ACTOR
John Amos
- Known for
- Lock Up (1989), The Beastmaster (1982), Roots (1977), The Last Rifleman (2023)
20 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
John Amos is an actor best known for Lock Up, The Beastmaster and Roots.
All facts (20)
- #001
Amos was once a Golden Gloves boxing champion.
- #002
In the late 1960s he played professional football for the Norfolk Neptunes.
- #003
He signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, but was then strongly encouraged by head coach Hank Stram to follow his heart as a writer.
- #004
Amos was cast as the father of the Evans family in Good Times (1974) even though he was only eight years older than Jimmie 'JJ' Walker, who played his eldest son J. J., and nearly nineteen years younger than Esther Rolle, who played his wife Florida. This was not unusual in the African-American comedies Norman Lear produced in the 1970s. In The Jeffersons (1975), Sherman Hemsley, who played the husband George, was about twenty and a half years younger than Isabel Sanford, who played his wife Louise.
- #005
Before beginning his acting career he was also a social worker (he served as president of the New York Vera Justice Institute) and worked as an advertising copywriter.
- #006
He played college football at Colorado State University.
- #007
He also wrote comedy material for television and performed stand-up comedy in New York City's Greenwich Village.
- #008
Although he played Leslie Uggams's father in Roots (1977), in real life he is only three years older than her.
- #009
He left Good Times (1974) after complaints from fans and friends that the series was not a flattering portrait of African-American life and was somewhat demeaning. To explain his absence from the series, his character died in a car crash, which made his choice to leave permanent. At the time Amos resigned from the Good Times cast, it was not known that he had almost immediately taken a role in the miniseries Roots (1977).
- #010
He was inducted into the 2019-2020 Class of the New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Arts and Entertainment category.
- #011
In 1972 he appeared in the Broadway comedy Tough to Get Help alongside his future Good Times son, the then ten-year-old Ralph Carter. The play, directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Gordon, the famous name behind Arthur, closed on opening night.
- #012
He was friends with Bea Arthur and Louis Gossett Jr.
- #013
He was the father of K. C. Amos and Shannon Amos.
- #014
He was seen observing one of gangster John Gotti's trials.
- #015
He earned a degree in sociology from Colorado State University.
- #016
He was friends with Demond Wilson.
- #017
He was the son of John Amos Sr.
- #018
After the original pilot starring Paul Winfield, Amos was cast in the lead role as God's deputy in the ABC TGIF series Teen Angel (1997). This version was sent to critics; Amos was initially promoted by the press as a star, but during the series' first broadcast his scenes had been reshot with Ron Glass.
- #019
He was the grandfather of Quiera Williams.
- #020
John Amos was born in the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese calendar.
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work