John Amos Jr. and Annabelle P. Amos had a son named John Amos. His parents reared their family in East Orange and were both native New Jerseyans. John Amos Sr., his father, was an auto mechanic.
John Amos parents: John Amos Sr., Annabelle P. Amos
John A. Amos Jr. was born in Newark on December 27, 1939. He graduated in 1958 from East Orange High School, where he studied.
He was accepted to Long Beach City College but then changed his mind and enrolled at Colorado State University, where he graduated with a sociology degree that allowed him to work as a social worker.
During his college years, Amos played football for the Colorado State Rams. He had won the Golden Gloves boxing championship after college.
Amos gained notoriety in his first significant television role as The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s weatherman Gordy Howard from 1970 to 1973, following multiple unsuccessful attempts to pursue a career in football.
