His publicist Belinda Foster released a statement stating that he passed away on August 21 from natural causes, but the information was not made public until Tuesday.
On Good Times, which starred one of the first Black two-parent families on television, Amos also portrayed James Evans Sr.
Amos told Time in 2021, “That show was the closest depiction in reality to life as an African American family living in those circumstances as it could be.”
Among Amos’s cinematic credits were Die Hard 2, Coming To America starring Eddie Murphy, and Let’s Do It Again with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier.
Good Times had such an impact that artists like Alicia Keys, Rick Ross, and the Wu-Tang Clan all mentioned Amos or his persona in their song lyrics.
According to a statement from his son Kelly Christopher Amos, “many fans view him as their TV father.”
After accusing the show’s white writers of crafting narratives that lacked authenticity for the Black characters, Amos was let go from Good Times.
‘No, you don’t do these things,’ I told them in multiple instances. It’s frowned upon in Black culture. He told Time magazine, “If you don’t mind, I’ll be the expert on that.”
