The Saga of John Amos: A Family Divided

MEMPHIS, TN – The last days of John Amos’s life were fraught with discord and conflict, a far cry from his early days on the set of “Good Times” portraying James Evans Sr., who struggled to helm a poor Black family living on the fringes in a Chicago housing project. While Amos’s portrayal of a hardworking patriarch was admirable, his children, on the other hand, have embroiled themselves in legal wrangling before and after the death of their father on Aug. 21, 2024. The ongoing flap between Shannon Amos and Kelly Christopher “KC” Amos has been played out in some media reports as a rivalry between siblings. But they refuse to accept such a narrative. John Allen Amos Jr. died of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Inglewood, Calif., at the age of 84. But his death wasn’t announced until Oct. 1 by KC, who said he was only honoring his father’s request. “He told me not to call anybody. It was a difficult request, but it was his decision,” KC said. “He knew she (Shannon) was going to create a very destructive media circus. He didn’t want her to know,” said Belinda Foster, Amos’s longtime assistant and publicist....