He was the patriarch in one of the first sitcoms with an all-Black cast and an enslaved African in the American South in a blockbuster TV mini-series.

LeVar Burton shared his thoughts on the late John Amos during an appearance on ABC’s The View today, praising his Roots costar – they played the enslaved person Kunta Kinte at different points in the character’s life – for his groundbreaking TV portrayal on Good Times.

The actor died at the age of 84 in August 2024, but his family didn’t confirm his death until two months later.