RIP Ja’Net DuBois, the First Grown-Ass Woman Gen Xers Fell in Love With
As Willona Woods, DuBois became the glue of ‘Good Times,’ her confidence setting the tone for everyone around her
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As a lifelong (and aging) Good Times fan, I’ll be first to admit that growing up has given me added perspective on that classic ’70s sitcom. At six years old, I crushed hard on Janet Jackson, only five years older than me, when she debuted as Penny Woods. When I watched reruns as a teenager, the beauty and sass that Bern Nadette Stanis delivered as Thelma Evans had me wishing I’d been older in those days of bell-bottom hip-huggers. But only as an adult did I realize how hard I slept on the heart and soul of the classic show, the glue who held the sitcom together for six seasons: Florida Evans’ bestie, upstairs neighbor Willona Woods — portrayed by Ja’Net DuBois.
Ms. DuBois passed away in her sleep on Monday at her home in Glendale, California, surrounded by family. She was 74.
How many representations of black women even existed on the Big Three television networks from Good Times’ first episode in 1974 to its 1980 finale? Outside of the fiftysomething…
