Best known for playing the role of the father on the television show Good Times, he also received an Emmy nomination for his performance in the miniseries Roots. 

Before Fame

He had a sports career in both boxing and football before Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram told him that he wasn't a football player but rather a man trying to play football. 

Trivia

From 1994 to 1995, he portrayed Fred Wilkes in four episodes of the hit TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. 

Family Life

He married his second wife Lillian Lehman in 1978, but the marriage only lasted one year.

Associated With

He had a supporting role alongside Anne Heche on the TV series Men in Trees from 2006 to 2008.