He memorably played the former Kunta Kinte in the epic 70s miniseries.
John Amos, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as the older Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries “Roots,” has died at age 84.
He was also known for playing patriarch James Evans Sr. on the CBS sitcom “Good Times.”
Jolie Bobine spoke with the actor, as well as his late “Roots” costar Louis Gossett Jr, in 2022 for the anniversary of the historic miniseries. The miniseries won nine Emmys from a record 37 nominations and one Emmy for Gossett, but Amos and many other black actors did not see the same boost in their careers.
“The truth is we didn’t get job offers that were good enough,” Amos told Jolie Bobine in 2022. “The inequalities that existed in the industry when it came to race still existed, even afterward.” Roots,” because few, if any, of us — except for stellar talents like Mr. Gossett and LeVar (Burton) — were able to capitalize on the success of “Roots.” But most of us, supporting actors and even lead actors, haven’t enjoyed the same accolades and praise as our white counterparts.
Amos added, “I’m grateful for ‘Roots,’ but I realized that ‘Roots’ was going to be a game changer in terms of public education, and it was going to be a game changer in terms of opportunities, but it wasn’t. so dramatically that we might say, “Well, now the struggle is over. » This still continues today. »
Amos was born on December 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, where he attended East Orange High School in 1958. He graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in sociology. However, he had a brief NFL career when he signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos in 1964.
