Wally Amos, Famous Amos Cookies Creator, Dead at 88

Wallace “Wally” Amos, the founder of Famous Amos cookies, has died. Amos passed away surrounded by his wife, Carol, and his children at his home in Honolulu on Tuesday, Aug. 13 following a battle with dementia, his family confirmed, according to CBS News. He was 88.

“Our dad inspired a generation of entrepreneurs. With his Panama hat, kazoo, and boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story, and a source of Black pride. It’s also part of our family story for which we will forever be grateful and proud,” his children Sarah, Michael, Gregory, and Shawn Amos said, adding, per NPR, “Our dad taught us the value of hard work, believing in ourselves, and chasing our dreams.”

Born inin Tallahassee, Florida in 1936, Amos was 12 when he moved to New York City to live with his aunt Della Bryant, who had a knack for baking, sparking his own interest in the trade. After dropping out of high school and joining the Air Force from 1954 through 1957, Amos joined the William Morris Agency, where he worked his way up to become the first Black talent agent in the industry, according to History.

Amos eventually left show business and focused on baking cookies using his Aunt Della’s recipe. Speaking to The New York Times in 1975, Amos said he “began to bake as a hobby; it was a kind of therapy. I’d go to meetings with record company or movie people and bring along some cookies, and pretty soon everybody was asking for them.”

He soon turned that passion into a career and business, founding Famous Amos with a bakery on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1975. While the cookies were known for their simple ingredients and for being preservative-free, Amos told NPR in 2008 that the secret ingredient was love, telling the outlet, “I think it’s important to love what you do because that love is transferred to what you do, and it turns it into something absolutely fantastic.”

Famous Amos cookies were a massive hit, the company making $300,000 in its first year, per The New York Times. By 1981, it became a $12 million company, with stores across the country and those iconic beige bags with blue lettering sold at grocery stores nationwide. After selling the company in 1988 following years of financial struggles, Amos later sold baked goods under names including Uncle Noname, Uncle Wally’s Muffin Co., and the Cookie Kahuna.

Outside of his baking ventures, Amos became the spokesman for the Literacy Volunteers of America in 1981, hosting his own public-access cable TV program, Learn to Read, in 1987. He also authored several books, including The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched a Thousand Chips, The Cookie Never Crumbles: Practical Recipes for Everyday Living, and The Man with No Name: Turn Lemons into Lemonade. He also appeared as a guest on The Office, Taxi, and The Jeffersons.