In a year of losing some pretty crucial African American giants (Bill Cobb, Louis Gossett Jr., Willie Mayes, Angie Bofill, Tito Jackson, Michaela DePrince, Frankie Beverly, James Earl Jones... and too many more!!!), it is with great sadness that The Black History Channel announces the death of our beloved father figure, Mr. John Amos.
John Allen Amos, born December 27, 1939, died on August 21, 2024 -- though his death was only announced yesterday, October 1, 2024. He was 84 years young. His son, K.C. Amos released this statement on October 1, 2024:
“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.”
I first became aware of John Amos in my teens. He was one of the stars of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and black people couldn't get enough of him! After all, we had so few heroes back then... not because no one was worthy, but because the powers that be did not feel black presence on television was wanted or even necessary. I remember our heroes... John Amos as "Gordy the Weatherman (1970), Flip Wilson of The Flip Wilson Show (1970), Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura) of Star Trek Fame (1966), Dihann Caroll as Julia (1968), Redd Foxx of Sanford & Son (1972) and a few others. In case you think I'm leaving out Esther Roll, Bern Nadette Stanis, Ja'Net DuBois or other pioneering African Americans, I'm not. Good Times debuted in 1974, a few years after John Amos burst onto television. For purposes of this article, I'm referring to the early stars I personally remember before these other greats flooded onto the television screen.
The last time 'Gordy the Weatherman' was on the show, he told the other characters (Mary, Lou Grant, Ted Baxter) that he was leaving because he got a job with a national news show. This was supposedly a BIG come-uppance for Gordy, but all the audience knew was that John Amos, our handsome black hero who always left us laughing, was leaving the show. Today I understand that John Amos decided to leave because he had the chance to star in his own sit-com, Good Times, but back then we were heartbroken.
As I'm sure you know (who doesn't???), Good Times was a show about a black couple named James and Florida Evans. They lived in the projects with their three children, JJ, Thelma, and Michael. Black people LOVED the show for its humor and its real-life subject matter. We also loved the show because there was a mother AND father in the home, something Hollywood seemed to think was impossible to accomplish but WE knew it was as everyday as apple pie. (Footnote - EVERY family in my typical black neighborhood had TWO parents... why is that so hard to portray on television?). But I digress. We loved the show because James was an honest, hardworking father, Florida was a strict, no-nonsense mother, JJ was artistic but apt to stray if not for his parents' guidance, Thelma was smart and beautiful and chaste, and Michael was a militant who said all the things most black people were thinking. During the third season of the show, James Evans was killed in a car wreck (killed off due to artistic differences with the producers). This TV death effectively killed the show. It was not difficult to see that the producers were using all their creative strength to keep this black family poor and struggling in the ghetto. Every time something good was about to happen to uplift the family, something devastating happened and the family had to stay put.
Anyway, after the powers that be decided to kill off the 'James Evans' character, we the audience were left stunned and disappointed. Until John Amos reappeared as the larger-than-life Kunta Kinte in the miniseries Roots. John's character was illiterate and spoke in the broken English of the enslaved black who was oppressed from every angle, and yet he made a dashing figure on screen. He was tall, thick, dark-skinned and muscular; and he overcame impossible odds all while bearing a proud and defiant look on his face that left African Americans cheering him on and screaming, "That's right, I'm black and I'm proud!"
Footnote: It was while watching this riveting miniseries for the first time that I became interested in writing a sweeping novel about black life in the 1800s. I had always been a writer, but I had dabbled in poetry and short stories. But following the story of Kunta Kinte and drinking in all the rich details of his life and adventures sparked something inside, and I vowed to write my own novel about the old south from an African American perspective. True, this has not materialized yet, but it's coming; I can feel it!
Since the Roots phenomenon, African Americans have enjoyed too many John Amos movies to count, including Coming to America in which John played the crafty Mr. McDowell, who was always looking over his shoulders to see if McDonald's was on his tail. He also starred in Die Hard 2, and appeared in The West Wing, Sanford & Son, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Player's Club, Dr. Dolittle, and many more shows. He won an NAACP Award, several TV Land Awards, and was nominated for an Emmy in 1977 for playing "Toby" in Roots.
Rest in Power, John Amos. You are loved, and you will be missed!
This video is originally found at this url: https:// youtu.be/EiU-kA-K4yk?si=7nfO7eJJqtVQTcYN
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