Rolle originated the role of Florida Evans on “Maude,” the Norman Lear comedy that starred Bea Arthur. She was so popular as Maude’s maid, she was offered her own spin-off series. Yet Rolle refused the role as it was originally written — she did not want to play a single mother of three.

John Amos, who starred as the family patriarch on the hit 1970s sitcom "Good Times" and earned an Emmy nomination for his role in the seminal 1977 miniseries "Roots," has died.