LeVar Burton shared his thoughts on the late John Amos during an appearance on ABC's The View today, praising his Roots castmate. They played the enslaved Kunta Kinte at different points in the character's life, and he praised his groundbreaking TV portrayal in Good Times.
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“James Evans, the character that John played on Good Times, was the first black man to be a stay-at-home dad on TV,” Burton said. “The whole family, the dad who does the work for the family. When I was growing up, black men were generally portrayed as absent fathers, unemployed, prison fodder, criminals. And John Amos changed that. May his name be forever blessed.”
“And it will,” moderator Whoopi Goldberg responded.
Amos died on August 21 at the age of 84. His death was announced on October 1 by his son, Kelly Christopher Amos. According to the Los Angeles County coroner's office, Amos died of congestive heart failure.
