Atlanta radio personality and comedian Wanda Smith has passed away, just one day after celebrating her birthday.

She was 58.

Passing announcement

Wanda was a radio personality on Atlanta’s V-103 and hosted the show Frank and Wanda in the Morning, with Frank Ski.

While a cause of death was not revealed, the radio station paid tribute to the radio icon.

In a post on V-103′s Instagram account, it said: “Our hearts are weighing heavier today as we grieve the loss of our beloved Wanda Smith, someone who always made us smile and who was a big part of V-103 for years. We extend our deepest prayers and condolences to her family.”

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Wanda Smith’s career

Smith has performed comedy at Def Comedy Jam, Comic View, Uptown Comedy and Atlanta Comedy Theater.

She also started the organization Girls Stand Together, Inc. which “empowers young girls to be amazing young women and is currently in its incubation and the greatness doesn’t stop there.”

Wanda appeared in films like “Madea Goes to Jail,” “Madea’s Witness Protection,” and “The Drone That Saved Christmas.”

Cissy Houston, beloved soul and gospel singer and mother to Whitney Houston, has died.

She was 91.

Cissy Houston dies at 91

Houston, a two-time Grammy winner, passed away at her home earlier this morning in New Jersey, according to her daughter-in-law Pat Houston. Houston, who was surrounded by her family, was under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We loss the matriarch of our family,” the family shared in a statement.

“Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community. Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts.”

Music career

Born as Emily Drinkard on September 30, 1933 in Newark, N.J., Houston started performing in church at an early age, singing with her family’s gospel act before getting into in popular music in the 1960s as a member of the group The Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warwick. The group sang backup for a variety of soul singers including Lou Rawls, The Drifters, and Otis Redding. They also sang backup for Dionne Warwick, who is also Houston’s neice.

Houston’s many credits included Franklin’s “Think” and ”(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man.” The Sweet Inspirations had their own top 20 single with the soul-rock “Sweet Inspiration”.

Houston was one of the top in-demand studio session singers and recorded more than 600 songs in multiple genres throughout her career. Her vocals can be heard on tracks alongside a wide range of artists including Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, Paul Simon, and her daughter Whitney Houston.

She inspired the youth

Cissy love her hometown of Newark and often spent much time there, presiding for decades over the Youth Inspirational Choir at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church and was also the church’s musical director, where Whitney Houston sang as a child.

Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston

When she was not directing the youth choir, she was guiding her daughter’s music career.

Whitney Houston made her debut on national television when she and Cissy Houston sang a medley of Franklin hits on “The Merv Griffin Show”.

They would later sing together often in concert and appeared in the 1996 film “The Preacher’s Wife.” Cissy also appeared in the video for one of Whitney’s biggest songs from the mid-1980s, “Greatest Love of All.” The video was filmed as a mother-daughter homage.

Whitney would predecease her mother in 2012 at 48 years old, when she was found unconscious in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills hotel over Grammy weekend.

Several years later in 2015, her granddaughter, Bobbi Kristina, passed away at only 22 years old from similar circumstances like her mother. She was found unconscious in a bathtub causing her to be put on life support before she passed.

Life for Cissy Houston

After her daughter’a death, Cissy wrote a book entitled Remembering Whitney, detailing her life in New Jersey while also honoring her daughter’s legacy.

Gilda Rogers interviews Cissy Houston

Cissy Houston was briefly married to Freddie Garland in the 1950s and had one son, Gary Garland. Garland was a guard for the Denver Nuggets and later sang on many of Whitney Houston’s tours. Cissy Houston then married Whitney’s father, entertainment executive John Russell Houston, from 1959-1990. In addition to Whitney, the Houstons also had a son named Michael.

Cissy Houston was the youngest of eight children of a factory worker and a housewife. She was just 5 when she and three siblings founded the Drinkard Singers, a gospel group that lasted 30 years, performing on the same bill as Mahalia Jackson among others and releasing the 1959 album “A Joyful Noise.”

John Amos, the actor best known for his characters in Good Times, Roots, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, has died. He was 84.

Death details

Amos passed away on August 21 in Los Angeles from natural causes, but his death wasn’t announced until recently by his son Kelly Christopher Amos.

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” Kelly Christopher Amos said in a statement. “He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold… and he was loved the world over. Many fans consider him their TV father. He lived a good life. His legacy will live on in his outstanding works in television and film as an actor. My father loved working as an actor throughout his entire life…. most recently in Suits LA playing himself and our documentary about his life journey as an actor, America’s Dad. He was my dad, my best friend, and my hero. Thank you for your prayers and support at this time.”

John Amos’ Career

Born on December 27, 1939 in New Jersey, John Amos’ impeccable acting career has spanned more than five decades. His career took off when he casted as the role of weatherman Gordon “Gordy” Howard on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. Following, he landed his first role on the big screen with Melvin Van Peebles‘ blaxploitation classic Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song in 1971.

Award-winning roles

From there, he brought his comedic prowess to CBS’ Good Times, a spinoff of Maude and All in the Family, and played father James Evans Sr. in 1974. The Norman Lear program made history as the first TV show to follow an African American family with a two-parent household. Amos character as a hardworking and devoted father resonated with audiences. But after three seasons, Amos was displeased with the direction of the show and the portrayal of his character’s son, James “J.J.” Evans Jr. He was fired after Season 3, and Season 4 began by killing James Evan Sr. off-screen.

CBS Television. Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1977, Amos starred in one of his most acclaimed roles as adult Kunta Kinte in the ABC historical miniseries Roots, which earned him an Emmy nomination. The series, about slavery in the United States, won nine Emmys, a Golden Globe a Peabody Award, and had an impressive viewership. More than 130 million people tuned into the series, which was more than half of the population of the U.S. at the time. The final episode holds the record for the third-highest-rated episode for any type of TV series and the second-most-watched series finale in history.

Television and film

Amos also appeared in television shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which he played Will Smith’s father-in-law; The World’s Greatest Athlete, Let’s Do It Again, About the Andersons, The West Wing, Two and a Half Men and The Ranch. His final tv role is in the forthcoming series Suits LA.

On film, he had roles in Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America and its 2021 sequel Coming 2 America, The Players Club, Die Hard 2, Ricochet, The Beastmaster, For Better or Worse , Lock Up and Me Tyme. He and his son also produced the upcoming documentary about his life, titled America’s Dad.

Theatre

Amos also lent his talents to theatre. He wrote, produced and starred in a one-man play, titled Halley’s Comet. He also appeared on Broadway in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean.

John Amos’ life before acting

Born and raised in Newark, N.J., Amos mom cleaned the home of a cartoonist who drew for the Archie comics, and that led to Amos and a friend attending a taping of radio’s The Archie Show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. “It blew my imagination wide open,” he said.

At East Orange High School, Amos drew cartoons and wrote columns for the school newspaper, played a convict in a production of The Man Who Came to Dinner and was a star running back.

Before becoming serious in acting, Amos played college football at Long Beach City College and Colorado State University on a scholarship. After college, he then became a free agent for several football teams including the Denver Bronco’s in 1964, suited up for the 1967 NFL offseason with the Kansas City Chiefs. After football didn’t pan out, Amos set out to pursue tv writing followed by acting, leaving a timeless legacy of iconic, memorable roles and acting prowess.