Biography
An actor with hulking presence and a stern countenance, John Amos undercuts his ominous appearance with the kind of warm grin and fun-loving attitude that makes him a natural for comedy. More recognizable as a television actor, the former pro football player has made enough visible forays into film to earn him a reputation in both arenas.
After stints in a variety of divergent career fields -- pro sports, advertising, commercial acting, stand-up comedy, comedy writing -- Amos got his big break with the role of Gordy the weatherman on
The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. After three years as a side player next to
Mary Tyler Moore,
Ed Asner, and
Ted Knight, Amos thought he'd get the chance for top billing by signing on to the gig for which he is best known: James Evans, the temperamental patriarch of
Good Times. But Jimmie Walker, who played son J.J. Evans, soon gave the show a sassy youthful focus with his catchphrase "Dy-no-mite!" stealing the spotlight from Amos and
Esther Rolle, who played wife Florida. Amos asked out of his contract after three years, and in 1976, James Evans was killed off in a car accident.
The decision to leave a hit series did not squash Amos, as it has some others who have made that bold decision. Instead, Amos stepped into the highly celebrated and widely seen role of the adult Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries
Roots. The role challenged the actor's dramatic abilities like none of his previous work had, and he won praise for documenting the travails of a captured African who resists his enslavement.
While continuing to turn up in TV series such as
Future Cop and
Hunter, Amos began making regular appearances in film in the 1980s. Among his more prominent roles were as Seth, companion to
Marc Singer's title character in the sword and sorcerer film
The Beastmaster (1982); Cleo McDowell, owner of a McDonald's knockoff burger chain and employer of
Eddie Murphy and
Arsenio Hall's transplanted dignitaries in
Coming to America (1988); and the double-crossing Major Grant, who becomes one of the villains opposite
Bruce Willis in
Die Hard 2 (1990). Settling back into a career of guest shots on TV shows, Amos occupied himself during the 1990s and beyond with recurring roles on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on NBC's
The West Wing.
~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide