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John Amos
John amos men in trees
John Amos played the part of James Evans, Sr. in the first three seasons of the series.
Personal Information
Birth name: John Allen Amos Jr.[1]
Born: (1939-12-27) December 27, 1939 (age 84)
Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Career/Family Information
Occupation/
Career:
Actor
Years active: 1966-present
Character information
Appeared on: Good Times
Character played: James Evans Sr. in Seasons 1-3
Episode
appearances:
61 in series
Good-Times-1

John Amos (born December 27, 1939) played the part of James Evans Sr. in the first three seasons of Good Times. John also appeared in two other Bud Yorkin/Norman Lear TV projects: As Ernie Cumberbatch in the short-lived CBS-TV All In The Family spin-off series 704 Hauser and he also played the part of TV weatherman Gordy Howard from 1970 until 1973 on the CBS-TV sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. John, who is an Emmy-nominated actor who played Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on the first five seasons of The West Wing. He was nominated for a Emmy in 1977 for his role on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning ABC-TV miniseries Roots.

About John[]

Also a former athlete who played varsity football at East Orange High School in his hometown of East Orange, NJ, and then at Long Beach (CA) City College, and at Colorado State, John found his way bouncing around for several years in tryouts with several semi pro and professional league teams, most notably, The AFL's Denver Broncos, and then the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs by 1966, where then head coach Hank Stram advised him to continue to pursue his acting career, telling him "You're not a football player, you're a man who is trying to play football"

After reading an then becoming impressed with a poem which he had written about a mythical figure which crossed the door of all of the players who were cut; Stram would have him read the poem aloud to the rest of the players during one training camp practice session, to loud applause and a standing ovation.

Other series which John has either appeared in supporting or guest roles include CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The District, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Martin, and Maude. He also starred in the motion pictures Coming to America, Lock Up and Die Hard 2. He also guest starred on an episode of Psych as West Wing co-star Dulé Hill's uncle.

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.[2][3]

Amos has been married two times. 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. His second marriage was to actress Lillian Lehman.

Amos has been a resident of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.[4]

References[]

  1. Past Commencement Speakers & Honorary Degree Recipients. Drew University. Retrieved on September 10, 2017.
  2. Local news. WKRN.com. Retrieved on 2017-03-20.
  3. John Amos biodata. American Entertainment International Speakers Bureau, Inc. (September 11, 2009). Archived from the original on August 26, 2009. Retrieved on September 12, 2009.
  4. Jersey's John Amos stars as sitcom dad. Pqasb.pqarchiver.com (2003-09-13). Retrieved on 2017-03-20.

External links[]

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