Tag: good times

Esther Rolle

Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was a Bahamian American actress. Rolle is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom Maude, for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series Good Times, for five seasons (1974–77, 1978–79), for which Rolle was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1976.

She was born in Pompano Beach, FL, the tenth of 18 children her parents were of Bahamian descent. Rolle attended Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, and then attended Spelman College for a year before moving to New York. She supported herself by working in a pocketbook factory while auditioning for the theater. Her siblings who followed her in acting were Estella Evans and Rosanna Carter.

While taking drama classes at George Washington Carver School in Harlem, she got a scholarship to study acting at New York’s innovative New School for Social Research. During this time she met and became a member of African dance master Shogola Oloba’s dance troupe, Asadata Dafora. She became the troupe’s director in 1960.

Rolle attended Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida and graduated from Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach. She initially studied at Spelman College in Atlanta, but she moved to New York City. She attended Hunter College, The New School for Social Research, and Yale University. She was also a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. For many years, Rolle worked in a traditional day job in New York City’s garment district.

Rolle was a member of Asadata Dafora’s dance troupe, Shogolo Oloba (later renamed the Federal Theater African Dance Troupe). She became the troupe’s director in 1960.

Rolle’s earliest roles were on the stage; her New York stage debut was in the 1962 play The Blacks. She was often cast in plays produced by Robert Hooks and the Negro Ensemble Company. She also appeared in productions of The Crucible and Blues for Mr. Charlie.

Rolle’s most prominent early role was as Miss Maybell in the 1973 Melvin Van Peebles play, Don’t Play Us Cheap.

In 1977, Rolle portrayed Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles’ Haitian-influenced version at the Henry Street New Federal Theater in Manhattan.

Rolle is best known for her television role as Florida Evans, the character she played on two 1970s sitcoms. The character was introduced as Maude Findlay’s housekeeper on Maude, and was spun off in the show’s second season into Good Times, a show about Florida’s family. Rolle was nominated in 1975 for the Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy Golden Globe Award for her role in Good Times. Rolle herself was nineteen years older than her husband on the show John Amos.

Rolle fought for more relevant themes and scripts, and was unhappy that the success of Jimmie Walker’s character J.J. Evans took the show in what she thought was a frivolous direction. As a result, actor John Amos, who played the role of the father, James Evans, Sr., left the show after the third season ended. Later on, in a stand-off with Good Times producer Norman Lear, Rolle also quit when her contract ended. Although the series continued without her for the fifth season, she returned for the show’s final season.

In 1979 she won an Emmy for her role in the TV movie Summer of My German Soldier (TV film).

Among her guest star roles was one on The Incredible Hulk in an episode entitled “Behind the Wheel” where she played a taxicab business owner.

In the 1990s, Rolle was a surprise guest on RuPaul’s VH-1 talk show. Her Maude co-star Bea Arthur was the guest, and Rolle was brought out to surprise Arthur. The two had not seen each other in years, Arthur said, and embraced warmly.

Rolle also appeared in a series of psychic hotline TV commercials in the 1990s. “Tell them Esther sent you,” was her trademark line.

Rolle released an album of music titled The Garden of My Mind in 1975

Rolle’s first screen appearance is a small, uncredited role in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and she later appeared in Gordon Parks’ The Learning Tree (1969). Her sister, actress Estelle Evans, appeared in both films as well. Esther Rolle appeared early in her career in the 1964 film, Nothing But a Man.

After Good Times ended, she appeared in a number of made-for-television movies and films, including Driving Miss Daisy and My Fellow Americans. A memorable role was that of Aunt Sarah in the 1997 film Rosewood.

She had a major role in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings based on Maya Angelou’s memoir of the same name, and has the distinction of having won the first Emmy Award for the category Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, in 1979, for her work in the television movie Summer of My German Soldier. Her last film, Train Ride was released in 2000 despite being filmed in 1998.

Rolle’s only marriage ended in divorce, and she had no children.

After residing in Los Angeles, California, Rolle died on November 17, 1998 in Culver City, California, from complications of diabetes. Her body was flown back to her hometown, Pompano Beach, Florida.

A devout Methodist, Rolle requested her funeral be held at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The family requested that in lieu of flowers donations be sent to such organizations as the African American Chapter of the American Diabetes Association, The Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, Texas, The Jenesse Center in Los Angeles, and Marcus Garvey Elementary and Junior High School in Los Angeles.

John Amos

John Allen Amos Jr. (born December 27, 1939) is an American actor who is best known for his role as James Evans, Sr. on the CBS television series Good Times (1974–76). Amos’ other television work includes roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the miniseries Roots, for which he received an Emmy nomination, and a recurring role as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on The West Wing. Amos also played the father of Will Smith’s character’s girlfriend, Lisa Wilkes, in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and he had a recurring role on In the House with LL Cool J, as Coach Sam Wilson. Amos played the Father of Tommy Strawn (Thomas Mikal Ford) on the long running sitcom, Martin, as Sgt. Strawn, and another recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Chelsea’s dad’s new lover, Edward Boynton. Amos also played Major Grant, the US Special forces officer in Die Hard 2. Amos has also appeared on Broadway and in numerous films in a career that spans four decades. He has received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and NAACP Image Award.

He has also appeared on Broadway and in numerous films in a career that spans four decades. He has received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and NAACP Image Award.

John A. Amos, Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Annabelle P. and John A. Amos, Sr., who was an auto mechanic. He grew up in East Orange, New Jersey and graduated from East Orange High School in 1958. He enrolled at Long Beach City College and graduated from Colorado State University qualifying as a social worker with a degree in sociology. Amos also played on the Colorado State Rams football team. Amos was a Golden Gloves boxing champion. In 1964, he signed a free agent contract with the American Football League’s Denver Broncos. Unable to run the 40-yard dash because of a pulled hamstring, he was released on the second day of training camp. He then played with Joliet Explorers of the United Football League. In 1965, he played with the Norfolk Neptunes and Wheeling Ironmen of the Continental Football League. In 1966, he played with the Jersey City Jets and Waterbury Orbits of the Atlantic Coast Football League. In 1967, he had signed a free agent contract with the American Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Hank Stram told John “you’re not a football player, you’re a man who is trying to play football.” John approached Coach Stram with a poem he wrote about the mythical creature that passed the door of all players who are cut from the team. He read it to the team and received a standing ovation from all the players and coaches. Amos said Coach Stram pushed him in the direction of writing after he was released from training camp. He returned to the Continental League where he played that year with the Victoria Steelers.

Amos is best known for playing characters Gordy Howard (the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show) from 1970 until 1973. In 1971, he appeared with a young Anson Williams in a commercial for McDonald’s as well as for his portrayal of James Evans, Sr., the husband of Florida Evans, appearing three times on the sitcom Maude before continuing the role in 61 episodes of Good Times from 1974 to 1976. While playing a hard-working middle-aged father of three on the show, in real life Amos was only 34 when the show began, only eight years older than the actor who played his oldest son (Jimmie Walker) and 19 years younger than his screen wife (Esther Rolle). Amos, much like series’ co-star Rolle, wanted to portray a positive image of an African American family, struggling against the odds in the ghetto of Chicago, but saw the premise slighted by lower comedy, and expressed dissatisfaction. Amos was fired from the show after the third season ended because he had issues with Norman Lear and the writers of the show in regards to Jimmie Walker’s character JJ. His character James Evans died in a car accident in the first episode of the fourth season, and the series continued for three more seasons without him. Norman Lear said Amos had become a disruption and Amos agrees, saying he wasn’t very diplomatic about the direction of the show. Amos disagreed about the writers emphasizing J.J.’s stereotypical buffoonishness including his catchphrases, funny walk and “pigeon hats”, fearing it was turning the program into a weekly minstrel show. His character’s other son Michael wanted to be a Supreme Court Justice and his daughter Thelma wanted to be a surgeon. Amos could see the comedy that could be generated from that but the writers wanted to stay with the J.J. actions.

He also portrayed Captain Dolan on the television show Hunter from 1984 to 1985. He co-starred in the CBS police drama The District and appeared in the 1977 miniseries Roots, based on Alex Haley’s book of the same name, as the older Kunta Kinte. In 1980, he starred in the TV film Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story.

Amos played an Archie Bunker-style character for the 1994 sitcom 704 Hauser which was a modern spin-off of All In The Family, but this series was cancelled after only five episodes (in the series he played a different character than he played in the All in the Family spin-off Maude). He was a frequent guest on The West Wing, portraying Admiral Percy Fitzwallace, who serves as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for most of the show. He played Buzz Washington in the ABC series, Men in Trees. Amos co-starred with Anthony Anderson in the TV series All About the Andersons in 2003. In 2010, Amos also appeared as recurring character, Ed, on Two and a Half Men, and in 2016 as another recurring character, also (coincidentally) named Ed on the Netflix sitcom The Ranch.

He has guest-starred in a number of other television shows including Police Story, The A-Team, The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, In the House, Martin as Sgt. Hamilton Strawn (Tommy’s father), Touched by an Angel, Psych, My Name Is Earl, Lie to Me, and Murder, She Wrote

He has also appeared as a spokesman for The Cochran Firm (a national personal injury law firm).

Amos is the writer and producer of Halley’s Comet, a critically acclaimed one-man play that he performs around the world. Amos performed in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean on Broadway and then later at the McCarther Theatre in Princeton, NJ.

Amos was featured in Disney’s The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973) with Tim Conway and Jan-Michael Vincent, and also starred as Kansas City Mack in Let’s Do It Again (1975) with Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier. His other film appearances have included Vanishing Point (1971), The President’s Plane Is Missing (1973), Touched by Love (1980), The Beastmaster (1982), Dance of the Dwarfs (1983), American Flyers (1985), Coming to America (1988), Lock Up (1989), Two Evil Eyes (1989), Die Hard 2 (1990), and Ricochet (1991). He appeared in the 1995 film For Better or Worse and played a police officer in The Players Club (1998). He played Uncle Virgil in My Baby’s Daddy (2004), and starred as Jud in Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006). In 2012, Amos had a role in the movie Madea’s Witness Protection, as Jake’s father. He also appeared in Ice Cube’s and Dr. Dre’s video for Natural Born Killaz in 1994.

In 2009, he released an album of original country music songs.

Amos has the distinction of winning more TV Land Awards than anyone, taking home trophies for his roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times and the TV miniseries Roots.

Amos is a veteran of the 50th Armored Division of the New Jersey National Guard and Honorary Master Chief of the U.S. Coast Guard. Amos has been married three times. Amos’s first marriage, between 1965 and 1975, was with artist and equestrian Noel Mickelson, with whom he has two children: Shannon Amos, a successful writer/producer and founder of Afterglow Multimedia, LLC, and Grammy nominated director K.C. Amos. Amos’s second marriage was to actress Lillian Lehman from 1978 until 1979. Since 1982, Amos has been married to Elisabete De Sousa. Amos has been a resident of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.

Amos has been a resident of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.

Written by Dianne Washington