{"id":109364,"date":"2024-10-02T03:45:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109364"},"modified":"2024-10-02T03:45:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:45:08","slug":"john-amos-patriarch-on-good-times-and-emmy-nominee-for-roots-dies-at-84","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109364","title":{"rendered":"John Amos, patriarch on &#8216;Good Times&#8217; and Emmy nominee for &#8216;Roots,&#8217; dies at 84"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 John Amos, who starred as the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom \u201cGood Times\u201d and earned an <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/emmy-awards\">Emmy<\/a><\/span> nomination for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries \u201cRoots,\u201d has died. He was 84.<\/p>\n<p>He died Aug. 21 of natural causes in Los Angeles. Amos\u2019 publicist, Belinda Foster, confirmed the news of his death Tuesday. <\/p>\n<p>He played James Evans Sr. on \u201cGood Times,\u201d which featured one of television\u2019s first Black two-parent families. Produced by <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/norman-lear-died-87300f0e49b54c05803ab315dfdf9933\">Norman Lear<\/a><\/span> and co-created by actor Mike Evans, who co-starred on \u201cAll in the Family\u201d and \u201cThe Jeffersons,\u201d it ran from 1974-79 on CBS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat show was the closest depiction in reality to life as an African American family living in those circumstances as it could be,\u201d Amos told Time magazine in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Among Amos\u2019 film credits were \u201cLet\u2019s Do It Again\u201d with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, \u201cComing to America\u201d with Eddie Murphy and its 2021 sequel, \u201cDie Hard 2,\u201d \u201cMadea\u2019s Witness Protection\u201d and \u201cUncut Gems\u201d with Adam Sandler. He was in Ice Cube and Dr. Dre\u2019s 1994 video \u201cNatural Born Killaz.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amos\u2019 \u201cGood Times\u201d character, along with wife Florida, played by Esther Rolle, originated on another Lear show, \u201cMaude.\u201d James Evans often worked two manual labor jobs to support his family that included three children, with Jimmie Walker becoming a breakout star as oldest son J.J. <\/p>\n<p>Such was the show\u2019s impact that Alicia Keys, Rick Ross, the Wu-Tang Clan are among the musicians who name-checked Amos or his character in their lyrics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany fans consider him their TV father,\u201d his son Kelly Christopher Amos said in a statement. \u201cHe 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 He was my dad, my best friend, and my hero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The elder Amos and Rolle were eager to portray a positive image of a Black family, struggling against the odds in a public housing project in Chicago. But they grew frustrated at seeing Walker\u2019s character being made foolish and his role expanded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact is that Esther\u2019s criticism, and also that of John and others \u2014 some of it very pointed and personal \u2014 seriously damaged my appeal in the Black community,\u201d Walker wrote in his 2012 memoir \u201cDyn-O-Mite! Good Times, Bad Times, Our Times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After three seasons of critical acclaim and high ratings, Amos was fired. He had become critical of the show\u2019s white writing staff creating storylines that he felt were inauthentic to the Black characters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were several examples where I said, \u2018No, you don\u2019t do these things. It\u2019s anathema to Black society. I\u2019ll be the expert on that, if you don\u2019t mind,\u2018\u201d he told Time magazine. \u201cAnd it got confrontational and heated enough that ultimately my being killed off the show was the best solution for everybody concerned, myself included.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amos\u2019 character was killed in a car accident. Walker lamented the situation. \u201cIf the decision had been up to me, I would have preferred that John stay and the show remain more of an ensemble,\u201d he wrote in his memoir. \u201cNobody wanted me up front all the time, including me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amos and Lear later reconciled and they shared a hug at a \u201cGood Times\u201d live TV reunion special in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Amos quickly bounced back, landing the role of an adult Kunta Kinte, the centerpiece of \u201cRoots,\u201d based on Alex Haley\u2019s novel set during and after the era of slavery in the U.S. The miniseries was a critical and ratings blockbuster, and Amos earned one of its 37 Emmy nominations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew that it was a life-changing role for me, as an actor and just from a humanistic standpoint,\u201d he told Time magazine. \u201cIt was the culmination of all of the misconceptions and stereotypical roles that I had lived and seen being offered to me. It was like a reward for having suffered those indignities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Born John Allen Amos Jr. on Dec. 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, he was the son of an auto mechanic. He graduated from Colorado State University with a sociology degree and played on the school\u2019s football team.<\/p>\n<p>Before pursuing acting, he moved to New York and was a social worker at the Vera Institute of Justice, working with defendants at the Brooklyn House of Detention.<\/p>\n<p>He had a brief professional football career, playing in various minor leagues. He signed a free-agent contract in 1967 with the Kansas City Chiefs, but coach Hank Stram encouraged Amos to pursue his interest in writing instead. He had jobs as an advertising and comedy writer before moving in front of the camera.<\/p>\n<p>Amos\u2019 first major TV role was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on \u201cThe Mary Tyler Moore Show\u201d from 1970-73. As the show\u2019s only Black character, he played straight man to bombastic anchor Ted Baxter.<\/p>\n<p>He was a frequent guest star on \u201cThe West Wing,\u201d and his other TV appearances included \u201cHunter,\u201d \u201cThe District,\u201d \u201cMen in Trees,\u201d \u201cAll About the Andersons,\u201d \u201cTwo and a Half Men,\u201d and \u201cThe Ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, Amos was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He served in the New Jersey National Guard.<\/p>\n<p>He is survived by daughter Shannon, a former entertainment executive, and and Kelly Christopher, a Grammy-nominated video music director and editor. They were from his first marriage to Noel Mickelson, whom he met in college. His second marriage to actor Lillian Lehman also ended in divorce.<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>Associated Press Writer Kaitlyn Huamani contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/john-amos-dead-65a1d2dc84175bb5d4c579901af7164f\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 John Amos, who starred as the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom \u201cGood Times\u201d and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the seminal &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=109364\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=109364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=109364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=109364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=109364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}