John Amos, star of ‘Good Times’ and ‘Roots,’ dead at 84
October 2, 2024 2024-10-02 6:22John Amos, star of ‘Good Times’ and ‘Roots,’ dead at 84
Introduction: John Amos
John Amos, who played the matriarch on the hit
series “Good Times” and the grown-up
Kunta Kinde on the hit miniseries “Roots,” has
died, according to Belinda Foster’s
longtime publicist. He is 84 years old.
Foster told CNN by phone Tuesday that
he was killed on Aug. 21 of natural causes in
Los Angeles. He also shared an emailed
statement to Amos Kelly’s son, Christopher Amos.
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of
my father’s death,” the statement said. “He was a
kind man with a heart of gold … and loved all over
the world. He is considered by many fans as their
television father. He lived a good life. His
legacy as an actor will live on throughout his life.”
Amos was born and raised in East
Orange, New Jersey. He first discovered
his passion for sports after falling in
love with football and playing at
Colorado State University.
After graduating with a degree in social work,
After graduating with a degree in social work,
he tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs,
Denver Broncos and British Columbia
Lions in the Canadian Football League.
In a video released by the Chiefs, Amos once said he was “a little bit better than your average high school football player.”
“All my life I just wanted to play professional football,” Amos said in the video. “We thought it was the best way to escape the economic strata we seemed stuck in.”
Amos later recalled that Kansas City Chiefs head coach Hank Strom told the future actor during his brief time with the team, “You’re not a football player, you’re just a young man who happened to play football.”
After working as a social worker and copywriter in New York, Amos turned to acting, later landing the role of meteorologist Gordon “Gordie” Howard on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and beginning his rise to fame in Hollywood.
This was followed by parts of successful television shows of the 1970s, including “American Style Lover,” “Sanford & Son” and “The New Dick Van Dyke Show.”
But it was his role as James Evan Sr.’s strict father in “Good Times” that made Amos a star.
