John Amos: The Roots, Good Times and The West Wing actor came to mind

Tributes have been paid to actor John Amos, who made his mark on the hugely popular landmark series Roots and Good Times on US TV.

Amos, who is 84, played stern but loving patriarch James Evans in Good Times, one of the first sitcoms about a black family since 1974.

But he was fired after three seasons after a heated and prolonged argument over how the show's white writers portrayed its characters.

He went on to play the older Kunta Kinte in Roots, a landmark drama about an African man who is sent to America as a slave.

Amos also had roles in films such as Die Hard 2, Coming to America and Uncut Gems.

Her other TV credits include The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The West Wing, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 30 Rock and Two and A Half Men.

Her final role will be seen in the upcoming series Suits LA.

Paying tribute, fellow actor Martin Lawrence wrote on social media: “This is a different hit. My condolences to the family of John Amos, a true legend.”

His Good Times co-star Jimmy Walker told People: “John was a great actor and my condolences go out to his entire family, friends and his many fans.”

Announcing Amos' death, his son Kelly Christopher said: “He was a man with a kind heart and a heart of gold … and he was loved all over the world.

“Many fans consider him their TV dad. He lived a good life. His legacy will live on in his outstanding work in television and film as an actor.”

Experienced Weather Presenter Posted by Al Roker That Amos always “brought dignity, grace and integrity to his role”.

He wrote: “I remember him as Gordie the Weatherman on WJM [in The Mary Tyler Moore Show] In 1974 when we were just starting out as a TV weatherman and looked up to him as a role model.

“And when he left Good Times, people respected him for his position. He will be missed.”

Amos started out as an American football player before starring in the comedies The Leslie Ughams Show and Maude.

His character in Maude – with his on-screen wife, Esther, played the role – then got a spin-off in the form of Good Times, a high-rise housing project in Chicago.

“That show was the closest thing to real life as an African American family living in that situation,” Amos said. told Time magazine in 2021.

But that often wasn't close enough for the actor, who clashed with producer Norman Lear and asked the writing team to make changes to the script.

“They will want to go about their credit,” he told SiriusXM radio.

He said he would respond: “Well, how long have you been black? It just doesn't happen in the community. We don't think that way. We don't act that way. We don't let our children do that.”

He particularly objected to the growing prominence of his son JJ's character, played by Walker, whose catchphrase was “Dine-O-Might”.

“I felt like JJ was putting too much emphasis on his chicken hat, 'Die-no-mite!' every third page,” Amos recalls.

“I felt as much emphasis and mileage as I could get from my other two children, one of whom aspired to be a Supreme Court Justice, played by Ralph Carter, and the other, [played by] Bernadette Stannis, who aspired to be a surgeon.

“But I wasn't the most diplomatic guy in those days, and [the producers] Tired of risking their lives for pranks.

“So they said, 'What, why don't we kill him? We can go on with our lives!'

“It taught me a lesson – I wasn't as important to the show or to Norman Lear's plan as I thought.”

Good Times was adapted in the UK in 1976 as The Fosters, the first British sitcom with an all-black cast.

Norman Beaton played the father, with Lenny Henry playing one of his sons in one of his earliest appearances.

And earlier this year, Good Times was rebooted as an animated series by Netflix, which described it as a “spiritual sequel” to the original sitcom.

In 1977, Amos moved to Root, which US Library of Congress Dr Seen at least in part by 85% of all US households.

Based on the novel by Alex Haley, the mini-series “elevated the American consciousness” about the history of slavery and its modern-day impact, Amos told New York channel NY1 in 2022.

“I knew it was a life-changing role for me, as an actor and just from a human perspective,” he told TIME.

“It was the culmination of all the misconceptions and stereotypical roles I'd lived and seen being offered. It was like a reward for enduring that humiliation.”