Ja'Net DuBois

Remembering the life of Ja'Net DuBois for her Birthday! Born as Jeannette Theresa Dubois in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. DuBois began her acting career onstage during the early 1960s, making her Broadway debut with a small role in the short-lived play The Long Dream, which ran four days in February 1960. She appeared in the drama A Raisin in the Sun with Louis Gossett Jr., though not the original Broadway production. After appearing in the play, The Blacks in October 1963, she became an understudy for the housekeeper role, portrayed by Gertrude Jeannette, in the comedy Nobody Loves an Albatross, which ran through June 1964. Thereafter, DuBois appeared in the Broadway musical Golden Boy with Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Daniels, Lola Falana and Johnny Brown. DuBois portrayed Anna, the sister of Davis's character, through the entire original run from October 1964 to March 1966. DuBois's early television acting credits include the 1969 television movie J.T. and the long–running television soap opera Love of Life. From 1970 until 1972, DuBois portrayed Loretta Allen in the soap opera, in which she was noted as one of the first African American female regular cast members on a daytime series. Before this role, DuBois appeared in her first film, portraying Vera in Diary of a Mad Housewife, released in 1970. Following the appearance in her first film, DuBois landed the role of Stormy Monday in the 1973 comedy Five on the Black Hand Side with Clarice Taylor, D'Urville Martin and Glynn Turman, she was also in the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier comedy A Piece of the Action (1977). Her early TV roles include guest spots on Sanford and Son, Shaft and The Blue Knight.

In 1973, DuBois appeared in Lanford Wilson's play The Hot l Baltimore. During her time in the play, television producer Norman Lear saw her performance at the Mark Taper Forum. Lear, being impressed with DuBois's performance, then cast her in his CBS sitcom Good Times as Wilona Woods, the Evans family's friend and Florida Evans's (portrayed by Esther Rolle) best friend and neighbor. DuBois appeared in the series from February 1974 until the conclusion in July 1979. DuBois began the series as a co–star, alongside Rolle and John Amos (who departed the series in 1976). In 1977, DuBois became the series' lead during the beginning of its fifth season owing to the temporary departure of Rolle. DuBois returned to her co–starring role once Rolle returned in the sixth and final season in 1978. After the conclusion of Good Times in 1979, DuBois recorded the album Again, Ja'Net DuBois on her Peanuts and Caviar label in 1983. She was also in the TV miniseries Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and The Sophisticated Gents (1981). DuBois appeared in former Good Times co-star Janet Jackson's 1987 "Control" music video as her mother. In 1992, she co-starred with, Clifton Davis in And I Still Rise, a play written and directed by Maya Angelou. DuBois co-starred in the films I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) Heart Condition (1990) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), and on television in The Love Boat, Kojak, The Facts of Life, Dream On, Beverly Hills, 90210, Home Improvement, Martin, ER, Everybody Loves Raymond, Cold Case, Boomtown, Crossing Jordan, Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, A Different World, Touched by an Angel, and a recurring role in The Wayans Bros.

She was also in the TNT movies Hard Time (1998) and Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999) both directed by and starring Burt Reynolds. DuBois additionally co–wrote and sang the theme song "Movin' on Up" for The Jeffersons, which originally aired from 1975 until 1985. In 1995, DuBois won a CableACE award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Lifetime movie Other Women's Children. DuBois won Emmy Awards for her voice-over work on the animated program The PJs in 1999 and 2001. DuBois along with the cast of Good Times received The Impact Icon Award at the 2006 TV Land Awards. In 1959, DuBois was romantically involved with actor Brock Peters. Just a few months after appearing on Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Good Times, in which she looked healthy, DuBois died on February 17, 2020, of cardiac arrest at her residence in Glendale, California. Her death certificate listed Cab Calloway as her father and Lillian Gouedy as her mother. Most sources cite Gordon DuBois as her father. Dr. Kesha B. Grupta-Fields, listed as DuBois's daughter and as the informant for the obituary, indicated that Gordon DuBois was Gouedy's husband and "instrumental" in raising the actress.