Famous Amos became a fixture in Hollywood, its proprietor staging celebrations much like the music revues he had helped organize in the 1960s. Charles wouldnt disclose revenues for Famous Amos, but noted it was the companys fastest-growing cookie brand. ". Famous Amos: The Stand-Up Comedian Actor And Writer Graham, Judith, ed. And he really, really cared about people.". Amos even appeared in Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1977 to 1981. Born in tallahassee, florida, wally amos lived a childhood that was not always stable and trouble free. But the reason is that theyve told themselves they cant. Film and television stars, pop singers, and politicians all professed a craving for Famous Amos cookies. Why Wally Amos Lost "Famous Amos Cookies" - YouTube Wally Amos was a walking, breathing brandwho couldn't seem to cash in on his own success. Washington Business Journal (December 12, 1997): p. 61. Wally Amos, Jr. was born in Florida in 1936. The Famous Amos shirt and hat are currently on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. "In financial terms," Wally wrote in 1996, "all I've done since is amass debt and miss payments." Around the time Wally lost ownership in his company, his career took perhaps it's most remarkable turn. At age 10, Amos began attending a school established in his mother's church. The muffins are sold in more than 3,500 stores nationwide. Amos's role as a perpetual hype man had its downside. His speaking fee runs $10,000 to $20,000, according to a booking agencys Web site. By then, Amos had grown tired of the endless hustle of the entertainment industry and the riches that had never materialized. Contact at: Uncle Noname Cookie CompanyP.O. He also worked as a talent agent and discovered Simon & Garfunkel. "When I finally entered the cookie business full time, I acknowledged to myself that I had taken a beating and that it was time for a change," Amos writes in The Power in You. She introduced young Wally to the simple delights of a warm, chocolate chip cookie. He later dropped out of high school to join the Air Force before working as a mailroom clerk at the William Morris Agency, where he became a talent agent, working with The Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel and Marvin Gaye before borrowing $25,000 to launch his cookie business. He wrote up a business plan and approached some of his famous friends including singers Helen Reddy (1941-) and Marvin Gaye, who each contributed to his start-up funds. . He signed Simon and Garfunkel and The Animals.". The muffins, for instance, are a leading brand in Pathmark supermarkets in the New York area and are available nationally in stores like Costco warehouse clubs and Edwards supermarkets. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan formally presented to Wally Amos the President's Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Born in Tallahassee, Fla., Amos moved to New York City at age 12 because of his parents divorce. "Obituaries always list the year you were born and the year you died, separated by a dash, i.e. He now leaves the day-to-day operations of his Long Island company, which is based in Hauppauge, to a partner, Lou Avignone, who is a former owner of a larger food distributor. In 1986 Amos was named recipient of one of president Ronald Reagans first Awards for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Having made millions with his gourmet cookies, Amos seemed to be riding highhe bought a beautiful home in Hawaii and spent untold nights flying across the country promoting his cookies. None of them have had the mass appeal or success of Famous Amos. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? Amos founded the cookie company in 1975 and things just didnt go as planned. I think it's more than a fetish. After spending several years in New York City, Amos dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Air Force, where he earned his G.E.D. Somebody did something to me that paralyzed me for life. If you believe that, youll never move forward.. In Current Biography Yearbook, Amos reported that his grandmother treated him "with a very tender and understanding kind of love." A True Story, Baldwin Hills, 'The Black Beverly Hills': The Life And Times Of The Community, A Los Angeles Family Seeks Answers And Accountability After Black Mom Dies In Childbirth. "In Motown's heyday, they had something called the Motortown Revue, so he booked all that. Long Island Business News (October 21, 1996): p. 41. . In the late- 1980s the company changed ownership several more times, and Amos ultimately became a mere figurehead with no role in the operations of the company he had founded. kehittksemme ja parantaaksemme palveluitamme sek tuotteitamme. Amos is also the author of four books: the autobiographical volume The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched a Thousand Chips (1983), the motivational work The Power in You: Ten Secret Ingredients for Inner Strength (1988), The Man with No Name (1994), and Watermelon Magic: Seeds of Wisdom. There's no darkness, there's no subterfuge there. "He had a headshot made of 'The Cookie,'" Shawn says. Amos is a popular motivational speaker who has used his celebrity status to promote literacy and to support drop-out prevention programs. Wally Amos had long ago lost control of Famous Amos, the cookie company he founded in 1975, and had even lost the right to use his name or the famous likeness of himself with his salt-and-pepper beard, Panama hat and embroidered Indian shirt. "When the store opened, it was him in the back making cookies and me standing on a milk crate in the front, selling.". The rise and fall of Wally Amos, who founded Famous Amos cookies, is an unexpected story of great success and tragic downfall. In the early 1960s Amos took a job in the mail room at the William Morris Talent Agency. A guy who loved people and loved life.. "I'm not concerned with whether people appreciate me or not. . Wally Amos will always be famous, even though he cant call himself that anymore. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. https://www.comedyhype.com/ - Wally Amos would become a nationally recognized face because of his hit cookie brand 'Famous Amos'. Leading American Businesses. Andy Warhol came and they had cookies and milk and champagne. Uncle Wallys Muffin Co. was originally founded as Uncle Noname Cookie Co. in 1992, a few years after Amos lost Famous Amos. I was about to get out of the car when I saw, for the first time, the logo on the side of the building: THE ORIGINAL HOME OF THE FAMOUS AMOS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE. So a decade after losing his company, Mr. Amos is back bragging about Famous Amos, like a proud father showing off his now-grown first-born. . Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. He is the founder of the Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookie, the Cookie Kahuna, and Aunt Della's Cookies gourmet cookie brands, and he was the host of the adult reading program, Learn to Read. Others were too big. That year, Wally Amos launched Wally Amos Presents hazelnut cookies. In his autobiography, The Famous Amos Story, Amos said that his parents rarely laughed and seldom displayed affection toward him. Amos, who created the Famous Amos cookie empire three decades ago and eventually lost ownership of the company _ as well as the rights to use the catchy name _ is now running a modest cookie shop in Hawaii. "Famous Amos is Back in the Chips." chitchat. He brought them to meetings and gatherings, always getting enthusiastic praise. That's not what I want to do. I wanted to be excellent., Unfortunately, Amoss business acumen did not prove equal to the task of keeping up with a multi-million dollar enterprise. As an agent, he signed .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Simon & Garfunkel and headed the agency's rock 'n' roll department. famous amos dancer net worth - stmatthewsbc.org His hat and shirt were added to the Smithsonian Institution's advertising collection. Wally Amos is a television personality, entrepreneur, and author from the United States of America. [CDATA[ By 1985, Famous Amos reported a $300,000 loss on sales of $10 million. Pollack, Judann. Amos, who turned 71 this month, is co-founder and shareholder of Uncle Wally's Muffin Co., whose products are found in 5,000 stores nationwide, including Costco and Wal-Mart. The Sunset Boulevard set couldnt get enough of the Cookie Mans magic mix. Amos headed the rock 'n' roll department, where he signed Simon and Garfunkel and worked with Motown megastars The Supremes, Diana Ross, Sam Cooke and Dionne Warwick. Wally Amos's most famous creation, Famous Amos cookies. Camden, New Jersey 08103-1799 Astrological Sign: Cancer. (February 23, 2023). His first job after the military was in the stockroom at Saks Fifth Avenue. The company focused on fat-free, nutritious muffins at that time. While Famous Amos soon lived up to its name, thriving for nearly a decade, the company's founder lost control of his business. Some bags contained no cookies at all. [18], Amos had lived in Hawaii from 1977 until 2018. [15], On July 1, 1979, Amos married Christine (Harris) Amos, who later helped him design the early merchandise and packaging for Famous Amos cookies. "I'll take a bag of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies and a chance to ogle the beautiful young groovers at agent Wally Amos' Sunset Blvd. In the aftermath of the court cases, Amos abandoned all hopes of baking and selling cookies and sold muffins and cakes under the Uncle Noname label (originally formed in 1992). Like our content? Amos!" The King of Cookies: A tribute to Wally Amos - Bite Me Cookies He'd come to the store all the time and my dad would give him free cookies. After his. A Famous Cookie And a Face to Match; How Wally Amos Got His Hand And His Name Back in the Game, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/03/business/famous-cookie-face-match-wally-amos-got-his-hand-his-name-back-game.html. Food is part of pop culture, much like fashion, Szewczyk says. The new owners came in and I was outside looking in.". How much did Wally Amos sell his company for? In 1980, the hat and shirt Wally wore on the early packaging of Famous Amos cookies were placed in the Collection of Advertising History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Amos's fourth book, Watermelon Magic: Seeds of Wisdom, Slices of Life, was published the same year. [1] Eventually, he became the agency's first African American talent agent. Famous Amos - Wikipedia The new owners gobbled up more of my share until all of a sudden I found I had lost all ownership in the company I founded, Amos wrote. By then, competition in the high-priced cookie business had intensified, and Uncle Noname could not keep up. In the back of his mind, however, he considered the idea of selling his cookies. After years of bouncing from one owner to the next, Famous Amos would be part of a cookie empire with well developed national distribution methods. Wally Amos created the first such store, on Sunset Boulevard. You cant compare a machine-made cookie with handmade cookie. Fine, 1988. Public Company The father of four, he continues his work as a spokesperson for Literacy Volunteers of America, and one precent of pretax profits of Uncle Nonam cookies are donated to the support of Cities in Schools, a national dropout-prevention program of which he is a member of the board of directors. Before long, the company had changed ownership four times. Famous Amos was selling $5 million worth of cookies by 1980, and just two years later sales had rocketed to $12 million. Aunt Della loved to cook As a man who had made his living promoting other people as an agent, he used his background to come up with ways to sell cookies. I think that's what he probably ended up discovering about himself.". Besides cookies and muffins, promoting literacy is his passion. Being famous is highly overrated anyway, said Amos, who has lived in Hawaii since 1977. Following his parents' separation in 1948, Amos was sent to New York City to live with his Aunt Della, who often baked homemade chocolate chip and pecan cookies. My heart left the company in 1985, Amos told Forbes. Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056 6 Millionaires Who Lost It All, but Came Back | Kiplinger Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. "One year, the theme of the block party was 'Cookies and Milk with Amos and Andy.' After the breakup of the family, he was sent to live with his Aunt Della in New York City. When you were born or when you died is not nearly as important as what you did in betweenwhat you put in that dash. Mr. Amos became a paid spokesman but left in frustration the next year. ''An entrepreneur has an enormously high energy level and has a very low attention span typically,'' said Paul Karofsky, executive director of the Center for Family Business at Northeastern University. Amos began selling shares of the business to outsiders; he also tried to launch new products such as chocolate sodas, which did not work out. By 1985, on sales of $10 million, the Famous Amos Cookie Company reported a $300,000 loss. The historical marker in front of 7181 Sunset Blvd. . It is entitled ''Man With No Name: How the Founder of the Censored Cookie Company Lost Everything, Including His Name -- and Turned Adversity Into Opportunity.'' African American entrepreneur Wally Amos founded the Famous Amos cookie brand. In 1999, Keebler approached Amos to help promote Famous Amos, and he happily agreed. He was the first black talent scout in America. He lived with an aunt, Della Bryant, who taught him how to make chocolate chip cookies. He finally parted with the Famous Amos company in 1989. And so Wally, relentlessly optimistic, raised a little cash from Marvin Gaye and a few other friends and set up shop. "Workshop to Feature Famous Amos Founder." ''In quicksand, if you start flailing all about and panicking with each movement you go in deeper, but if you just stay calm and look about, chances are you'll see a twig or something you can reach to pull yourself out. During his four years in the military, he finished his high school education. 14647. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visit LAist.com/radio. Amos said he told him: Im a cookie man, but if you can make a good muffin, I can sell it. [9], Due to financial troubles, Amos was forced to sell the Famous Amos Company, and because the name "Famous Amos" was trademarked by his former company, he had to use The Uncle Noname's Cookie Company as his new company's name. However, in 1985, mismanagement forced Amos to gradually sell off parts of his company. Here was proof, Wally later wrote, that a black high school dropout from a broken home in Harlem could make it in this country.. He just wanted people to have fun. . I think its bordering on being fanatical.. I believe, along with many others, that you must first ask for what you want before you can have it. He retained a position on the board of directors but was relieved of day-to-day responsibilities in the company. While muffins may be on his mind these days, Amos couldnt entirely leave the cookie business. Under the Uncle Noname label, by 1996 Amos had again scored success with fat-free gourmet sweets. Amos says the mistake he made with Famous Amos Cookies was not assembling a good management team. He picks up a big bag of just-purchased cookies, bearing the famous Famous Amos logo and a picture of Amos himself, grinning and wearing a straw hat and colorful shirt. Yet with such phenomenal success came mistakes. With this remark, made by Amos after he sold his cookie business, Amos turned to the new passion in his lifelecturing on inspirational issues. [5] The company began to expand, and eventually, Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies could be found on supermarket shelves across the United States. As Amos celebrated the book's success, his business was losing money. It's how he makes a living, on the road half the year -a literacy conference before Orlando, an insurance meeting after leaving. ''I was in Salt Lake City doing some promotion and I discovered that day that my house had been auctioned off,'' he recalled.