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Actor John Amos has passed away. No details about his death have been released by his publicist.<\/p>\n
Amos is best known for starring as patriarch James Evans on Good Times, which was one of the first sitcoms to feature a two parent Black family. Amos was fired after with the show’s white writers that the storylines were not authentic to the Black experience. He next starred as Kunta Kinte in the acclaimed tv adaptation of Alex Haley’s Roots, which was nominated for 37 Emmys. Gen X and millennials may know him best as Mr. McDowell, the father of Eddie Murphy’s love interest in Coming to America.<\/p>\n
Before becoming an actor, he attended Colorado State University where he played football and graduated with a sociology degree. He then moved to New York where he was a social worker at the Vera Institute of Justice, working with defendants at the Brooklyn House of Detention. He also played professional football as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967, but the coach encouraged him to pursue his interest in writing. He also served in the New Jersey National Guard.<\/p>\n