Good Times & Broadway Star Johnny Brown Dies At 84

Johnny Brown, an actor and comedian best recognized for his part in the classic sitcom Good Times, has passed away. During numerous seasons of the Norman Lear-created series, he costarred with Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker,

Bern Nadette Stanis, and Jimmie Walker as Nathan Bookman. This week, Brown’s daughter Sharon Catherine Brown shared the news on Instagram. We are saddened as a family, she wrote. Devastated. Devastated.

Utterly heartbroken unable to breathe at all. We need a moment to digest the unthinkable, therefore we humbly need some privacy at this time. To put into words my tremendous anguish. This man has been my mother’s marriage for 61 years; he is the father of me, JJ, Elijah, and Levi.

Pop is George’s older brother, Pat’s brother-in-law, and Chris, Hihat, Damian, and Derell’s grandparent. It’s just too bad. It will always remain. It surprises me. He was taken out of our lives in a ph’ysical sense. For us, it isn’t yet a reality.

Thus, more will be spoken, but not at this time. Dad was the best ever. He is incredibly beloved by us. His cause of d’eath is yet unknown to the general public. He performed with Gregory Hines Jr. and Gregory Hines Sr. after winning amateur night at the Apollo, according to THR.

Brown was a musician who collaborated with Sam “The Man” Taylor on songs and played alone. He collaborated with Sammy Davis Jr. as well. In the 1960s, Brown made two Broadway appearances and spent three seasons as a regular on Dan Rowan and Dick Martin’s Laugh-In.

According to the source, he was considered for the role of Lamont in Sanford & Son with Redd Foxx but was unable to land it because of his Laugh-In contract. Good Times producer Allan Manings, who also wrote for Laugh-In, welcomed Brown in season 2. Additionally,

he appeared as a guest on The Flip Wilson Show and The Jeffersons. He had numerous appearances on Black sitcoms from the 1980s, such as Family Matters, Sister, Sister, The Jamie Foxx Show, and The Wayans Bros., throughout his later career. He is also survived by his son and his wife of 61 years. At this time, our sympathies are with his family and close friends.