John Amos Makes His Last Acting Appearance in the Suits LA Premiere
Suits LA creator Aaron Korsh described working with TV icon John Amos "a great experience."
In his final screen performance in his five decades-plus career as an actor, John Amos played himself in the premiere episode of the NBC legal drama, Suits LA, that aired on Sunday.
Amos, 84, who became a household name thanks to high-profile TV roles in the 1970s, died Aug. 21 of congestive heart failure, NBC News previously reported.
Suits LA creator Aaron Korsh, 58, told PEOPLE that working with Amos was “a great experience. I'm of the age where he was a huge, iconic figure for me as a child.”
John Amos Suits LA role
In the new Suits spinoff, Amos appeared as a client of the entertainment and criminal law firm run by Ted Black, a hard-driving attorney played by the series' star, Stephen Amell.
Playing a fictionalized version of himself, Amos comes to Black’s firm seeking help getting an audition for a new movie to prove he's still got what it takes to give a great performance at his age.
Amos appeals to Black’s associate Rick Dodsen (Bryan Greenberg) to “pick up the phone” and make a call on his behalf.
When Dodsen declines, Amos makes his own case.
“I just want a chance to show I could still get the job done,” Amos says. “I’m 84, and I’d rather go down swinging than waiting for the damn phone to ring.”
In his later scene, Amos returns to the firm on the behalf of Black, whose long-estranged father is dying. Black can’t reconcile their troubled past. His father issues are driving wedges between Black and others in life.
“What's done is done,” Amos wisely tells Black. “You need to see your father and forgive him.”
In Amos’ last line ever on screen, the beloved actor serves up a bracing wakeup call about how forgiveness works – and why it’s so essential.
“You’re not doing it for him,” Amos says. “You’re doing it for yourself.” Amos’ persuasive performance leads Black to see his dying dad, but he does not offer him forgiveness.
John Amos’s famous TV and film roles
Amos’s first major TV role came in 1970 on the CBS sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He played the amiable weatherman Gordy for three years.
In 1973, he took a starring role in Good Times, a comedy about a Black American family. He left the show in 1976. A year later, he played the adult Kunta Kinte in the powerful miniseries about American slavery, Roots. His performance in the adaptation of the Alex Haley book earned Amos an Emmy nomination.
Amos’s notable film credits include Coming to America and Die Hard 2.
Amos' passing will be written into an upcoming Suits LA episode. “He’s an icon, and we wanted to give him a proper goodbye,” Korsh told PEOPLE.
Suits LA airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT and streams the next day on Peacock.
