{"id":261446,"date":"2024-10-02T13:23:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T13:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/02\/who-was-john-amos-5-things-to-know-about-the-good-times-actor-hollywood-life\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:11:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:11:02","slug":"who-was-john-amos-5-things-to-know-about-the-good-times-actor-hollywood-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/02\/who-was-john-amos-5-things-to-know-about-the-good-times-actor-hollywood-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Was John Amos? 5 Things to Know About the \u2018Good Times\u2019 Actor \u2013 Hollywood Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"entry-media edge-to-edge entry-media--lead-image\" aria-describedby=\"lead-image-credit\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper image-wrapper--widescreen\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"384\" height=\"216\" src=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-610621500_92e58f-e1727816388738.jpg?resize=384%2C216\" class=\"attachment-hl-384x216-tc size-hl-384x216-tc wp-post-image\" alt=\"NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 26:  John Amos attends the Rashad Jennings Foundation's 2nd Annual Giant Night Of Comedy at Gotham Comedy Club on September 26, 2016 in New York City.  (Photo by Johnny Nunez\/Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-610621500_92e58f-e1727816388738.jpg?resize=384%2C216 384w, https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-610621500_92e58f-e1727816388738.jpg?resize=768%2C432 768w, https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/GettyImages-610621500_92e58f-e1727816388738.jpg?resize=1536%2C864 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 670px\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><figcaption id=\"lead-image-credit\">Image Credit: Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!-- .entry-media --><\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/feature\/john-amos-dead-5324935\/\" data-analytics-trigger=\"article-body-link\"><strong>John Amos<\/strong> <\/a>died on August 21 in Los Angeles of natural causes, his representative confirmed on Tuesday. He was 84.<\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-3\">\u201cWith a career spanning over five decades, Amos leaves behind a legacy of groundbreaking work in both television and film, along with a commitment to positive African American representation in media,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-4\">The late actor is best known for his role as James Evans Sr. on <em>Good Times<\/em>, where he portrayed a hardworking father striving to provide for his family in a challenging environment. His character\u2019s emphasis on education and family values made a lasting impact on viewers, and he was one of the first African American fathers depicted positively on television.<\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-5\">Here are five additional facts about Amos.<\/p>\n<h2>Amos Played in the NFL<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-6\">Born on December 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, Amos grew up in a family that valued education. He was also a talented athlete, excelling in football and earning a scholarship to Long Beach State University. He initially enrolled at Long Beach City College and later graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in sociology, qualifying as a social worker.<\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-7\">Afterward, he briefly played college football at Colorado State and joined the Kansas City Chiefs for the 1967 NFL offseason before transitioning to acting.<\/p>\n<h2>Amos Had Stage Experience<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-8\">Amos began his career in theater, performing in productions like <em>Hair<\/em> on Broadway. His stage work includes the play <em>The Negro Ensemble Company\u2019s<\/em> <em>The Great MacDaddy<\/em>, and he has participated in various regional theater productions, emphasizing his strong foundation in the performing arts.<\/p>\n<h2>Amos\u2019s First Major TV Role<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-9\">Amos\u2019 first major TV role was as Gordy Howard, the weatherman on <em>The Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/em>\u00a0from 1970-73. As the show\u2019s only Black character, he played straight man to bombastic anchor Ted Baxter.<\/p>\n<h2>Amos\u2019s Awards and Recognition<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-10\">Throughout his career, Amos has received several nominations and awards for his performances, including NAACP Image Awards, a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role in <em>Roots<\/em>, and the TV Land Groundbreaking Show Award for<em> The Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/em>. He also received the TV Land Impact Icon Award for <em>Good Times<\/em> and the TV Land Anniversary Award for <em>Roots<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-11\">In 2020, Amos was also inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. He served in the New Jersey National Guard.<\/p>\n<h2>Amos Was Married Twice<\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-12\">Amos was married twice and had three children. His daughter, <strong>Shannon<\/strong>, was born in New Jersey in 1966 to Amos and<strong> Noel J. Mickelson<\/strong>. Their second child, <strong>Kelly Christopher \u201cK.C.\u201d<\/strong>, was born in 1970.<\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-13\">After Amos and Mickelson divorced in 1975, Amos briefly married actress <strong>Lillian Lehman<\/strong>, although details about their relationship remain private.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/feature\/5-things-to-know-about-the-good-times-actor-john-amos-5325014\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Image Credit: Getty Images John Amos died on August 21 in Los Angeles of natural causes, his representative confirmed on Tuesday. He was 84.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":261447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261446"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}