 2010, Amos also appeared as recurring character Ed on Two and a Half Men,
Amos wrote and produced Halley's Comet, a critically acclaimed one-man play that he performed around the world. Amos performed in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean on Broadway and later at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.
Amos was featured in Disney's The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) with Tim Conway and Jan-Michael Vincent in his first starring film role, and also starred as Kansas City Mack in Let's Do It Again (1975) with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier. His other film appearances include Vanishing Point (1971), The President's Plane Is Missing (1973),
In 2021, Amos starred in Because of Charley, as the patriarch of an estranged step-family riding out Hurricane Charley, the hurricane which tore through Florida in 2004. Also in 2021, he had a role in the Coming to America sequel, Coming 2 America.
Suits LA, the television show in which he made his final acting appearance, paid posthumous tribute to him with an episode entitled "Good Times," in which the characters Ted and Rick attempt to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Ted observes, "John Amos was the Sidney Poitier of television. He broke new ground for Black America and he was a father figure for all of America."
Personal life
thumb|right|200px|Amos in 2011
Amos was a veteran of the 50th Armored Division of the New Jersey National Guard and Honorary Master Chief of the United States Coast Guard. He was married twice. His first marriage, from 1965 to 1975, was to artist and equestrian Noel Mickelson. The couple had two children: Shannon Amos, a writer-producer and the founder of Afterglow Multimedia, LLC, and Grammy-nominated director K.C. Amos. Acrimonious disagreements between Shannon and K.C. Amos over the care given to their parents were documented by The Hollywood Reporter in 2023.
Amos' second marriage, in 1978–79, was to actress Lillian Lehman. He lived for many years in Tewksbury Township, New Jersey. In 2018, he moved to Westcliffe, Colorado, southwest of Pueblo. Amos left Colorado that same year, taking up residency in Los Angeles. His death was not announced until October 1, 2024. His daughter, Shannon, was unaware that he had died until his death was reported by the media. His body was cremated nine days after his death.
In 2020, Amos was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.