Biography
John Amos (December 27, 1939 – August 21, 2024) was an American actor and retired football player. He is best known for his role as the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark miniseries "Roots" and for portraying James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series "Good Times." He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. On film, he played numerous supporting roles in movies such as "The Beastmaster" (1982), "Coming to America" (1988), "Lock Up" (1989), "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Com...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Last Rifleman
2023
as Lincoln Jefferson Adams
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary ...

Me Time
2022
as Gil
With his family away, a devoted stay-at-home dad enjoys his first me time in years by joining his hard-partying old friend on a wild birthday adventur...

Block Party
2022
as Dennis
Recent Harvard grad Keke McQueen, 23, is eager to ditch her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan for her dream job in Atlanta, but when Keke discovers t...

Christmas in Miami
2021
as Chief Host
Akpos jets off with his family to the exotic city of Miami, Florida to represent Nigeria at the Intercontinental Christmas Fiesta, which is a unifying...

Because of Charley
2021
as Grandpa
Two estranged stepfamilies reluctantly gather at a Central Florida home for an anniversary party, fully intending to keep the visit brief - but Hurric...

Coming 2 America
2021
as Cleo McDowell
Prince Akeem Joffer is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street savvy Queens native name...

The Truth About Santa Claus
2020
as Bob
A man does not want children but after a “run-in” with Santa finds the true “gift” of Christmas.

The Beastmaster Chronicles
2020
as Self
Documentary about the making of the film The Beastmaster.

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
2019
as Fred Davis
Live performances of classic holiday-themed episodes from Norman Lear's hit shows "All in the Family" and "Good Times."

Christmas Belles
2019
as Pop Pop
Despite being successful in their careers, two 30-something BFFs never stop hearing that they both need a man before it's too late. When a handsome pa...

Uncut Gems
2019
as Neighbor 33F
A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of...

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
2016
as Self
Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times. Usin...

Mary Tyler Moore: A Celebration
2015
as Self / Gordy Howard (archive footage)
Not only did Mary Tyler Moore “turn the world on with her smile,” as her show’s theme song declared, she also influenced a generation of women to beco...

Tamales and Gumbo
2015
as The Patron
A beautiful Latina and a lovable African-American try to survive the crazy cultural clashes between their families, as their wedding day nears.

Mercy for Angels
2015
as God
Runaway Tracy is snatched from a dangerous L.A. neighborhood by sadistic thugs while searching for her homeless boyfriend. Her police detective mom ra...

Bad Asses on the Bayou
2015
as Earl
The third installment in the successful Bad Ass action-comedy franchise. Bad Asses on the Bayou reunites the dynamic duo, Frank Vega (Danny Trejo) and...

Althea
2014
Executive Producer
Althea Gibson’s life and achievements transcend sports. A truant from the rough streets of Harlem, Althea emerged as a most unlikely queen of the high...

Act of Faith
2014
as Mr. Brady
After the death of his beloved wife, Mr. Brady struggles to maintain a neighborhood diner in Atlanta Georgia. His few faithful waitresses have become ...

American Lowrider
2013
as Slick
Lefty-a hard working, light hearted man is looking to make a decent buck. But when a simple bet goes horribly wrong, Lefty is stuck between a rock and...

Madea's Witness Protection
2012
as Pastor Nelson
For years, mild-mannered Wall Street banker George Needleman has meandered through life oblivious to his family's dysfunction and his company's malfea...

Zombie Hamlet
2012
as Edgar Mortimer
Desperate filmmaker Osric Taylor dreams of making his civil war Hamlet but when production funding dries up, he agrees to take southern matron Hester ...
All Over Again
2007
as Coach Zeller
About to finish high school, budding inventor Z.T. dreams of escaping both his sleepy town and his gloomy, widowed Dad, Cole. But his ambitions get a ...

Ascension Day
2007
as Henry
A drama focused on Nat Turner and the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia.

Voodoo Moon
2006
as Dutch
Voodoo Moon takes place in the mid-west United States, where a demonic figure murders the entire population of a small town, save for one young boy an...

Dr. Dolittle 3
2006
as Jud
Lisa Dolittle sends her daughter to 'Durango', a Dude Ranch, to find herself. While there, she uses her talent to talk to the animals in order to save...

Shadowboxing
2005
as Хилл
Artem Kolchin was one of many, but he wanted glory. And he has chosen the way: he became the boxer. Now Artem the applicant for a champion title, figh...

Countdown
2004
as Admiral Melory
A terrorist organization known as "Ansar Allah" is preparing to turn the city of Rome into a City of the Dead. But the heroism of Smolin, the professi...

My Baby's Daddy
2004
as Uncle Virgil
A trio of young men are forced to grow up quick when their girlfriends all become pregnant around the same time.

TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
2004
as (archive footage)
Discover how television has reflected the African American experience in this retrospective of the medium's first half-century. Actors, writers and hi...

The Watermelon Heist
2003
as Old Man Amos
To make money fast the Browns come up with a plan to win a contest for "Watermelon Juice Afro Sheen," awarding $10,000 to whoever can find the juicies...

Disappearing Acts
2000
as Mr. Swift
A struggling construction worker and an aspiring musician find themselves falling in love.

Something to Sing About
2000
as Rev. Washington
Tommy is a troubled young man with a history of crime. When he meets Memaw, an elderly lady, the two form a special bond with Memaw encouraging Charli...

The Players Club
1998
as Freeman
Single mother Diana struggles to provide for her child and pay for her college education. When she meets two dancers from a nearby gentlemen's club, D...

The Rockford Files: Shoot-Out at the Golden Pagoda
1997
as Booker Hutch
After a quiet fishing trip, Rockford is tricked into taking over a fellow PI's case involving alleged Police misconduct, which lands him in the hospit...

Hologram Man
1995
as Wes Strickland
Five years after the mad terrorist Slash Galagher was sentenced to holographic stasis, he is given a parole hearing. But an equipment failure engineer...

For Better or Worse
1995
as Gray
A comic love triangle wherein a loser falls in love with his recently-married brother's wife.

Night Trap
1993
as Capt. Hodges
A New Orleans cop tries to track down and stop a vicious and demonic killer whom has sold his soul to the devil for invulnerability and immortality.

Mac
1992
as Nat
Niccolo "Mac" Vitelli is the eldest of three brothers in 1950s Queens. Mac is a construction builder, a trade he learned from his late father, and hel...

Ricochet
1991
as Reverend Styles
An attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.

Die Hard 2
1990
as Major Grant
One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Chris...

Two Evil Eyes
1990
as Det. Legrand
A duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a stra...

Lock Up
1989
as Captain Meissner
Frank Leone is nearing the end of his prison term for a relatively minor crime. Just before he is paroled, however, Warden Drumgoole takes charge. Dru...

Coming to America
1988
as Cleo McDowell
An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise...

Bonanza: The Next Generation
1988
as Mr. Mack
This is the continuing saga of the Cartwrights, only none of the original Cartwrights are here anymore but their sons. Ben and Hoss have passed on, an...

Shark's Paradise
1986
as Taxi Driver
A mad man threatens to lure hundreds of sharks to the beach at Surfers Paradise Australia at the start of the tourist season, his price to hold off th...

American Flyers
1985
as Dr. Conrad
When Dr. Marcus Sommers realizes that he and his troubled, estranged brother David may be prone a fatal brain disease that runs in their family, he de...

Dance of the Dwarfs
1983
as Esteban
An anthropologist and an alcoholic helicopter pilot discover a race of predatory reptile men in the jungles of South America.

The Beastmaster
1982
as Seth
Dar, is the son of a king, who's hunted by a priest after his birth and grows up in another family. When he becomes a grown man, his new father is mur...

Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story
1980
as Bumpy Johnson
Filmed on location at Alcatraz Island, this two-part "whole story" actually concentrates on a handful of the denizens behind the cold grey walls of "T...

Touched by Love
1980
as Tony
A teenager with cerebral palsy attempts to become pen pals with her idol, Elvis Presley.

Willa
1979
as Virgil
A truck-stop waitress, determined to make a better life for her young children after being abandoned by her husband, leaves hash-slinging behind her t...

Cops and Robin
1978
as Officer Bill Bundy
A veteran street cop and his partner, a robot programmed to be the perfect policeman, are assigned to protect the five-year-old daughter of the widow ...

Future Cop
1976
as Officer Bill Bundy
A veteran street cop is assigned a new partner. The partner is not exactly what he seems to be, though--he is an experimental android who has been pro...

Let's Do It Again
1975
as Kansas City Mack
Clyde Williams and Billy Foster are a couple of blue-collar workers in Atlanta who have promised to raise funds for their fraternal order, the Brother...

The President's Plane Is Missing
1973
as Marine Corporal
When the President's plane mysteriously disappears with him on board, it is left to the seemingly weak Vice President to try to avert a nuclear exchan...

The World's Greatest Athlete
1973
as Coach Sam Archer
Stuck with a feeble sports department, college coach Sam Archer (John Amos) faces the ax unless he can reverse the school's athletic fortunes. An Afri...

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
1971
as Biker
After saving a Black Panther from some racist cops, a black male prostitute goes on the run from "the man" with the help of the ghetto community and s...

Vanishing Point
1971
as Super Soul's Engineer
Kowalski works for a car delivery service, and takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to drive from Colorado to San Francisco. Shortly after pickup...

Devotion
N/A
as Roger
A pastor bumps into an old trainer and begins boxing after his wife retires from MMA fighting.
Future Cop: Cops and Robin
N/A
as Officer Bundy
To protect his former partner's widow, a veteran cop teams up with an android to keep her safe.
John Amos: Roots of an American Legend
N/A
as Self
An intimate look at the life, diversity, challenges, and accomplishments of John Amos. He would go on to become the most memorable and respected Afric...