Jeannette Theresa Dubois, known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, Ja'net DuBois, and Ja'Net Du Bois, was an American actress and singer–songwriter. DuBois was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods, the neighborhood gossip maven and a friend of the Evans family on the CBS sitcom Good Times, which originally aired from 1974 to 1979. DuBois additionally co–wrote and sang the theme song "Movin' on Up" for The Jeffersons, which originally aired from 1975 until 1985. Beginning her career in the early 1960s on the theater stage, DuBois continued her career appearing in various television shows and films into the mid–2010s.
Biography
Early life and career
Born Jeannette Theresa Dubois on August 5, 1932 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, DuBois was the daughter of Lillian Gouedy and Gordon Adelbert Dubois. DuBois was raised in Amityville, New York on Long Island. DuBois began her acting career onstage during the early 1960s, making her Broadway debut with a small role in the short-lived The Long Dream, which ran four days in February 1960. She appeared in the drama A Raisin in the Sun with Louis Gossett Jr., though not the original Broadway production. After appearing in the play The Blacks in October 1963, she became an understudy for the housekeeper role, portrayed by Gertrude Jeannette, in the comedy Nobody Loves an Albatross, which ran through June 1964. Thereafter, DuBois appeared in the Broadway musicalGolden Boy with Sammy Davis Jr., Billy Daniels, Lola Falana and Johnny Brown. DuBois portrayed Anna, the sister of Davis' character, through the entire original run from October 1964 to March 1966.
Career
DuBois's early television acting credits include the 1969 television movie J.T. and the long–running television soap opera Love of Life. From 1970 until 1972, DuBois portrayed Loretta Allen in the soap opera, in which she was noted as one of the first African–American female regular cast-members on a daytime series. Prior to that role, DuBois appeared in her first film, portraying Vera in Diary of a Mad Housewife which was released in 1970. Following the appearance in her first film, DuBois landed the role of Stormy Monday in the 1973 comedy Five on the Black Hand Side with Clarice Taylor, D'Urville Martin and Glynn Turman. In 1973, DuBois appeared in Lanford Wilson's play The Hot l Baltimore. During her time in the play, Television producer Norman Lear saw her performance at the Mark Taper Forum. Lear being impressed with DuBois' performance, cast her in his then new CBS sitcom Good Times as Wilona Woods; The Evans' family friend, Florida Evans' best friend and neighbor. DuBois appeared in the series from February 1974 until the conclusion in July 1979. DuBois began the series as a co–star, alongside Rolle and John Amos. In 1977, DuBois became the series' lead during the beginning of its' fifth season due to the temporary departure of Rolle. DuBois' returned to co–starring role once Rolle returned during the sixth and final season in 1978. After the conclusion of Good Times in 1979, DuBois recorded the album Again, Ja'Net DuBois on her Peanuts and Caviar label, in 1983. DuBois appeared in former Good Times co-star Janet Jackson's 1987 "Control" music video as her mother. In 1992, she co-starred with Clifton Davis in And I Still Rise, a play written and directed by Maya Angelou. DuBois co-starred in the films I'm Gonna Git You Sucka and , and on television in Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, A Different World, and The Wayans Bros.
Other ventures and accolades
During the 1980s, DuBois operated the Ja'net DuBois Academy of Theater Arts and Sciences, a performing-arts school for teenagers in Long Island, New York. In 1992, DuBois, Danny Glover and Ayuko Babu co-founded the Pan African Film & Arts Festival in Los Angeles. In 1995, DuBois won a CableACE award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Lifetime movieOther Women's Children. DuBois won Emmy Awards for her voice-over work on the animated programThe PJs in 1999 and 2001. DuBois along with the cast of Good Times received The Impact Icon Award at the 2006 TV Land Awards. In 2000, DuBois served as Grand Marshal for the North Amityville Community Parade and Festival Day in Amityville, New York. DuBois was an honorary member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.
DuBois married Sajit Gupta in 1950. According to her Brazilian consular document, DuBois was divorced from Gupta by April 1959, but another source states she was still married in 1964. Together DuBois and Gupta had four children: Provat Gupta, Rani Gupta, Kesha Gupta-Fields, and Raj Kristo Gupta, who died of cancer in 1987 at age 36. Provat is a basketball coach based in California. In 1959, DuBois was romantically involved with actor Brock Peters. DuBois died on February 17, 2020, of cardiac arrest at her residence in Glendale, California.
