John Amos, Emmy-nominated ‘Good Occasions’ and ‘Roots’ actor, dies at 84

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John Amos, the actor greatest identified for enjoying household patriarch James Evans Sr. on the sitcom “Good Occasions,” has died, his publicist advised ABC Information in a press release. He was 84.

The actor died on Aug. 21 in Los Angeles of pure causes, in keeping with publicist Belinda Foster.

“It’s with heartfelt disappointment that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” Amos’ son Kelly Christopher Amos mentioned in a press release. “He was a person with the kindest coronary heart and a coronary heart of gold… and he was beloved the world over. Many followers take into account him their TV father. He lived a great life. His legacy will reside on in his excellent works in tv and movie as an actor.”

Amos obtained an Emmy nomination for his position because 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 an expert soccer participant, taking part in for Colorado State College and briefly for the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. He additionally served as a member of the New Jersey Nationwide Coast Guard.

Amos is greatest identified for enjoying James Evans on the Norman Lear-created collection “Good Occasions” reverse Esther Rolle’s Florida Evans. The sitcom, following a Black household in Chicago and tackling topics like poverty, drug use and inner-city crime, ran for six seasons between 1974 and 1979 — although Amos was solely on the present for the primary half of its run.

On this Oct. 5, 2015, file picture, John Amos attends the Althea screening and panel dialogue at One Time Warner Heart in New York.

Craig Barritt/Getty Photographs for Time Warner Inc., FILE

Elsewhere on tv, Amos starred as Gordy the weatherman on “The Mary Tyler Moore Present,” because the enslaved protagonist Kunta Kinte on the miniseries “Roots” in 1977 — which earned him an Emmy nomination — and because the recurring character Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on “The West Wing.”

Different credit on the small display embody roles in “Maude,” “Hunter,” “The Contemporary Prince of Bel-Air,” “Within the Home,” “The District,” “All In regards to the Andersons,” “Males in Timber,” “Two and a Half Males” and “The Ranch,” to call just a few.

The actor appeared in quite a few movies as properly, together with “Let’s Do It Once more” (1975), “The Beastmaster” (1982), “Coming to America” (1988), “Die Arduous 2” (1990), “Madea’s Witness Safety” (2012) and “Coming 2 America” (2021). He even performed himself in a small cameo in 2019’s “Uncut Gems.”

Amos, a member of the New Jersey Corridor of Fame, was married twice. He’s survived by his daughter Shannon and son Kelly Christopher, each of whom he shared together with his first spouse, Noel Mickelson.

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