Ja’Net Dubois passed away on Feb. 19, 2020 at the age of 74 and now the cause of her death is being revealed. According to TMZ, the Good Times star passed away from cardiac arrest according to her death certificate, and according to documents, the actress was suffering from peripheral vascular disease and chronic kidney disease for years, with hypertension as a contributing factor.
Originally, she was found dead in her daughter’s home in Glendale, California, when she passed away in her sleep. Following her death, she was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea.
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Earlier in February, Dubois was reported to be in good spirits, looking happy next to her co-stars Johnny Brown, Ralph Carter, Barn Nadette Stanis and Jimmie Walker. According to her family, she didn’t have any known ailments or illnesses before her death, but recent news reveals otherwise.
In addition to her work on Good Times, she also sang the classic theme song for The Jeffersons, ‘Movin’ On Up.” She is also known for her voice-over work, even receiving two Emmy awards for The PJs. Recently, in December, she appeared at the end of ABC’s production of Good Times Live (for Live in Front of a Studio Audience) alongside several of her former co-stars including Walker and Stannis.
Just after she and her castmates received the the Impact Award for the show at the TV Land Awards, she opened up about her career to Andy Cohen saying, “Rita Ridge was our designer — and let me tell you that I had a lot of style in the 70s and I did an arrangement on the outfits she made me. I set the stage for a sharp black woman to walk through the door with style, class, humor and looks. And I did it. I think I was a help to Rita. I could be creative and expressive and being ME to the clothes, and Norman let me be impromptu and bring me the Willona.”
She added, “My job as Willona was to make it right, fast and funny. It was a wonderful thing that happened. It changed the scene for the type of black woman being shown. The wigs, the hats, my everything was a dream come true. I used to teach acting in NYC, and I taught the kids how to present themselves, show them the best.”
She concluded with, “Every dream I had came to fruition through ‘Good Times’ so those kids could watch me on TV and see me applying all I taught them.”
