John Amos

John Amos was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in East Orange. He was the son of John A. Amos Sr., an auto mechanic, and Annabelle Amos. He graduated from East Orange High School in 1958 and earned a sociology degree from Colorado State University after attending Long Beach City College.

Before becoming an actor, Amos worked as a social worker at New York City's Vera Institute of Justice, where he worked with defendants at the Brooklyn House of Detention. He also worked as an advertising and comedy writer and performed stand-up comedy in Greenwich Village.

Amos played football at Long Beach City College and Colorado State University. He signed a free-agent contract with the Denver Broncos in 1964 but was released during training camp after a pulled hamstring prevented him from completing the 40-yard dash.

He went on to play for several minor-league teams, including the Canton Bulldogs, Joliet Chargers, Norfolk Neptunes, Wheeling Ironmen, Jersey City Jets, Waterbury Orbits, and Victoria Steelers. In 1967, he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, but did not make the team's major-league squad. Amos also became a Golden Gloves boxing champion.

Amos's first major television role was Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which he played from 1970 to 1973. He later appeared as Henry Evans on Maude, where Esther Rolle played his wife, Florida Evans. The characters were reworked for Good Times, with Amos and Rolle returning as James and Florida Evans.

On Good Times, Amos played a hardworking father supporting his family in a Chicago public housing project. He and Rolle wanted the series to present a positive image of a Black working-class family, but Amos became increasingly critical of storylines that he felt relied on stereotypical humor and did not reflect African American life. He clashed with executive producer Norman Lear and was dismissed after the third season in 1976. His character was killed in an off-camera car accident, and Jimmie Walker played his oldest son, J.J. Amos and Lear later reconciled at a 2019 live television reunion special.

Amos followed Good Times with his Emmy-nominated performance as the adult Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries Roots, adapted from Alex Haley's novel. The role became one of the defining performances of his career. He later held recurring roles as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on The West Wing, Mayor Ethan Baker on The District, and Buzz Washington on Men in Trees.

His film work included Let's Do It Again, The Beastmaster, Coming to America, Lock Up, Die Hard 2, Madea's Witness Protection, Uncut Gems, and Coming 2 America. He reprised Cleo McDowell, the father of Eddie Murphy's love interest, in both Coming to America and its sequel. Amos also appeared in Ice Cube and Dr. Dre's 1994 music video for “Natural Born Killaz” and released We Were Hippies, an album of original country songs, in 2009.

Amos made his professional stage debut in a 1971 Los Angeles production of Norman, Is That You? and later formed a theater company that toured the production. He made his Broadway debut in Tough to Get Help and appeared in productions of Gem of the Ocean, Fences, Twelfth Night, The Emperor Jones, and The Life and Death of a Buffalo Soldier.

He wrote and produced Halley's Comet, a one-man play about an 87-year-old man reflecting on American history, radio, the civil rights movement, and his childhood memory of seeing the comet. Amos performed the play internationally and frequently directed it. His stage work also earned him an NAACP Award for Best Actor for Split Second in 1985.

Amos was married to artist and equestrian Noel Mickelson from 1965 until their divorce in 1975. They had two children, Shannon Amos and K.C. Amos. His second marriage, to actress Lillian Lehman, lasted from 1978 to 1979.

He served as a veteran of the 50th Armored Division of the New Jersey National Guard and held the title of Honorary Master Chief of the United States Coast Guard. Amos was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2020.

John Amos died in Inglewood, California, on August 21, 2024. He was 84. His death was attributed to congestive heart failure and was also described as resulting from natural causes.

His death was publicly announced on October 1, 2024. His final acting appearance was in the television series Suits LA, which later paid tribute to him with an episode titled “Good Times.”