Los Angeles: Veteran star John Amos has passed away. He was 84. As per Variety, Amos, who worked in projects like ‘Good times’ and ‘Roots’, died on August 21 in Los Angeles of natural causes.
Mourning the demise of John Amos, his son Kelly Christopher Amos in a statement said, “It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned. 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,” the statement read.
Amos’ acting career picked up when he landed the role of weatherman Gordon ‘Gordy’ Howard on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore show’ in 1970. From there, he brought his comedic talents to CBS’ ‘Good Times’, a spinoff of ‘Maude’ and ‘All in the Family’, and played father James Evans Sr. in 1974. The Norman Lear program made history as the first TV show to follow an African American, two-parent household.
Amos received an Emmy nomination in 1977 for his role as adult Kunta Kinte in the ABC historical miniseries ‘Roots’. Amos also appeared in shows like ‘About the Andersons’, ‘The West Wing’, ‘Two and a Half Men’ and ‘The Ranch’. His final television role will arrive in the forthcoming series ‘Suits LA’.
On film, he had roles in Eddie Murphy’s ‘Coming to America’ and its 2021 sequel ‘Coming 2 America’, ‘Die Hard 2’, ‘The Beastmaster’, ‘Lock Up’ and ‘Me Tyme’. He and his son also produced the upcoming documentary about his life, titled “America’s Dad.”
