Hidden Figures: Ja'Net DuBois #BlackHERstoryMonth 18/29 (Patreon)

Jeannette Dubois, known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, was a pioneering Black American actress, singer–songwriter and dancer. DuBois was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods on the comedy Good Times, which was television's first Black American two-parent family sitcom.

Ja’Net Dubois was born August 5, 1938, and was raised on Long Island, beginning her career in New York theater in the 1960s. She appeared in the show ‘Golden Boy’ on Broadway with Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964, and in 1969 she scored one of her first television credits on the TV movie ‘J.T.’ From 1970 to 1972 she starred on the soap opera Love of Life, where her role as Loretta Allen made her the first Black American female as a regular cast-member on a daytime serial. In 1970, DuBois appeared in her first film, playing Vera in Diary of a Mad Housewife. She relocated to California to pursue her acting career, and when television producer Norman Lear saw DuBois in a play at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, she was cast in her signature role as friend of the Evans family, Willona Woods, on the Black American sitcom ‘Good Times.’ She remained on Good Times for the entirety of its run, from 1974-1979. A singer and musician, DuBois also wrote, composed, and sang the theme song "Movin' on Up" for The Jeffersons.

Founding her own record label, Peanuts and Caviar, DuBois recorded the album ‘Again, Ja’Net DuBois,' in 1983. In 1987, she appeared in former Good Times co-star Janet Jackson's "Control" music video as her mother, and in 1992, she co-starred with Clifton Davis in And I Still Rise, a play written and directed by Maya Angelou. DuBois continued acting in films and television throughout the years, making notable appearances in the television miniseries 'Roots,' 'Sister, Sister,' 'Home Improvement,' 'One on One,' 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' 'I'm Gonna Git You Sucka,' 'Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle,' 'Moesha,' 'The Steve Harvey Show,' 'A Different World,' and 'The Wayans Bros.' A voiceover artist, she was Mrs. Patterson in the Nickelodeon show ‘As Told By Ginger,’ and won two Emmy Awards for her voiceover work on the cartoon series 'The PJs.' The entire cast of 'Good Times,' including DuBois, also received The Impact Icon Award at the 2006 TV Land Awards.

During the 1980s, DuBois operated the Ja'net DuBois Academy of Theater Arts and Sciences, a performing-arts school for teenagers in Long Island, New York. In 1992, DuBois, Danny Glover and others co-founded the Pan African Film & Arts Festival in Los Angeles. DuBois died on February 18, 2020. Her family has stated that she died in her sleep at her Glendale, California home.The Pan African Film Fest has issued a public statement stating that she “would be deeply missed.”

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Links:

'Ja'net DuBois, 'Good Times' Star, Dies at 74 (Report):'

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/janet-dubois-dead-good-times-star-dies-at-74-report-1279855

'Ja’Net DuBois, ‘Good Times’ Actress, Dies at 74:'

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/good-times-janet-dubois-dies-74-1203506763/

'Good Times' Ja'net DuBois Dead at 74:'

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/good-times-janet-dubois-dead-221141100.html

'‘Good Times’ actress and songwriter Ja’Net DuBois dies:'

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-18/songwriter-and-good-times-actress-janet-dubois-dies

Pan African Film Festival And Arts Festival:

https://www.paff.org