John Amos was born on December 27, 1941, in Newark, New Jersey. His father was John A. Amos, and his mother was Annabell Amos.
After he grew up and graduated from high school, John Amos started doing stand-up comedy acts in Greenwich Village. (He also studied Sociology at the Colorado State University in Colorado Springs, Colorado.) From there he traveled to Los Angeles where he worked on Lohman and Barkley’s comedy show. Amos also was contracted to write comedy skits on “The Leslie Uggams Show”in 1969.
In 1970, John Amos could sometimes be seen on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show. His character was named “Gordy Howard”, and he was the weatherman at the fictitious WJM-TV station. Playing the “often absent” character of Gordy didn’t give Amos the exposure he desired, so he left the sitcom after just three seasons. He was then cast as the husband of Bea Arthur’s black maid in the television show titled, “Maude.” John Amos’ character was still seen off and on, but the role landed him an even bigger role. His “Henry Evans” character and Esther Roll’s “Florida Evans” characters were spun off and turned into yet another CBS sitcom, “Good Times”. This show, which made its television debut in 1974, was the first series that was created by African-Americans.
John Amos spent the next two years playing the rugged, but loving father to his television son, J.J., who was played by actor Jimmy Walker. There were two other children in the fictitious Evans family, but the show’s producers decided to keep Walker in the spotlight in nearly every episode. This focus on Jimmy Walker, as well as other disagreements, led Amos to leave the “Good Times” series in 1976. Instead of replacing John Amos, and keeping the patriarch of the Evans family, the producers decided to kill the character off in an accident.
Just like the hard working “James Evans” on “Good Times”, John Amos wouldn’t be out of work long. In 1977, he landed a starring role in the ABC six-part miniseries, “Roots”. “Roots” was based on Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book. It relates the story of generations of Haley’s own family. It tells how they were kidnapped, then it takes their lives all the way to their freedom in the post Civil War times.
John Amos played the role of “Kunte Kinte” when the character was an adult. His performance won him an Emmy nomination.
After the miniseries ended, Amos took on many other television roles. He played “Captain Dolan” for one season on the police show, “Hunter”; co-starred in the 1990 thriller, “Die Hard 2: Die Harder”; acted in his own one-person show, “Hailey’s Comet” in 1990; landed a part in the sitcom “704 Hauser Street” on CBS in 1994, and ended up with a recurring role on “In the House” on the NBC network.
John Amos’ private life is just as successful. He lives with his longtime wife, Lily. They have two children, a daughter, Shannon Patrice, and a son K.C.
