Deceased

How Did John Amos Die?

Life & Death

Died aged 84

Also known asJon Amos, Johnny Amos, John A. Amos Jr., John Allen Amos Jr.GenderMaleNationalityUnited StatesBorn27/12/1939Born inNewark, New Jersey, USADied21/08/2024Died inInglewood, Los AngelesCauseheart failureWikidataQ498820 ↗TMDb#22384 ↗

John Allen Amos Jr. was an American actor. He was best known for his role as James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series Good Times. His other well known roles were as the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark miniseries Roots and for portraying Captain Meissner in Lock Up (1989) and Major Grant in Die Hard 2 (1990).

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Filmography72 titles

Importing filmography…

Year	Title	Character	Age at release
2025	Suits LASeries	John Amos	86
2023	The Last RiflemanMovie	Lincoln Jefferson Adams	84
2022	Me TimeMovie	Gil	83
2022	Block PartyMovie	Dennis	83
2021	Coming 2 AmericaMovie	Cleo McDowell	82
2019	The Movies That Made UsSeries	Self	80
2019	Uncut GemsMovie	Neighbor 33F	80
2019	Christmas BellesMovie	Pop Pop	80
2018	The Last O.G.Series	Uncle D	79
2016	The RanchSeries	Ed	77
2016	Norman Lear: Just Another Version of YouMovie	Self	77
2015	BallersSeries	Deacon Eller	76
2015	Mary Tyler Moore: A CelebrationMovie	Self / Gordy Howard (archive footage)	76
2015	Tamales and GumboMovie	The Patron	76
2014	Act of FaithMovie	Mr. Brady	75
2012	Madea's Witness ProtectionMovie	Pastor Nelson	73
2009	Royal PainsSeries	Harrison Phillips	70
2009	Lie to MeSeries	Jim Weaver	70
2007	All Over AgainMovie	Coach Zeller	68
2006	30 RockSeries	John Amos	67
2006	Men in TreesSeries	Buzz Washington	67
2006	PsychSeries	Uncle Burton	67
2005	My Name Is EarlSeries	Joe	66
2005	ShadowboxingMovie	Хилл	66
2004	TV in Black: The First Fifty YearsMovie	(archive footage)	65
2004	My Baby's DaddyMovie	Uncle Virgil	65
2004	CountdownMovie	Admiral Melory	65
2003	Two and a Half MenSeries	Ed	64
2002	Remembering RootsMovie	Self	63
2000	The DistrictSeries	Ethan Baker	61
1999	The West WingSeries	Percy Fitzwallace	60
1998	The Players ClubMovie	Freeman	59
1997	King of the HillSeries	Glen Johnson (voice)	58
1997	The Chris Rock ShowSeries	Self	58
1995	The Outer LimitsSeries	Peter 'Yas' Yastrzemski	56
1995	In the HouseSeries	—	56
1995	For Better or WorseMovie	Gray	56
1994	Touched by an AngelSeries	James Mackey	55
1994	704 HauserSeries	Ernie Cumberbatch	55
1993	Walker, Texas RangerSeries	Pastor Roscoe Jones	54
1993	Night TrapMovie	Capt. Hodges	54
1992	MartinSeries	Sgt. Strawn	53
1990	The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirSeries	Fred Wilkes	51
1990	Die Hard 2Movie	Major Grant	51
1990	Two Evil EyesMovie	Det. Legrand	51
1989	Lock UpMovie	Captain Meissner	50
1988	Coming to AmericaMovie	Cleo McDowell	49
1987	Beauty and the BeastSeries	Farrell	48
1984	Murder, She WroteSeries	Doc Penrose	45
1984	The Cosby ShowSeries	Dr. Herbert	45
1984	HunterSeries	Capt. Dolan (uncredited)	45
1983	The A-TeamSeries	Rev. Taylor	44
1983	Hardcastle and McCormickSeries	Albie Meadows	44
1981	Here's BoomerSeries	—	42
1980	Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking StoryMovie	Bumpy Johnson	41
1978	Cops and RobinMovie	Officer Bill Bundy	39
1977	The Love BoatSeries	Duke Taylor	38
1977	RootsSeries	Kunta Kinte	38
1975	Let's Do It AgainMovie	Kansas City Mack	36
1974	Dinah!Series	Self	35
1974	Good TimesSeries	James Evans Sr.	35
1973	Police StorySeries	Walt Kyles	34
1973	The President's Plane Is MissingMovie	Marine Corporal	34
1973	The World's Greatest AthleteMovie	Coach Sam Archer	34
1972	Sanford and SonSeries	—	33
1971	The New Dick Van Dyke ShowSeries	Mark Cooper	32
1971	The Funny SideSeries	Minority Husband	32
1971	Vanishing PointMovie	Super Soul's Engineer (uncredited)	32
1970	The Mary Tyler Moore ShowSeries	Gordy Howard	31
1969	Love, American StyleSeries	Bell Captain	30
1962	The Merv Griffin ShowSeries	Self	23
1961	The Mike Douglas ShowSeries	Self	22