John Amos

John Allen Amos Jr. was an American actor whose dignified, commanding presence made him one of television's most beloved fathers. Over a career of more than five decades he played James Evans Sr. on the groundbreaking CBS sitcom Good Times, the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark 1977 miniseries Roots, the weatherman Gordy Howard on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on The West Wing, and the fast-food owner Cleo McDowell in Coming to America. His publicist said he left behind a legacy of groundbreaking work and a dedication to positive African American representation in media.

Amos was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 27, 1939, the son of John A. Amos Sr., an auto mechanic, and Annabelle Amos. He grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, and graduated from East Orange High School in 1958. He played football at Long Beach City College and at Colorado State University, where he earned a degree in sociology, and he worked for a time as a social worker in New York City.

Football came first. In 1964 he signed with the Denver Broncos of the American Football League but was cut on the second day of training camp after a pulled hamstring kept him from running the 40-yard dash. He played for a string of minor league clubs, including the Canton Bulldogs, the Norfolk Neptunes, the Jersey City Jets and the Victoria Steelers, before a 1967 tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Hank Stram famously told him he was not a football player but a man trying to play football. Amos turned to writing and performing instead.

His screen career took off in 1970 when he was cast as Gordy Howard, the good-natured weatherman at WJM-TV on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Around the same time he appeared in Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Vanishing Point (both 1971), and in a well-known McDonald's commercial that he later said helped put his children through college. After guest appearances as Henry Evans on Maude, he was cast opposite Esther Rolle as James Evans Sr., the proud, hard-working father of a family living in a Chicago housing project, on Good Times, which premiered in 1974 and was the first network sitcom built around an African American family.

Amos wanted the show to present a positive image of a Black family struggling against the odds, and he openly challenged the writers over what he saw as stereotypes, particularly the emphasis on Jimmie Walker's character J.J. He was let go by executive producer Norman Lear after the third season in 1976, and the writers killed off James Evans, leading to Florida Evans' famous cry of "Damn! Damn! Damn!" Amos later admitted he had not always been diplomatic, but he never stopped arguing that television should portray Black families with truth.

In 1977 he played the adult Kunta Kinte in Roots, the ABC adaptation of Alex Haley's book, a role that brought him a Primetime Emmy nomination. He went on to a long film career with roles in The World's Greatest Athlete, Let's Do It Again, The Beastmaster, American Flyers, Coming to America as Cleo McDowell, Lock Up as Captain Meissner, Die Hard 2 as Major Grant, Ricochet and, decades later, Coming 2 America (2021). On television he played Captain Dolan on Hunter, starred in the short-lived 704 Hauser, co-starred in The District as Washington mayor Ethan Baker, and appeared across five seasons of The West Wing as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also appeared in All About the Andersons, Men in Trees, Two and a Half Men and The Ranch.

On stage he wrote, produced and performed Halley's Comet, a one-man play he toured around the world, and he appeared in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean on Broadway and at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton. He was a veteran of the 50th Armored Division of the New Jersey National Guard and an Honorary Master Chief of the United States Coast Guard. He won three TV Land Awards and was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2020.

Amos was married twice, first to artist and equestrian Noel Mickelson, with whom he had two children, Shannon Amos and K.C. Amos, and later, briefly, to actress Lillian Lehman. He lived for many years in Tewksbury Township, New Jersey, moved to Westcliffe, Colorado, in 2018, and settled in Los Angeles in 2023, the year a disagreement between his children over his care became public.

John Amos died of congestive heart failure at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, California, on August 21, 2024, at the age of 84. His death was not announced until October 1, 2024, when his son shared a statement calling him a man with "a heart of gold" whom many fans considered their TV father. His final screen appearance was playing himself in Suits LA, which later paid tribute to him with an episode titled "Good Times".