Jimmie Walker

James Carter Walker Jr. (born June 25, 1947) is an American actor and comedian. Walker is best known for portraying James Evans Jr. ("J.J."), the oldest son of Florida and James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series Good Times, which ran from 1974 to 1979. Walker was nominated for Golden Globe awards Best Supporting Actor In A Television Series in 1975 and 1976 for his role. While on the show, Walker's character was known for the catchphrase "Dy-no-mite!" which he also used in his mid–1970s TV commercial for a Panasonic line of cassette and 8-track tape players. He also starred in Let's Do It Again with John Amos, and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened with James Earl Jones. Walker continues to tour the country with his stand-up comedy routine.[1][2]
== Early life ==
Walker was born in The Bronx, New York. Walker attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in New York City. Through a federal program known as SEEK, or "Search for Education, Evaluation, and Knowledge," he continued his studies and entered into the field of radio engineering with WRVR. As a young man, Walker was a vendor at Yankee Stadium, starting with the 1964 World Series. He was given a silver dollar by Mickey Mantle, which he still has.
== Career ==
In 1967, Walker began working full-time with WRVR, the radio station of the Riverside Church. In 1969, Walker began performing as a stand-up comedianand was eventually discovered by the casting director for Good Times, after making appearances on Rowan & Martin's Laugh In and on the Jack Paar Show. He eventually released one stand-up comedy album during the height of his Good Times popularity: Dyn-o-mite on Buddah Records (5635). During Good Times' 1974–75 season, Walker was 26 years old, though his character was much younger. John Amos, the actor who portrayed Walker's father on Good Times, was actually just eight years older than Walker. Walker credits producer/director John Rich for inventing "Dy-no-mite!" which Rich insisted Walker say on every episode. Both Walker and executive producer Norman Learwere skeptical of the idea, but the phrase and Walker's character caught on with the audience.[3] Also, off- and on-camera, Walker did not get along with series' lead, Esther Rolle, who played Florida Evans, in the series, because she and Amos disapproved of Walker's increasingly buffoonish character and his popularity, and Walker felt hurt by their disdain. Dissatisfaction led Amos (before Rolle), to leave the show, making Walker the star of the show.[4] Walker was the only Good Times star to not attend Rolle's funeral.[5]
== Later career ==
During 1975 Walker was also a weekend personality on contemporary R&B music station KAGB 103.9 FM licensed to Inglewood in the Los Angeles market. Walker appeared on The Tonight Show and Match Game during the 1970s and early 1980s. He also appeared on the 1990 revival of Match Game and various game shows during that era. Walker has made guest appearances on Badge 373, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Larry Sanders Show, Son of the Beach, The Drew Carey Show, The John Larroquette Show, In the House, Cagney & Lacey, The Fall Guy, Scrubs, Star Dates, Everybody Hates Chris, George Lopez, Chelsea Lately and Lincoln Heights. He also appeared in films such as Rabbit Test (1978), The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979), Airplane! (1980), Water (1985), Doin' Time (1985), The Guyver (1991), Monster Mash (1995) and Plump Fiction (1997). Aside from guest appearances, he starred in the short-lived television series At Ease in 1983 and Bustin' Loose[6] in 1987. In the 1990s, Walker returned to his radio roots hosting shows on WHIO, WOAI, WLS, and KKAR. In 1996, he appeared on split release with Powerviolence band Spazz distributed by Spazz owned label Slap-a-ham records. In 2010, Walker made a cameo appearance in the movie Big Money Rustlas. In 2011, Walker appeared in a Syfy channel movie Super Shark. In 2012, Jimmie Walker's autobiography Dyn-o-mite! Good Times, Bad Times, Our Times – A Memoir, was published. In 2012, Walker announced the release of his official app developed by Monty Goulet for iOS.
== Personal life and political views ==
According to an appearance on The Wendy Williams Show on June 27, 2012, Walker stated he has never been married nor fathered children, but has had many girlfriends. Walker appeared on The O'Reilly Factor on July 11, 2012. He stated that he did not vote for Barack Obama and that he would not vote for him in the 2012 election either.[7] In an interview with CNN, Walker described himself politically as a "realist independent" and stated that he opposed affirmative action, saying that it had outlived its usefulness. He also said that he was against gay marriage on moral grounds, but believed its legalization should be passed, stating it was not worth fighting against.[3]
Walker described his political beliefs at length in his autobiography, Dyn-O-Mite: Good Times, Bad Times, Our Times: A Memoir. In it, he called himself a "logicist," who believes in "logic and common sense", holding conservative positions on many issues.[8]
Despite rumors that Walker was dating conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter,[9] they are just close friends.[10][11][12] On August 3, 2017, Walker publicly announced his support for President Donald Trump,[13][14] saying that he was "for probably 90 percent of the things he does."
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Film 	Role 	Notes
1975	Let's Do It Again 	Bootney Farnsworth 	Action/crime film directed by Sidney Poitier.[15]
1978	Rabbit Test 	Umbuto 	Comedy film directed and written by Joan Rivers.[16]
1979	The Concorde ... Airport '79	Boisie 	Air disaster film directed by David Lowell Rich.[17]
1980	Airplane! 	Windshield Wiper Man	Parody film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker.[18]
1991	The Guyver 	M.C. Striker 	Science fiction film directed by Screaming Mad George and co-directed by Steve Wang.
2010	Big Money Rustlas 	Townsperson 	Parody film written by Joe Bruce and Paul Andresen, and directed by Andresen. Follow up film of, Big Money Hustlas.
2011	Super Shark 	Dynamite Stevens 	Sci-fi Horror film written by Fred Olen Ray, and directed by Fred Olen Ray.
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1974–79 	Good Times 	James "J.J." Evans Jr.	133 episodes
1974 	Tony Orlando and Dawn 	Himself 	Episode: "Episode #1.2" ( S 1:Ep 2)
1977 	Bob Hope television specials 	Himself 	Episode: "Bob Hope's All-Star Comedy Tribute to Vaudeville" (S 27: Ep 4)
1977 	The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened	Morris Bird III 	Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Gilbert Moses.[19]
1980 	B.A.D. Cats 	Rodney Washington 	Episode: "Pilot" (S 1:Ep 1)
1980 	Murder Can Hurt You 	Parks the Pusher 	Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Roger Duchowny.[20]
1982 	Today's FBI 	Reggie 	Episode: "Bank Job" ( S1 :Ep 16)
1982 	Fantasy Island 	Jay 	Episode: "The Beautiful Skeptic/The Lost Platoon" ( S 6:Ep 6)
1983 	Cagney & Lacey 	Tony Brown 	Episode: "Chop Shop" (S 2:Ep 18)
1983 	At Ease 	Sgt. Val Valentine 	14 episodes
1987–88 	Bustin' Loose 	Sonny Barnes 	26 episodes
1994 	The Larry Sanders Show 	Himself 	Episode: The Gift Episode
1996 	Space Ghost Coast to Coast 	Himself 	Episode: "Surprise"
2001, 2002	Scrubs 	Himself 	Episodes: "My Bad" (S 1:Ep 6), and "My Blind Date" (S 1:Ep 12)
2006, 2008	Everybody Hates Chris 	Gene 	Episodes: "Everybody Hates Funerals" (S 1:Ep 14), "Everybody Hates Gambling" (S 2:Ep19), and "Everybody Hates the Port Authority" (S 3:Ep 11)
2006 	Minoriteam 	Fasto's Grandfather 	Episode: "Balactus: Part II"