Ja’net Dubois, who became famous playing the role of Willona Woods on the hit 70s sitcom Good Times died on February 18, as reported by TMZ. She was 74.
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A cause of death was not immediately given and her family told TMZ that Dubois hadn’t complained of any pain or illness in the days leading up to her death. She unexpectedly passed away in her sleep at her home in Glendale, California. She is survived by her three children, two daughters, and one son.
The series, originally created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, with veteran Norman Lear helping develop, Good Times premiered on CBS in 1974, a spin-off from the hit series, Maude, and the first mainstream TV series to feature a two-parent African American household.
Good Times followed the lives of a poor Chicago couple, Florida (Esther Rolle) and James Evans (John Amos), as they raised their kids, JJ (Jimmie Walker), Thelma (BernNadette Stanis), and Michael (Ralph Carter), and along with Sanford and Sons and The Jeffersons, was one of the highest-rated TV series in its first few years. Dubois played Willona Woods for all six seasons the showed aired on TV.
Dubois, the multi-talented actor, singer, and dancer celebrated her 74th birthday in August, and in addition her run on Good Times, she both composed and sang the theme song, “Movin’ On Up,” for Norman Lear’s other popular sitcom, The Jeffersons.
