06/16/2022
Jeannette Theresa Dubois (August 5, 1932– February 17, 2020), known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, was an American actress and singer. She was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods, the neighborhood gossip maven and a friend of the Evans family on the CBS sitcom Good Times, which originally aired from 1974 to 1979.
DuBois additionally co–wrote and sang the theme song "Movin' on Up" for The Jeffersons, which originally aired from 1975 until 1985. After beginning her career onstage in the early 1960s, DuBois went on to appear on television shows and films into the mid-2010s.
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' 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. 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 show from February 1974 until the show ended in August 1979. DuBois began the show as a co–star, alongside Rolle and John Amos (who departed the show in 1976). In 1977, DuBois became the shows' lead during the fifth season due 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 Good Times ended in 1979, DuBois recorded the album Again, Ja'Net DuBois on her Peanuts and Caviar label in 1983. 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) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), and on television in Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, A Different World, Touched by an Angel, and The Wayans Bros.
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 Ayuko Babu co-founded the Pan African Film & Arts Festival in Los Angeles. 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 2000, DuBois served as Grand Marshal for the North Amityville Community Parade and Festival Day in Amityville, New York. DuBois was an honorary member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.
AWARDS
▪1999 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Voice-Over Performance The PJs
▪2001 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Voice-Over Performance The PJs: Let's Get Ready to Rumba
▪2006 TV Land Image Award Good Times
