John Amos, the actor famed for portraying James Evans on Good Times, amongst other roles, has passed away. He was 84.
Variety reports that Amos’ reps confirmed that he actually passed away over a month ago, on August 21, in Los Angeles from natural causes. It is unclear why it took so long for the public to become aware of his death.
“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” said Amos’ son, Kelly Christopher Amos, 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. My father loved working as an actor throughout his entire life…. most recently in ‘Suits LA’ playing himself and our documentary about his life journey as an actor, ‘America’s Dad.’ He was my dad, my best friend, and my hero. Thank you for your prayers and support at this time.”
Born in Newark and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, Amos’ most popular role as an actor was easily as the middle-aged, blue collar father James Evans on Good Times. But it is worth noting that Amos was infamously fired after three seasons on the hit show due to disagreements with its writers. Apparently, Amos felt the scribes didn’t understand the Black people they were supposed to be writing about.
“The truth of it was when the show first started, we had no African-American writers on the show, and some of the attitudes they had written, as per my character and, frankly, for some of the other characters as well, caused me to say, ‘Uh uh, we can’t do this, we can’t do that.’ And they’d say, ‘What do you mean we can’t do this?’,” Amos told Sway In The Morning in 2017. “They’d go on about their credits and all the rest of that and I’d look at each and every one of them and say, ‘Well, how long have you been Black? That just doesn’t happen in the community. We don’t think that way. We don’t act that way. We don’t let our children do that. I was laying down what I thought were good rules to make the show stronger and better, they didn’t agree with me.’”
John Amos as James Evans, Sr., (1939 – 2024) and Esther Rolle (1920 – 1998) as Florida Evans, in a promotional portrait for the TV sitcom, Good Times
in 1974. Source: Silver Screen Collection / Getty
Other beloved characters in the late actor’s portfolio include Kansas City Mack in 1975’s Let’s Do It Again, Cleo McDowell in 1988’s Coming To America, and the adult Kunta Kinte in 1977’s miniseries Roots.
As soon as news of Amos’ passing start to spread, tributes to his greatness began pouring in over social media. We’ve compiled some of the more notable reactions below.
Rest in powerful peace John Amos.
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