Amos, Wally
Name |
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Birthname | Wallace C. Amos | ||||
born on | 1 July 1936 at 01:00 (= 01:00 AM ) | ||||
Place | Tallahassee, Florida, 30n26, 84w17 | ||||
Timezone | EST h5w (is standard time) | ||||
Data source |
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Astrology data | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Biography
American TV personality, talent agent, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and author, who has been called "the King of cookies." He is the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della’s Cookies gourmet cookie brands. He was the host of the adult reading program, Learn to Read. He has written 10 books, many of which have a self-help theme, including The Cookie Never Crumbles and The Power in You.
After college he took a mailroom clerk job with the William Morris Agency, and eventually became the agency's first African American talent agent. He signed Simon & Garfunkel and headed the agency's rock 'n' roll department. Amos attracted clients by sending them chocolate chip cookies along with an invitation to visit him. He represented musicians such as Diana Ross & the Supremes, Sam Cooke, and Marvin Gaye.
In 1975, a friend suggested to Amos that he set up a store to sell his cookies, and in March of that year, the first Famous Amos cookie store opened in Los Angeles, California. He started the business with the help of a $25,000 loan from Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy. The company began to expand and, eventually, Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies could be found on supermarket shelves across the United States.
In 1979, Amos married Christine Amos-Harris (née Harris), who later helped him design the early merchandise and packaging for Famous Amos cookies. One of Amos' children is musician Shawn Amos.
Amos lived in Hawaii from 1977 until 2018 before moving to Columbia, South Carolina.
Relationships
- business associate/partner relationship with Gaye, Marvin (born 2 April 1939)
- business associate/partner relationship with Reddy, Helen (born 25 October 1941)
Source Notes
Sy Scholfield quotes from Man With No Name: Turn Lemons Into Lemonade by Wally Amos and Camilla Denton (Aslan, 1994), page 19: "I certainly had no idea of it when I was born at 1 A.M. on July 1, 1936, and my screams signalled the arrival of the only son of Wallace and Ruby Amos. In their tiny three-room house, located twenty-five yards from the railroad tracks in the black section of Tallahassee, Florida."
Categories
- Traits : Body : Race (Black, African-American)
- Family : Parenting : Kids - Noted (Shawn Amos, musician)
- Vocation : Business : Business owner
- Vocation : Business : Clerical/ Secretarial
- Vocation : Business : Entrepreneur
- Vocation : Education : Public speaker (Motivational)
- Vocation : Entertainment : TV host/ Personality
- Vocation : Entertain/Business : Manager/ Agent
- Vocation : Food and Beverage : Baker/ Confections
- Vocation : Writers : How To ....
- 1936 births
- Birthday 1 July
- Birthplace Tallahassee, FL (US)
- Sun 9 Cancer
- Moon 28 Scorpio
- Asc 21 Aries
- Traits : Body : Race
- Family : Parenting : Kids - Noted
- Vocation : Business : Business owner
- Vocation : Business : Clerical/ Secretarial
- Vocation : Business : Entrepreneur
- Vocation : Education : Public speaker
- Vocation : Entertainment : TV host/ Personality
- Vocation : Entertain/Business : Manager/ Agent
- Vocation : Food and Beverage : Baker/ Confections
- Vocation : Writers : How To ....