
Jimmie Walker
James Carter Walker Jr. (born June 25, 1947), known professionally as Jimmie Walker, is an American actor and comedian. Walker is best known for portraying James Evans Jr. (J. J.), the oldest son of Florida and James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series Good Times which originally ran from 1974–1979. Walker was nominated for Golden Globe awards Best Supporting Actor In A Television Series in 1975 and 1976 for his role. While on the show, Walker's character was known for the catchphrase "Dy-no-mite!" which he also used in his mid–1970s TV commercial for a Panasonic line of cassette and 8-track tape players. He also starred in Let's Do It Again with John Amos, and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened with James Earl Jones. Walker continues to tour the country with his stand-up comedy routine. In 1967, Walker began working full-time with WRVR, the radio station of the Riverside Church. In 1969, Walker began performing as a stand-up comedian and was eventually discovered by the casting director for Good Times, after making appearances on Rowan & Martin's Laugh In and on the Jack Paar Show. He eventually released one stand-up comedy album during the height of his Good Times popularity: Dyn-o-mite on Buddah Records (5635). During Good Times' 1974–75 season, Walker was 26 years old, though his character was much younger. John Amos, the actor who portrayed Walker's father on Good Times, was actually just eight years older than Walker. Walker credits producer/director John Rich for inventing "Dy-no-mite!" which Rich insisted Walker say on every episode. Both Walker and executive producer Norman Lear were skeptical of the idea, but the phrase and Walker's character caught on with the audience. Also, off- and on-camera, Walker did not get along with series' lead, Esther Rolle, who played Florida Evans, in the series, because she and Amos disapproved of Walker's increasingly buffoonish character and his popularity, and Walker felt hurt by their disdain. Dissatisfaction led Amos (before Rolle), to leave the show, making Walker the star of the show. Walker was the only Good Times star to not attend Rolle's funeral.
80 acting credits
Acting · 80

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962

Saturday Night Live
1975

ER
1994

The Mike Douglas Show
1961

Scrubs
2001

The Love Boat
1977

The Bold and the Beautiful
1987

The Drew Carey Show
1995

Hollywood Squares
1998

Sherri
2022

The Merv Griffin Show
1962

Late Night with David Letterman
1982

Cagney & Lacey
1982

Everybody Hates Chris
2005

The Larry Sanders Show
1992
The Tony Danza Show
2004

Blossom
1990

Celebrity Ghost Stories
2009

Space Ghost Coast to Coast
1994

The John Larroquette Show
1993

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
1992

Good Times
1974

Worst Cooks in America
2010

The White Shadow
1978

Son of the Beach
2000

Gotham Comedy Live
2012

Airplane!
1980

George Lopez
2002

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1973

Good Times
2024

Donny & Marie
1976

Cher
1975

Tony Orlando and Dawn
1974
Comedy.tv
2009

Dark Side of Comedy
2022

Traffic Light
2011

Beat the Geeks
2001

The Comedy Store
2020

Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution
2022

At Ease
1983

Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth
2000
The Very Very Best of the 70s
2019

The Concorde... Airport '79
1979

The Comedian
2016

Imps*
1983

Water
1985

Rabbit Test
1978

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
2019

The Guyver
1991

B.A.D. Cats
1980

The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
1980

Doin' Time
1985

Joys
1976

Bustin' Loose
1987
Back to the Grind
2007

Super Shark
2011

Telethon
1977

Let's Do It Again
1975

Plump Fiction
1997

Big Money Rustlas
2010

Show Business Is My Life (But I Can't Prove It)
2022

Monster Mash: The Movie
1995

I Am Richard Pryor
2019

The Jerk, Too
1984

Chasing Robert
2007

Kidnapped
1988
Sweet Lorraine
2015

Going Bananas
1987

Open Season
1995

The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened
1977

Don't Suck
2023

Murder Can Hurt You!
1980
Norman Lear: A Life on Television
2023

David E. Talbert's What Goes Around Comes Around
2012
But... Seriously
1994

A Wrestling Christmas Miracle
2020

The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?
1977

Sing Sing Thanksgiving
1974

Forgotten Fortune
—

Jimmie JJ Walker & Michael Winslow: We Are Still Here
2018