John Amos, the veteran actor best known for his roles as the family patriarch in Good Times and as the adult Kunta Kinte in the miniseries Roots, has died. He was 84.

His son, KC Amos, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he died of natural causes on August 21 in Los Angeles.

“He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold… and he was loved all over the world,” KC Amos said in a statement. “Many fans consider him their TV dad. He lived a good life. His legacy will live on through his outstanding works in television and film as an actor.”

Before turning to acting full-time, Amos had a brief professional football career and played in a number of minor leagues. He signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967, but was fired after three weeks, with coach Hank Stram telling him, “You’re not a football player, you’re a young man who happens to play football.”

Luckily, it didn’t take long for Amos to land TV roles. He first became known for his role as weatherman Gordy Howard on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, on which he appeared from 1970 to 1973.

But he really rose to prominence after he left The Mary Tyler Moore Show for Good Times, a spin-off of Maude. Amos played James Evans Sr. in the sitcom, the tough but loving family patriarch of the central family who lived in downtown Chicago.

Good Times was groundbreaking for the period, featuring one of the first all-black casts in the history of the American sitcom and often tackling difficult issues in a way that Norman Lear’s other shows did. But Amos, famously, clashed with the writers over the way the family was depicted. Amos talked about his disagreements between himself, Lear and the writing staff in a 2014 interview with the TV Academy:

“I felt like there was too much emphasis on JJ with his chicken hat saying, ‘Dy-no-mite!’ every third page,” Amos said. “I felt like just as much emphasis and mileage could have been gotten out of my other two children, one of whom aspired to be a Supreme Court justice, played by Ralph Carter, and the other, Bern Nadette. Stanis, who aspired to become a surgeon.”

The character of Amos was written out of the show in the two-part season 4 premiere, with James dying in a car accident.

Yet one of Amos’ most famous roles would occur shortly thereafter. He played the adult Kunta Kinte (with LeVar Burton playing the younger version of the character) in the acclaimed 1977 miniseries Roots, which would become a huge cultural landmark and was nominated for 37 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning nine. Amos was among the nominees, scoring a nod for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series.

Amos is also known for his roles in Coming to America and its sequel, as well as The Beastmaster, Lock Up and Die Hard 2. He played himself in the 2019 Adam Sandler thriller Uncut Gems.

Thumbnail credit: CBS via Getty Images

Alex Stedman is a senior news editor at IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.