John Amos, the actor best known for playing family patriarch James Evans Sr. on the sitcom “Good Times,” has died, his publicist told ABC News in a statement. He was 84.
The actor died on Aug. 21 in Los Angeles of natural causes, according to publicist Belinda Foster.
“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” Amos’ son Kelly Christopher Amos said 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.”
Amos received an Emmy nomination for his role as the older Kunta Kinte on the landmark miniseries “Roots.”
Born in Newark, New Jersey, on Dec. 27, 1939, Amos first tried to make it as a professional football player, playing for Colorado State University and briefly for the Kansas City Chiefs. He also served as a member of the New Jersey National Coast Guard.
Amos is best known for playing James Evans on the Norman Lear-created series “Good Times” opposite Esther Rolle’s Florida Evans. The sitcom, following a Black family in Chicago and tackling subjects like poverty, drug use and inner-city crime, ran for six seasons between 1974 and 1979 — though Amos was only on the show for the first half of its run.
In this Oct. 5, 2015, file photo, John Amos attends the Althea screening and panel discussion at One Time Warner Center in New York.
Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Time Warner Inc., FILE
Elsewhere on television, Amos starred as Gordy the weatherman on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” as the enslaved protagonist Kunta Kinte on the miniseries “Roots” in 1977 — which earned him an Emmy nomination — and as the recurring character Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on “The West Wing.”
Other credits on the small screen include roles in “Maude,” “Hunter,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “In the House,” “The District,” “All About the Andersons,” “Men in Trees,” “Two and a Half Men” and “The Ranch,” to name a few.
The actor appeared in numerous films as well, including “Let’s Do It Again” (1975), “The Beastmaster” (1982), “Coming to America” (1988), “Die Hard 2” (1990), “Madea’s Witness Protection” (2012) and “Coming 2 America” (2021). He even played himself in a small cameo in 2019’s “Uncut Gems.”
Amos, a member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame, was married twice. He is survived by his daughter Shannon and son Kelly Christopher, both of whom he shared with his first wife, Noel Mickelson.