John Amos, the actor most recognized for playing the adult Kunta Kinte in the renowned original miniseries “Roots,” and the patriarch of the family on the popular comedy “Good Times,” has passed away, according to his longtime publicist Belinda Foster. He was eighty-four.
Foster confirmed over the phone with CNN on Tuesday that Amos passed away on August 21 in Los Angeles from natural causes. She also forwarded an email with a statement from Kelly Christopher Amos, Amos’ son.
The statement said, “I share with you my deepest sadness that my father has transitioned.”
“He had a golden heart and the warmest heart of all the men. and he was adored everywhere. He is regarded as their TV father by many admirers. He had a happy life. His exceptional acting performances in movies and television will carry on his legacy.
Amos was up in East Orange, New Jersey, and discovered his initial love in sports as a player at Colorado State University after falling in love with football.
Despite receiving a degree in social work, he was able to secure tryouts with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League, the Denver Broncos, and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Amos previously described himself as a “slightly better than average high school football player” in a video released by the Chiefs.
In the video, Amos stated, “Playing professional football was all I ever wanted to do with my life.” “I assumed that would be the most effective method for me to break free from the economic strata we appeared to be confined to.”
After the future actor was cut from the Kansas City Chiefs during his brief tenure, Amos would later say that Hank Stram informed him, “You are not a football player, you are a young man who happens to be playing football.”
John Amos and Gavin MacLeod (left) on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” 1972. Getty Images/CBS Photo Archive
Amos worked in New York for a while as a social worker and copywriter before pursuing his acting career. He was cast as weatherman Gordon “Gordy” Howard on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which marked the start of his rise to fame in Hollywood.
There would be cameos on a few more popular 1970s sitcoms, such as “Love American Style,” “Sanford and Son,” and “The New Dick Van Dyke Show.”
However, Amos’s breakthrough performance was in “Good Times” as the strict father, James Evan Sr.
Amos talked about quitting the popular series after two years due to “contention” with the White writers about the portrayal of the Black family at the show’s center in a 2020 interview.