John Amos, star of “Good Times” and “Roots,” has died at the age of 84

CNN
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John Amos, the actor known for his roles as the family patriarch on the hit sitcom “Good Times” and as the adult Kunta Kinte in the iconic original miniseries “Roots,” has died, according to his longtime publicist Belinda Foster. He was 84.

Foster told CNN by phone on Tuesday that Amos died of natural causes on August 21 in Los Angeles. She also shared a statement from Amos' son Kelly Christopher Amos via email.

“It is with deep sadness that I inform you that my father has made the transition,” the statement said. “He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold… and he was loved around the world. Many fans consider him to be their TV father. He lived a good life. His legacy will live on in his outstanding work as an actor on television and film.”

Born and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, Amos found his first passion in sports after falling in love with football and playing at Colorado State University.

While earning his degree in social work, he had tryouts with the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.

In a video shared by the Chiefs, Amos once said he was a “slightly better than the average high school football player.”

“All I wanted to do my whole life was play professional football,” Amos said in the clip. “I thought this would be the best way for me to escape the economic strata that we seemed to be trapped in.”

Amos later recalled that Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram told him when he excluded the future actor from his brief time with the team: “You're not a football player, you're a young man who happens to play football.” “

After working as a social worker and copywriter in New York, Amos turned to acting and played the role of weatherman Gordon “Gordy” Howard on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which would begin his rise in Hollywood.

This was followed by small roles in other successful television shows of the 1970s, including “Love American Style,” “Sanford and Son,” and “The New Dick Van Dyke Show.”

But it was his role as James Evan Sr., the strict father in “Good Times,” that would make Amos a star.

In a 2020 interview, Amos spoke about leaving the hit series after two years after falling out with the white writers over the show's portrayal of the Black family at the center.

“I felt like I knew more about what a black family should be and how a black father would behave than our writers, none of whom were black,” Amos said at the time. “Their idea of ​​what a black family should be and what a black father would be was completely different than mine, and mine was steeped in reality.”

Amos said the show's creator, Norman Lear, finally came around to his way of thinking years later. The couple reportedly reconciled and publicly hugged during the 2019 live TV reunion special “Good Times.”

Race was again at the forefront when Amos portrayed Toby, the adult version of slave Kunte Kinte, in the critically acclaimed 1977 miniseries “Roots,” which earned Amos an Emmy nomination.

“I knew it was a life-changing role for me, as an actor and just from a humanistic perspective,” he told Time magazine in 2021. “It was the culmination of all the misunderstandings and stereotypical roles I had lived and seen as it was offered to me. It was like a reward for suffering these humiliations.”

The “Roots” role reunited him with actress Leslie Uggams, for whom he had written on her short-lived CBS variety series in the late 1960s.

Amos has appeared in other popular roles over the years, including as fast food restaurant owner Cleo McDowell in the hit 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming To America and its 2021 sequel.

Last year, Amos was embroiled in interpersonal family issues following allegations of elder abuse and speculation about his poor health from family members.

“To all my fans: I want you to know that I’m okay,” Amos said at the time. “I am not in intensive care nor have I ever fought for my life.”

This story has been updated with additional information.