Biography
John Amos (1939–2024) was an American actor. He played Cleo McDowell in the 1988 film Coming to America and reprised the role in the 2021 sequel Coming 2 America. He appeared in other films including Lock Up (1989), Die Hard 2 (1990) and Uncut Gems (2019).
Amos was born in Newark, New Jersey, and played college football at Colorado State University before brief professional tryouts with the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. He began his acting career in the late 1960s and became best known for portraying James Evans Sr. on the television series Good Times (1974–1976) and the adult Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries Roots, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
