Is Famous Amos still alive? Answered

Chocolate chip cookies and Famous Amos will always be synonymous. The famous cookie founded in 1975 has been America’s favorite for five decades, thanks to its charismatic founder, Wally Amos.

Wallace Amos Jr., lovingly called Wally, started as a mailroom clerk at the William Morris Agency. After years of hard work, he eventually became the agency’s first African American talent agent. During his time at the agency, Amos cleverly attracted clients by sending them chocolate chip cookies along with an invitation to visit him. These cookies, inspired by the recipe of his aunt Della Bryant, would later become an important part of both his life and career.

After a suggestion from a friend, Amos set up the first Famous Amos cookie store in Los Angeles, California, in March 1975 to sell his cookies. His business soon expanded and reached supermarket shelves across the United States of America. However, Amos was later forced to sell the Famous Amos Company due to financial issues. He then co-founded a successful muffin company in 1999, but it wasn’t until 2014 that Wally returned to the market with his handmade cookies, albeit under a new name—The Cookie Kahuna.

Is “Famous” Wally Amos still alive?

Wally Amos was born on July 1, 1936, in Tallahassee, Florida, and moved to New York City with his aunt following his parents’ divorce. After he disappeared from the cookie market in the late 1980s, Amos appeared on the reality television show Shark Tank in 2016, pitching Cookie Kahuna, but failed to get a deal. Yet,  Amos was called “the King of cookies” by NBC affiliate KSNV-TV in 2019.

Due to complications from dementia, Wally Amos died at his home in Honolulu, Hawaii on Aug. 13, 2024, at the age of 88. He continues to be remembered as the “Cookie King.” On the other hand, Famous Amos remains a well-recognized brand in the cookie industry, available in many countries. It is now owned by the Kellogg Company after its acquisition in 2001.