John Amos, who shot to fame as the dad on the hit 1970s sitcom, Good Times, has died at 84.
The actor passed away back on August 21, but his family is only just now making a public announcement on his passing.
The Roots star’s son, K.C. Amos, announced that Amos died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, the Hollywood Reporter writes.
“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” the actor’s son 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.”
The New Jersey native first angled to become a professional football player and played for Colorado State University in the 1950s. He was signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos, but injuries forced him out of the NFL. He later played for other leagues including the United Football League, the Continental Football League, and the Atlantic Coast Football League. He was also a Golden Gloves boxing champion in the early 60s.
However, his trajectory took a different turn when he won the role of Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, from 1970 until 1973. On the tail of that stint, in 1974 he debuted as James Evans, Sr., the patriarch of the Evans family on the breakout TV hit Good Times.
The good times, though, did not last for Amos after he was famously removed from the show due to backroom arguments with producers and demands for more money and script changes. To make matters worse, the producers of Good Times didn’t just fire Amos, they went to the extent of writing his character a death notice, something that is not often done on a TV series.
The star has said that “We had a number of differences,” when speaking about his arguments with the TV show’s producers. He was especially frustrated that so much screen time was given to series star Jimmie Walker who Amos felt was being told to sing out his catch phrase “Dy-no-Mite” every third page of the script.
“But I wasn’t the most diplomatic guy in those days,” Amos has admitted, “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 plan.”
Amos was gone from the series by 1976. Good Times continued without him for two more seasons before being canceled in 1979.
Despite that rather ignominious career stumble, Amos appeared in many other high profile TV events including the acclaimed mini-series Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination. He later had a re-occurring role as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on NBC’s political drama West Wing.
He also appeared in TV series including All About the Andersons, Two and a Half Men, and Suits LA, among others.
Amos appeared on the big screen as well, with roles in films including The Beastmaster, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Coming to America, Die Hard 2, Dr. Doolittle 3, and many others.
His last film role was as Lincoln Jefferson Adams in the 2023 Pierce Brosnan film The Last Rifleman.
Amos leaves behind his son, Kelly Christopher, and daughter Shannon.
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