Wallace “Wally” Amos, founder of the chocolate chip cookie brand Famous Amos, has died. He was 88.
Famed Amos Cookies Creator Dies at 88
Amos died Tuesday at this home in Honolulu, Hawaii, his children Shawn and Sarah Amos told The New York Times. The cause was complications from dementia.
Amos was born on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida. At a young age, he moved to Harlem to live with his aunt, Della Bryant, who baked cookies for him.
After serving in the Air Force from 1954 to 1957, Amos returned to New York and joined the William Morris Agency. He started in the mailroom and rose to become the agency's first black talent agent. He signed Simon and Garfunkel and worked with Motown artists such as the Supremes, Diana Ross, Sam Cooke and Dionne Warwick.
