John Landis knew exactly what he was doing in casting John Amos opposite James Earl Jones in 1988’s “Coming to America.” The audience related to both as fathers, first and foremost. Jones cut an intimidating figure as King Jaffe Joffer, father to Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem.
Amos, as Cleo McDowell, was his opposite: the slightly bumbling if protective dad of Shari Headley’s Lisa, the commoner Akeem wooed to his family’s great dismay. To anyone who grew up in the era of Norman Lear’s primetime comedy dominance, Amos registered as James Evans Sr., the hardworking father and husband to Esther Rolle’s Florida Evans on “Good Times.”
