John Allen Amos Jr. was an American actor best known for his roles as the adult Kunta Kinte in the miniseries Roots and James Evans Sr. in the CBS television series Good Times. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he passed away on August 21, 2024, of natural causes in Los Angeles. Amos was best known for his roles as the family patriarch in the sitcom “Good Times” and as Kunta Kinte in the TV miniseries “Roots”. His death was announced by his son Kelly Christopher Amos on October 1, and his daughter Shannon Amos shared on Instagram that the Amos family is grieving the loss of their father, who they believe was neglected, isolated, and potentially abused in his final days.
John Amos was born on December 27, 1939, in Ohio, and had 10 siblings. He married Hannah Berridge about 1806, in Heriot, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, and they were the parents of at least 4 sons and 7 daughters. In 1816, John Amos was christened on May 19, 1799, in Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom, and married Mary Kirk on July 17, 1823, in Winterbourne.
John Amos’s family tree on Geni has over 260 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. The actor was best known for his roles as the family patriarch in the sitcom “Good Times” and as James Evans Sr. in the 1977 miniseries “Roots”.
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| All Family Trees results for John Amos | All Family Trees results for John Amos · John Marshall Amos. John Marshall Amos from tree Hamilton Family Tree · Derek John Amos found in | ancestry.com |
| John Amos Family History & Historical Records | John A Amos, 1854 – 1889 … John A Amos was born on month day 1854, in birth place, Ohio. Siblings. John had 10 siblings: Philip Amos, Catherine Hemminger (born … | myheritage.com |
| Family tree by Tim DOWLING (tdowling) – John Amos | Discover the family tree of John Amos for free, and learn about their family history and their ancestry. | gw.geneanet.org |
📹 John Amos Guest Stars as Fred Davis – Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the
John Amos — who played James Evans on the original ‘Good Times’ — makes his first appearance guest starring as Fred Davis.
📹 victim of elder abuse?? #johnamos #actor #goodtimes
John Amos, best known as the father “James Evans” in Good Times, is in the news due to alleged Elder abuse. #johnamos #actor …
That was a symbolic moment, and it only took 40 ish years!! Thank you for posting…(fyi, James Evans is dead, he was playing a different character.) But telling him he was not welcome and then having a change of heart was one of the best lifting of the fourth wall moments I’ve seen in a very long time!!
Just my opinion. First off. The ladies were fine. They acted it out very well. I thought the ham and worst of it was JJ. Then Michael and James. Now, with John Amos. First off it is Live TV and He is 80 years old. Give him a Break! He did well despite a line or two missing. Plus, IMO Good Times was a good show but it took a major hit in quality after Amos left the show. Bottom line, it was nice to watch an old hit.
Help me out here: Its it just me or did it seem like John Amos forgot some of his lines. Also when Jimmy Kimmel introduced some of the original cast members from Good Times, Bernadette Stans closed the door on Jimmie Walker. Plus Jimmie Walker was not there with everyone at the end of the show. Am I reading too much into it?
So happy to see John Amos, super excited. The set looks amazing kudos to the set decorator for doing such a great job recreating the set. The casting could have been better, none of the actors resemble the original cast except Viola Davis. She looks like she could be part of Ester Rolles family. I wished I lived in LA to attend a live taping.
Dear Hollywood Please don’t fk with anymore black shows unless you have everything trunk tight! This was a terrible showing! Good times is my favorite show! Everything thing seemed rushed! And the actors choose had no passion for the script! The casting director should be fired! Meanwhile the set director should get a raise!
Andre played a good “James” Viola did very fine justice for “Florida”. Tiffany was great as “Willona” Jay..well….JJ is a hard character 2 play. ‘Specially in 2019. Always glad 2 see the original “James” Mr. John Amos. Was SOOO happy when he and Norman HUGGED @ the end…..!! (Probably staged but still….lol)
You can find Jimmy Walker’s Emmy Legend interview on YouTube where he throws shade on all of the cast members. I will say that 1 good point he makes is that unlike Esther Rolle and John Amos He really was a product of the projects and based his personification of JJ in part on people he had known in the projects, Though he gets a bit personal, not that it isn’t entertaining to watch. That said come out perusal Jay Pharaoh strut around and ham it up and pander to the audience, Your realize why Esther and John hated that character as much as they did. It would be like trying to star in an episode of All in the Family or Frasier while a young Jim Carrey is running around the stage pretending to talk through his butt.
My cast James Terry Crews Florida Octavia David Thelma Kee Kee Palmer Wilona WENDY raqual Robison from the game TV show Micheal the little kid from blackish now lets are you guys cast bc that cast was horrible i love Viola lets make this go curak for Mr Monte David who is the Real crester of Good Times and The Jeffersons and Whats Happining
This show probably needed better actors to play the specific roles, the best two out of the bunch was Viola Davis and maybe Tiffany Haddish although Haddish forgot a line or two but that’s OK. It was so awesome to see John Amos. And I see things haven’t changed between Jimmy Walker the asshole as it pertains to him and his former cast mates, it’s really a shame, because JJ Evans was a groundbreaking character which probably couldn’t be played by anyone they put up there except for maybe Marlon Wayins
This was not a good remake of the show. Loved seeing John Amos, but that cast (outside of Viola Davis) was bad. Now do the remake of Maude when James name was Henry and he was a fireman and a cab driver! and not an uneducated man who couldn’t keep a job. Just to show how they shaped the images of us on TV. I always wondered how they went from New York City to the Chicago Projects……
Episode was alright, but the “Cleatus” episode should have been suggested. We’ve already seen Michael B. Jordan in a dramatic role (Creed 1 and 2), and evil role (Black Panther), let’s see him in the role of Cleatus. He would tear that role up!!!!!! Don’t forget about Richard Belzer as the FBI agent. Just my opinion.
Nah ain’t nothing like the real thing babies. The original good times was one of the greatest shows on tv back in the day. But it’s was great too see John Amos again. Last time I seen him on a regular tv show was two and a half men playing an older gay man. But still Kunta Kenta in Roots was one of his best rolls. RIP Florida Evens
Watched all these Live in Front of a Studio Audience “remakes”. Either the producers didn’t understand the humor and time period from these series or the actors didn’t do their homework and just signed on for a quick pay day. The great thing about these original series was the time period from which they were filmed and the skills of the actors who played such iconic and memorable characters. These shows just weren’t three camera sitcoms done for the sake of a cheap laugh (except maybe the character of J.J.) they were social commentary. These “remakes’ were just parody and done very poorly at that. Sure the sets were authentic and the guest appearances by some of the original series actors were nice touches but the authenticity and believability was obviously thrown out and in it’s place really bad imitations. Like everything in this era that tries to harken back to the past where the acting, tone of a show, the writing and the connection to the audience is what made shows memorable, modern day producers, writers, actors and directors do not do their research or homework and we get these kinds of projects that even in 10 years from now will be forgotten. There is a reason why shows from the 70s have stood the test of time and are more memorable (just like shows from the 50s and 60s) and shows like these are so quickly forgotten.
Here’s an idea: they should do a 2 part “Live In Front Of A Studio Audience”: “Good Times”. Only this time, they should do “The Evans Get Involved” episodes (the episodes that introduced Janet Jackson as Penny)!!! Playing Lenella Gordon (Penny’s abusive, biological mother): either Kim Fields, or Alexis Fields)!!!