Biography

John Amos (December 27, 1939 – August 21, 2024) was an American actor and retired football player. He is best known for his role as the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark miniseries "Roots" and for portraying James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series "Good Times." He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. On film, he played numerous supporting roles in movies such as "The Beastmaster" (1982), "Coming to America" (1988), "Lock Up" (1989), "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Coming 2 America" (2021). Prior to acting, he played on the Colorado State Rams football team and in 1964, he signed a free agent contract with the American Football League's Denver Broncos and in 1967 signed a free agent contract with the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. Both of these contracts did not land him a spot on the teams and played a final season in the Continental Football League with the Victoria Steelers before pursuing acting.

Read more

Known for

Frequent co-stars

Eddie Murphy

2 titles together

Arsenio Hall

2 titles together

Shari Headley

2 titles together

James Earl Jones

2 titles together

Vanessa Bell Calloway

2 titles together

Popular actors this week

Groucho Marx

Duck Soup

Elizabeth Perkins

Finding Nemo

Catherine Deneuve

Persepolis

Christopher Lloyd

Back to the Future

Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Independence Day: Resurgence

Louis de Funès

Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!

Jackie Chan

Kung Fu Panda

Mila Kunis

Black Swan

Carolyn Seymour

Malcolm in the Middle