Famous Amos cookies’ creator dies at 88

NEW YORK (CNN) — Wally Amos, the charismatic founder of Famous Amos cookies, has died at age 88, according to a statement signed by his children.

In the statement, his children said the cause was complications of dementia. “He was a true original Black American hero,” said the statement, signed “Sarah, Michael, Gregory and Shawn Amos.”

“With his Panama hat, kazoo, and boundless optimism, Famous Amos was a great American success story, and a source of Black pride,” the statement said.

Amos opened his bakery in 1975 on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, selling bite-sized chocolate chip cookies that were a novelty for the time, according to the company’s site. The bakery, whose cookies were developed from a family recipe, attracted Hollywood celebrities and musicians.

Amos was born in Tallahassee, Florida.

Famous Amos wasn’t just a business, he said in a 1991 Detroit Black Journal interview.

“I started making cookies just to make a living and to be happy doing what I was doing,” Amos said in the interview. “And I just, I was so committed and so involved and so joyous about it.”

From there, he created a cookie empire.

“I didn’t say, ‘Hey, I’m going to go in the cookie business, make a lot of money, you know, sell out of cookies.’ I said, ‘Well, do something I like the way I want to do it,’ you know, I’m going to have fun doing it,” Amos said in the interview.

Amos was also a figure in U.S. pop culture. He famously appeared in a cameo in the sitcom “The Office” to excitement and applause from the cast members. Before that, he also appeared on “The Jeffersons” and “Taxi.”

Amos sold the cookie brand to a private equity group in 1988 after years of financial struggles for the company.

CNN has reached out to the Amos family and Ferrero, the current owner of Famous Amos Cookies, for comment.