Fan-favorite and actor on the 1970s television show Good Times Johnny Brown has passed away. Brown died on March 2, unexpectedly. He was 84-years-old.
His daughter, Sharon Catherine Brown, shared the news on her Instagram on March 4. She noted that the family was shocked by his death as well as devastated. She also asked for privacy as they grieved.
“Our family is devastated,” she wrote. “Devastated. Devastated. Beyond heartbroken. Barely able to breathe. We respectfully ask for privacy at this time because we need a minute to process the unthinkable. To articulate the depths of profound sadness. This is my mom’s husband for sixty-one years, mine and JJ’s dad, Elijah and Levi’s Pop-Pop, older brother to George and brother in law to Pat and extended family to Chris, Hihat, Damian and Derell. It’s too terrible. It will never not be. It’s a shock. He was literally snatched out of our lives. It’s not real for us yet. So there will be more to say but not now. Dad was the absolute best. We love him so very much.”
Brown had a successful career in the entertainment industry and starred on Broadway as well as in television and film. He appeared on Broadway in the play Golden Boy in 1964 with Sammy Davis Jr. Brown also performed on Broadway with Sydney Poitier, Lewis Gossett Jr. and Cecily Tyson in Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights in 1968.
The talented actor was also a singer and became a regular on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In for three years after winning his first on-screen role in A Man Called Adam in 1968. Allan Manings was a writer on Laugh-In and also produced Good Times. Brown joined the show in 1975 during the second season as the loveable character Nathan Bookman after the aforementioned comedy ended.
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Former Good Times co-star Janet Jackson paid tribute to Brown on social media.
“Such loving memories of our time together,” she wrote. “You were full of laughter and forever smiling. Always so sweet and so kind to me. I love you and will miss you. 🤍 #JohnnyBrown 🙏🏽.”
Such loving memories of our time together. You were full of laughter and forever smiling. Always so sweet and so kind to me. I love you and will miss you. 🤍 #JohnnyBrown 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/ILmjyrk9L9
— Janet Jackson (@JanetJackson) March 5, 2022
The CBS television show about a Black family living in Chicago in the projects was the first show to feature a two-parent Black household. Brown’s impressive career also included appearances on Maude, Sister Sister, Family Matters, Everybody Hates Chris and The Wiz.
Brown was married to his wife, June Brown, for 61 years. The couple had two children, John Jr. and Sharon.
