Wallace “Wally” Amos Jr., the founder of Famous Amos cookies, has died, his family said Wednesday. He was 88.
According to his family, he died “peacefully” at home following a battle with dementia.
Amos, a native of Tallahassee, Florida, opened the first Famous Amos cookie shop in Hollywood, California on the famed Sunset Blvd. in 1975. Amos’ cookie brand exploded in popularity over the years, becoming known for its signature beige packaging and blue lettering.
He eventually lost ownership of the company — as well as the rights to use the catchy Amos name. In his later years, he became a proprietor of a cookie shop called Chip & Cookie in Hawaii, where he moved in 1977.
He died Tuesday at his home in Honolulu, with his wife at his side, his children said.
“With his Panama hat, kazoo, and boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story, and a source of Black pride,” said a statement from his children, Sarah, Michael, Gregory and Shawn Amos.
They said their dad “inspired a generation of entrepreneurs when he founded the world’s first cookie store” on Sunset Boulevard in 1975.
Amos was also co-founder of Uncle Wally’s Muffin Co., whose products are found in stores nationwide. But Amos said the fame never really mattered much to him.
“Being famous is highly overrated anyway,” Amos told The Associated Press in 2007.
His muffin company, based in Shirley, N.Y., was originally founded as Uncle Noname Cookie Co. in 1992, a few years after Amos lost Famous Amos, which still widely uses his name on its products.
Amos had said the Famous Amos cookies sold today are unlike his cookies, which had lots of chocolate, real butter and pure vanilla extract.
“You can’t compare a machine-made cookie with handmade cookie,” he told the AP. “It’s like comparing a Rolls Royce with a Volkswagen.”
The cookie entrprenuer was born in Tallahassee in 1936 and grew up with his aunt in New York City’s Harlem. He served in the Air Force between 1954 and 1957 after dropping out of high school.
Amos, who completed his G.E.D., worked his way up from the mailroom at William Morris Agency in Los Angeles, where he became the industry’s first black talent agent. He went on to become the head of the agency’s rock ‘n’ roll department and signed Simon and Garfunkel.
He often baked his Aunt Della’s chocolate chip cookie recipe as “a hobby to relieve stress” while working at William Morris, according to his son Shawn who wrote Cookies & Milk.
“I’d go to meetings with a record company or movie people and bring along some cookies, and pretty soon everybody was asking for them,” Amos told The New York Times in 1975, after launching his first Famous Amos store in Los Angeles with help from celebrity investors Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy who donated $25,000.
During his life, Amos wrote a number of books about his experiences, including Man With No Name and The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched 1,000 Chips. He also served as a national spokesman for Literacy Volunteers of America.