John Amos Memorial Cover

Born John Allen Amos, Jr. on December 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, he had a brief professional football career and had jobs as an advertising and comedy writer before moving in front of the camera. Amos' first major TV role was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1970-73. He was the show's only Black character. Things changed when Amos starred as James Evans, Sr., the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom Good Times, which featured one of television's first Black two-parent families. The show ran from 1974-79 on CBS. But after three seasons of critical acclaim and high ratings, Amos was fired. He had become critical of the show's White writing staff creating storylines that he felt were inauthentic to the Black characters. Amos' character was killed in a car accident. Amos quickly bounced back, landing the role of the adult Kunta Kinte, the centerpiece of the seminal 1977 miniseries Roots, based on Alex Haley's novel set during and after the era of slavery in
the U.S. The miniseries was a critical and ratings blockbuster, and Amos eared an Emmy nomination for his role. Amos died of natural causes on August 21, 2024, but his death was not announced until October 1.