Remembering ‘Good Times’ Star Ja’Net Dubois
When Ja’Net DuBois passed away in 2020, I published a video about her, but I didn’t spend a great deal of time dwelling on her death. Instead, I chose to focus on her life … and, trust me, hers was definitely one worthy of celebration.
Ja’Net, of course, is probably best known as Willona Woods, the Evans’ neighbor and Florida’s best friend, in the classic TV sitcom Good Times.
Everett Collection
Ja’Net was a big part of Good Times for all six seasons of the show. Her character may have seemed a little nosey and a little bit of a gossip, but the truth is that Willona had a heart of gold and would do anything and everything that she could to support her friends.
And when Janet Jackson joined the show as Willona’s adopted daughter, Penny, Ja’Net’s character was developed even further; she helped carry many episodes during those later seasons when both John Amos and, for a time, Esther Rolle had departed from the series.
Ja’net DuBois and Janet Jackson. Everett Collection
Ja’Net and Janet’s real-life friendship was one that would last a lifetime. As Janet’s singing career blossomed, she cast Ja’Net as her mother in a music video, and they never lost touch. Upon hearing about Ja’Net’s passing, Janet took to Instagram saying: “I saw firsthand how she broke stereotypes and changed the landscape for Black women in entertainment. Thank you, Ja’Net. I’ll miss you.”
Speaking of music, Ja’Net was an accomplished singer-songwriter herself, having co-written and sung the opening theme song for The Jeffersons, “Movin’ On Up.” While I like that song, I actually prefer the title track from her 1980 album, Queen of the Highway. The song is soulful and just a bit funky, really great stuff!
Creidt: Jim Lommasson / ©20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
In the nineties, Ja’Net would lend her voice to the Eddie Murphy project, The PJs, where she earned an Emmy for her vocal work. Around the same time, she helped establish the Pan-African Film Festival, which is a nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of cultural understanding by introducing hundreds of great new films which celebrate the diversity and complexity of people of African descent. Her own work, coupled with the film festival, truly is a fitting legacy for this talented lady who managed to make people feel just a little bit better about the world through everything that she did.
Remind
Where Are They Now? Music Legends
July/August 2025
They rocked and rolled us, they shredded, they head-slammed and they crooned, but what happened to them and where are they now?
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