The Only Major Actors Still Alive From Good Times - SlashFilm (2024)

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ByValerie EttenhoferSept. 2, 2024 9:45 am EST

50 years after its original run, the Norman Lear-produced sitcom "Good Times" is more than just "Dy-no-mite!" It's a spinoff within a spinoff and a classic Black family sitcom that inspired controversy as well as laughter. Like many beloved shows from the '70s, "Good Times" made headlines for behind-the-scenes drama and cast disagreements, but it also captivated audiences. (In its early days, according to Newsday, the show had 42 million viewers.)

Originally formulated as a spinoff of "Maude" (which was itself a spinoff of unlikely hit "All in the Family"), "Good Times" retconned its central characters and setting in favor of a new premise. Henry (John Amos) became James, the family got poorer, and the setting switched from New York to Chicago, where it took inspiration from the Cabrini-Green housing projects. Audiences still dug the new show, though by the time it signed off five years later, it had changed entirely: Amos and original star Esther Rolle had left, and the show's most one-dimensional character, J.J. (Jimmie Walker), had taken center stage. Some cast members would share their complicated feelings over these changes in interviews for years to come.

"Good Times" stars like Rolle, Ja'Net DuBois, Johnny Brown, and Ben Powers have passed away in the years since the show ended, but several key cast members are still with us and doing creative work to this day. One even went on to become one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

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"Roots" star John Amos played working-class patriarch James for three seasons of "Good Times" before leaving the show in 1976. The story behind Amos' departure wouldn't be fully made public for years, but in interviews given in the past decade, the actor has confessed that he had issues with the show's portrayal of African-American life. "Their perception or their idea of what a Black family would be and what a Black father would be was totally different from mine, and mine was steeped in reality," the actor told VladTV in 2020, in reference to the show's white writing staff.

After voicing this and other concerns (he reportedly didn't like the cartoonish nature of the J.J. character), Amos was let go from the show, according to Essence. Despite the unfortunate end to his time on "Good Times," Amos continued doing great work, acting in memorable films like "Uncut Gems," "The Beastmaster," "Coming To America," and "Die Hard 2." He also played major characters in the TV shows "The West Wing," "Men in Trees," and "All About the Andersons," and appeared in guest roles on "30 Rock," "The Righteous Gemstones," "King of the Hill," and more.

Amos didn't just stick with acting, either. He's produced several projects, including an episode of "American Masters," and in 2007 he released an album titled "We Were Hippies." Across his decades-spanning career, he's been nominated for an Emmy and an NAACP Image Award. Unfortunately, Amos has been in the news in recent years due to complex claims involving family issues and disputed claims of elder abuse. His most recent on-screen role was in 2023's "The Last Rifleman."

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As J.J. Evans, Jimmie Walker was undoubtedly the breakout star of "Good Times," remembered for his character's "Dyn-o-mite!" catchphrase and penchant for absolute sitcom silliness. Despite his popularity, J.J. wasn't a universally beloved character in the Black community, and Amos and costar Esther Rolle both went on the record after leaving the show to voice their disapproval over the direction J.J. took. This spawned rumors of a feud between Walker and Rolle, but she dispelled them in a Greenville News interview in 1978 (per Catchy Comedy): ""I have no gripes against Jimmie Walker. I have gripes against J.J., he's an idiot." For his part, Walker once told the Television Academy that he was never friends with Amos or Rolle.

After "Good Times" came to an end, Walker kept busy with appearances on the popular game show "The Match Game," as well as in films like "Airplane!" and "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." He's also acted in shows like "The Love Boat," "Bustin' Loose," and "Everybody Hates Chris," and has made guest appearances on "Scrubs," "The Larry Sanders Show," and more. In addition, Walker has worked extensively in radio as a host on several stations, and does stand-up comedy. As recently as 2021, Walker had a live show going at New York's Gotham Comedy.

Walker has been vocal about his conservative politics in the past (though he's labeled himself an independent), noting in his memoir that he's given interviews with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher, and Sean Hannity. In 2017, he told The Hollywood Reporter that he supported President Trump, and he also wrote that he once angered Norman Lear by saying the NAACP should be dissolved. In 2012, Walker co-authored the book "Dynomite!: Good Times, Bad Times, Our Times — A Memoir," and he most recently appeared in a controversial animated update on "Good Times" for Netflix.

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As J.J.'s sister Thelma, Bern Nadette Stanis is the one of just three surviving members of the "Good Times" cast to have appeared in every episode of the show. Stanis played academics-oriented teen Thelma for 133 episodes of the series (which was her first credited on-screen role), and continued appearing on screen for decades following the show's conclusion. She also had guest stints on "The Love Boat," "The Cosby Show," and "Black Jesus," and popped up in movies including "N-Secure" and "No Regrets." More recently, Stanis acted in a 2019 live performance of a "Good Times" episode alongside other castmates on this list, and voiced a character in the new Netflix version of the show.

Stanis has remained busy of late by appearing in the BET+ series "The Family Business," based on the books by Carl Weber (who also created the show). The actor joined the cast in 2022 and has played a major role in its fourth and fifth seasons. Aside from acting, Stanis has also authored multiple books, including "The Last Night," a book about how Stanis became a caregiver for her mother after an Alzheimer's diagnosis, and the "Situations 101" self-help books. According to her Instagram, Stanis is currently working on a memoir titled "Good Times: Ain't We Lucky We Got 'Em," and she recently interviewed the show's theme song performer, Jim Gilstrap.

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Then-child actor Ralph Carter played the youngest member of the Evans family (with one exception: see below), little brother Michael, throughout the show's six-season run. Audiences got to watch Michael grow up from an outspoken 11-year-old to a rebellious teen to an activist adult, but after the show ended, Carter largely disappeared from screen. He's only had two credited roles in the years since. The first is the lead in the TV movie "Donny's House," a project I need to watch immediately given that it's officially described by IMDb as "A rock operetta using popular music and dance styles to put across an anti-drug message." The second is the sequel film "CHAAW: Chapter 3 — Christmas Time Is Here," which also featured Stannis and Walker.

His acting career may have pretty much begun and ended with "Good Times," but Carter stuck with the arts by continuing to work in music and on stage. (He'd done both during and before his run on "Good Times.") His post-sitcom discography includes the funk single "Get it Right," while he appeared in a revival of Mario Van Peebles' musical "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death," a series of vignettes about 1960s Black life, in the mid-aughts. Variety's review of the Classic Theater of Harlem's production noted that it felt like a "workshop production," but concluded that the "sprawling collage of Black street life comes together in an arresting second-act crescendo that echoes the civil unrest of the late 1960s." In a career retrospective with Our Time Press, Carter called Rolle and Amos mentors, and shared some wisdom, saying, "Fame in Hollywood is very fleeting. My mother always said that there was life beyond this, so don't get caught up in it."

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What hasn't Janet Jackson been up to since appearing in the final two seasons of "Good Times"? The pop superstar made some of her earliest on-screen appearances in the series, playing Penny, an adoptee with a tragic backstory. Three years after "Good Times" ended, Jackson released her first solo album, a self-titled record that earned spots on the Billboard charts but wasn't exactly a stratospheric debut. That came later in the '80s, when Jackson decided to separate business from family and worked with a new team to make her third record, "Control." The album was a smash hit that's been certified five-times platinum. Earlier in the '80s, she also starred in "Fame" and "Diff'rent Strokes."

Jackson went on to release 11 studio albums in addition to remix and compilation records. She's broken recording industry records, won five Grammys (she has 26 nominations to her name), and made music and art that helped define womanhood for a generation. According to a BBC retrospective, Jackson labeled herself a feminist in 1987 (not exactly the most popular time to be one), and owned her sexuality with music that no doubt went on to inspire a new generation of greats, including Beyonce. Frustratingly, Jackson also became synonymous with a Super Bowl incident in 2004 in which she was accidentally partially nude for a split second on stage. Her reputation took a major hit, and it took years for the public to realize that she'd been unfairly subjected the misogynoir and cruel double-standards.

Now-disgraced former CBS head honcho Les Moonves reportedly tried to blacklist Jackson after the incident, but she remains unstoppable. She's since released four more studio albums, and though it's taken far too many years for her reputation to bounce back after the Super Bowl scandal, Jackson remains one of the most famous pop artists of all time. She currently holds a Las Vegas residency and headlined the Essence Music Festival in 2022. She's also penned a book called "True You," and appeared sporadically on screen in movies including "Why Did I Get Married?" and "For Colored Girls."