John Amos

For the paddlewheel tugboat, see PS John H Amos.

Not to be confused with John Stamos.

John Amos
Amos at "Their Voices, Their Stories - Black Veterans Who Served on Iwo Jima", March 2011.
Born	John Allen Amos Jr. (1939-12-27) December 27, 1939 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Colorado State University (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–present
Known for	Kunta Kinte (adult) – Roots James Evans Sr. – Good Times
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Noel J. Mickelson ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1975)​ Lillian Lehman ​ ​ (m. 1978; div. 1979)​
Children	2

John Allen Amos Jr. (born December 27, 1939) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark miniseries Roots and for portraying James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series Good Times. Amos' other television work includes The Mary Tyler Moore Show, a recurring role as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on The West Wing, and the role of Washington, DC Mayor Ethan Baker in the series The District. Amos has appeared on Broadway and in numerous films in his five-decade career.

He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. On film, he has played numerous supporting roles in movies such as The Beastmaster (1982), Coming to America (1988), Lock Up (1989), Die Hard 2 (1990) and Coming 2 America (2021). Prior to his acting career, Amos played college football at Colorado State University. He also had a brief professional football career which included spending a portion of the 1967 offseason for the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs.

Early life

Amos was born on December 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Annabelle and John A. Amos Sr., an auto mechanic. He grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, and graduated from East Orange High School in 1958. He enrolled at Long Beach City College and graduated from Colorado State University, qualifying as a social worker with a degree in sociology. Amos played on the school's football team. After college, he was a Golden Gloves boxing champion.

Football career

In 1964, Amos signed a free agent contract with the American Football League's Denver Broncos. Unable to run the 40-yard dash because of a pulled hamstring, he was released on the second day of training camp. He then played with the Canton Bulldogs and Joliet Explorers of the United Football League. In 1965, he played with the Norfolk Neptunes and Wheeling Ironmen of the Continental Football League. In 1966, he played with the Jersey City Jets and Waterbury Orbits of the Atlantic Coast Football League.

In 1967, Amos signed a free agent contract with the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Hank Stram told him, "You're not a football player, you're a man who is trying to play football." He returned to the Continental League, where he played that year with the Victoria Steelers.

Acting career

On Good Times (1974), L–R: Ralph Carter, BernNadette Stanis, Jimmie Walker, Esther Rolle, and John Amos

Amos became well known in his first major TV role, playing Gordy Howard, the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, from 1970 until 1973. Upon the death of Betty White, Amos and Joyce Bulifant (who played Marie Slaughter) became the last surviving semi-regular cast members of that show (not counting child actors). In 1971, he appeared with Anson Williams in a commercial for McDonald's, and performed in a small role as a radio engineer in the cult film, Vanishing Point, with Cleavon Little. But he is best known for his portrayal of James Evans Sr., the husband of Florida Evans, first appearing three times on the sitcom Maude before continuing the role in 61 episodes of Good Times from 1974 to 1976.

Good Times (1974–1976)

Although cast as a hard-working middle-aged father of three, Amos was 34 when the show began production in 1973, only eight years older than the actor who played his oldest son (Jimmie Walker) and 19 years younger than his screen wife (Esther Rolle). Much like Rolle, Amos wanted to portray a positive image of an African-American family, struggling against the odds in a poor neighborhood, but saw the premise slighted by lower comedy, and he expressed dissatisfaction.

During his tenure on Good Times, Amos openly clashed with the writers of the show, due to the scripts' lack of authenticity in portraying the African-American experience. This led to his dismissal by executive producer Norman Lear at the end of season 3 in 1976. In a 2017 interview, Amos said he had told the writers, who, according to Amos, did not understand African-Americans, "That just doesn't happen in the community. We don't think that way. We don't act that way. We don't let our children do that."

In 1980, he starred in the TV film Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story. Amos played an Archie Bunker-style character in the 1994 sitcom 704 Hauser, a modern spin-off of All in the Family, but it was canceled after only five episodes (in the series he played a different character than he did in the All in the Family spin-off Maude). He also portrayed Captain Dolan on the TV show Hunter from 1984 to 1985. He co-starred in the CBS police drama The District. Amos was a frequent guest on The West Wing, portraying Admiral Percy Fitzwallace, who serves as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for most of the show. He played Buzz Washington in the ABC series Men in Trees. Amos co-starred with Anthony Anderson in the short-lived TV series All About the Andersons in 2003.

In 2010, Amos also appeared as recurring character Ed on Two and a Half Men, and in 2016 as another recurring character, also (coincidentally) named Ed, on the Netflix sitcom The Ranch. He has guest-starred in a number of other television shows, including Police Story, The A-Team, The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, In the House, Martin as Sgt. Hamilton Strawn (Tommy's father), Touched by an Angel, Psych, Sanford and Son, My Name Is Earl, Lie to Me, and Murder, She Wrote. He has also appeared as a spokesman for the Cochran Firm (a national personal injury law firm).

Amos wrote and produced Halley's Comet, a critically acclaimed one-man play that he has performed around the world. Amos performed in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean on Broadway and later at the McCarther Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.

Film, music

John Amos in 2000

In 1977, Amos starred in the ABC-TV Miniseries Roots, as the adult Kunta Kinte, based on the book by author Alex Haley. Amos was featured in Disney's The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) with Tim Conway and Jan-Michael Vincent, and also starred as Kansas City Mack in Let's Do It Again (1975) with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier. His other film appearances include Vanishing Point (1971), The President's Plane Is Missing (1973), Touched by Love (1980), The Beastmaster (1982), Dance of the Dwarfs (1983), American Flyers (1985), Coming to America (1988), Lock Up (1989), Two Evil Eyes (1989), Die Hard 2 (1990), and Ricochet (1991).

He appeared in the 1995 film For Better or Worse and played a police officer in The Players Club (1998). He played Uncle Virgil in My Baby's Daddy (2004), and starred as Jud in Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006). In 2012, Amos had a role in the movie Madea's Witness Protection, as Jake's father. He appeared in Ice Cube and Dr. Dre's 1994 video for "Natural Born Killaz."

In 2009, he released We Were Hippies, an album of original country songs by Gene and Eric Cash.

In 2021, Amos starred in Because of Charley, as the patriarch of an estranged step-family riding out the hurricane that tore through Florida in 2004.

Awards

In addition to his Emmy nomination for Roots, Amos has been nominated for a CableACE award, an NAACP Image Award, and a DVD Exclusive Award. Amos has won three TV Land Awards, taking home trophies for his roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times and the TV miniseries Roots.

In 2020, Amos was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Amos is a veteran of the 50th Armored Division of the New Jersey National Guard and Honorary Master Chief of the United States Coast Guard.

Amos has been married twice. His first marriage, from 1965 to 1975, was to artist and equestrian Noel Mickelson, with whom he has two children: Shannon Amos, a writer/producer and founder of Afterglow Multimedia, LLC, and Grammy-nominated director K.C. Amos. The acrimonious relationship between Shannon and K.C. over the care given to their parents has been documented by The Hollywood Reporter.

His second marriage, from 1978 to 1979, was to actress Lillian Lehman.

Amos lived for many years in Tewksbury Township, New Jersey. In 2018 he moved to Colorado. In 2023 he resided in Westcliffe, Colorado, where the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was looking into accusations of elder abuse.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Vanishing Point	Super Soul's Engineer	Uncredited
	Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song	Biker	Credited as Johnny Amos
1973	The World's Greatest Athlete	Coach Sam Archer
1975	Let's Do It Again	Mack "Kansas City Mack"
1980	Touched by Love	Tony
1982	The Beastmaster	Seth
1983	Dance of the Dwarfs	Esteban
1985	American Flyers	Dr. Conrad
1988	Coming to America	Cleo McDowell
1989	Lock Up	Captain Meissner
1990	Two Evil Eyes	Detective Legrand	Segment: "The Black Cat"
	Die Hard 2	Major Grant
1991	Ricochet	Reverend Styles
	Without a Pass	Blue Berry
1993	Mac	Nat
	Night Trap	Captain Hodges
1995	For Better or Worse	Gray
1998	The Players Club	Officer Freeman
2001	All Over Again	Coach Zeller
2003	The Watermelon Heist	Old Man Amos
2004	My Baby's Daddy	Uncle Virgil
	Countdown	Admiral Melory
2005	Shadowboxing	Hill
2006	Dr. Dolittle 3	Jud Jones
2007	Ascension Day	Henry
2010	Lean Like a Cholo	"Slick"
2011	Stills of the Movement: The Civil Rights Photojournalism of Flip Schulke	The Narrator
2012	Zombie Hamlet	Edgar Mortimer
	Madea's Witness Protection	Pastor Nelson
2014	Act of Faith	Brady
2015	Bad Asses on the Bayou	Earl
	Mercy for Angels	God
	Tamales and Gumbo	The Patron
2016	Hauntsville	Mr. Kimball
2019	Uncut Gems	Himself
2021	Coming 2 America	Cleo McDowell
	Because of Charley	Grandpa
2021	Christmas in Miami	Chief Host
2022	Me Time	Gil
2023	The Last Rifleman	Lincoln Adams

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	The Bill Cosby Show	1st Salesman	as Johnny Amos Episode: "Swann's Way"
1970–1977	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Weatherman Gordon "Gordy" Howard	13 episodes
1971	The Funny Side	Minority Husband	6 episodes
1971–1972	Love, American Style	Bell Captain	2 episodes
1972	The New Dick Van Dyke Show	Mark Cooper	Episode: "The Harry Award"
1973	Sanford and Son	Luther	Episode: "A Visit from Lena Horne"
1973–1974	Maude	Henry Evans	Recurring role, 3 episodes
1974	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Himself	1 episode
1974–1976	Good Times	James Evans Sr.	61 episodes
1976	Police Story	Sergeant Walt Kyles	1 episode
1976–1977	Future Cop	Officer Bill Bundy	7 episodes
1977	Roots	Older Kunta Kinte	3 episodes
1979	Mr. Dugan	Representative Dooley	Unaired pilot
1980	Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story	Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson	TV miniseries
1981	Here's Boomer	Charlie Foster	Episode: "Boomer Goes for the Gold"
1982	Insight	Josh Cameron	Episode: "Hang Tight, Willy Bill"
1983	The Love Boat	Duke Taylor	Episode: "The Zinging Valentine/The Very Temporary Secretary/Final Score"
1984	The A-Team	Reverend Taylor	Episode: "Pure-Dee Poison"
	Trapper John, M.D.	Inspector Roland Hackett	Episode: "The Fred Connection"
	Hardcastle and McCormick	Albie Meadows	Episode: "The Homecoming: Part 2"
1984–1985	Hunter	Captain Dolan	13 episodes
1986	One Life to Live	Bill Moore	2 episodes
1987	Murder, She Wrote	"Doc" Penrose	Episode: "Death Takes a Dive"
	Stingray	Roy Jeffries	Episode: "Blood Money"
	You Are the Jury	Sergeant Harold Borman	Episode: "The State of Oregon vs. Stanley Manning"
1988	Beauty and the Beast	Farrell	Episode: "The Alchemist"
	Bonanza: The Next Generation	Mr. Mack	TV movie
	The Cosby Show	Dr. Herbert	Episode: "The Physical"
1989	Gideon Oliver	Carl Manning	Episode: "Tongs"
1994	704 Hauser	Ernie Cumberbatch	6 episodes
1994–1995	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Fred Wilkes	3 episodes
1995–1997	In the House	Coach Sam Wilson	12 episodes
1995	Touched by an Angel	Sheriff James Mackey	Episode: "The Hero"
1997	Martin	Sergeant Strawn	Episode: "Daddy Dearest"
	Walker, Texas Ranger	Pastor Roscoe Jones	Episode: "Sons of Thunder"
1998	King of the Hill	Glenn Johnson	Voice Episode: "Traffic Jam"
1999–2004	The West Wing	Admiral Percy Fitzwallace	22 episodes
2000	Something to Sing About	Reverend Washington	TV movie
	The Outer Limits	Peter "Yas" Yastrzemski	Episode: "Zig Zag"
	Disappearing Acts	Mr. Swift	TV movie
2000–2001	The District	Mayor Ethan Baker	10 episodes
2002	American Masters	Dr. Bledsoe	Episode: "Ralph Ellison: An American Journey"
2003–2004	All About the Andersons	Joe Anderson	16 episodes
2006	Voodoo Moon	"Dutch"	TV movie
2006–2008	Men in Trees	"Buzz" Washington	27 episodes
2007	Psych	Uncle Burton Guster	Episode: "Meat Is Murder, But Murder Is Also Murder"
2008	My Name Is Earl	Joe	Episode: "Stole an RV"
2010	Two and a Half Men	Ed	3 episodes
	Royal Pains	Harrison Phillips	Episode: "Big Whoop"
	30 Rock	Himself	Episode: "Let's Stay Together"
	Lie to Me	Jim Weaver	Episode: "Smoked"
2012	NYC 22	Pappy Science	Episode: "Ransom"
2016–2017	The Ranch	Ed Bishop	4 episodes
2019	Ballers	Deacon Eller	2 episodes
	Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell	War	Episode: "The Poor Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
	Live in Front of a Studio Audience	Fred Davis	Episode: "'All in the Family' and 'Good Times'"
2020	The Last O.G.	Uncle D	Episode: "Family Feud"
2022	The Righteous Gemstones	Buddy Lissons	Episode: "I Will Tell of All Your Deeds"

External links

• John Amos at IMDb
• John Amos at the TCM Movie Database
• John Amos at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Amos at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• John Amos at AllMovie
• John Amos at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television