John Amos died on August 21 in Los Angeles of pure causes, his consultant confirmed on Tuesday. He was 84.
“With a profession spanning over 5 a long time, Amos leaves behind a legacy of groundbreaking work in each tv and movie, together with a dedication to constructive African American illustration in media,” the assertion learn.
The late actor is greatest recognized for his function as James Evans Sr. on Good Instances, the place he portrayed a hardworking father striving to supply for his household in a difficult setting. Nevertheless, his character was written out in Season 4 and killed off in an vehicle accident.
Right here’s every little thing you’ll want to find out about how that call got here to be.
Was John Amos Fired from Good Instances?
Good Instances accrued excessive rankings and was lauded for making tv historical past as one of many first sitcoms with an all-Black forged, previous Norman Lear’s The Jeffersons (1975-85). Nevertheless, each Amos and Esther Rolle, who performed his spouse, Florida Evans, felt that there have been nonetheless inroads to be made by Black members of the manufacturing. They urged Lear to permit them to change the scripts, which had largely been drafted by white writers.
Chronicling the trials and tribulations of a Black working-class household residing within the Chicago tasks, Good Instances (1974-79), which aired on CBS, by no means shied away from the gritty realities of life in public housing. The present tackled subjects like racial bigotry, drug abuse, and poverty, all whereas sustaining a humorousness.
Regardless of its crucial success, Amos felt that the present was leaning too closely into comedy. At one level, reminiscing with a childhood buddy about his roots, his character James recollects being so poor that whereas different youngsters had patches on their garments, he had “patches on my patches!”
“I had a means of voicing my variations with the script that weren’t acceptable to the artistic workers,” Amos defined.
Amos’s outspokenness, which was initially welcomed, ultimately led to his dismissal in 1976 for being deemed a “disruptive aspect,” as he talked about in an interview with the SiriusXM program Sway within the Morning. He was written out of Season 4 and his character was killed off in an vehicle accident.
“I wasn’t probably the most diplomatic man in these days, and [the show’s producers] received bored with having their lives threatened over jokes,” he continued. “So that they mentioned, ‘Let you know what, why don’t we kill him off? We will get on with our lives!’ That taught me a lesson — I wasn’t as essential as I believed I used to be to the present or to Norman Lear’s plans.”
