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Ja'net DuBois, 'Good Times' star, dead at 74

Left to right, "Good Times" stars Ja'net Dubois, Johnny Brown, Bern Nadette Stanis, creator Norman Lear, Jimmie Walker and Ralph Carter appear backstage at the fourth annual TV Land Awards in March 2006. Dubois has died at the age of 74. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
Left to right, "Good Times" stars Ja'net Dubois, Johnny Brown, Bern Nadette Stanis, creator Norman Lear, Jimmie Walker and Ralph Carter appear backstage at the fourth annual TV Land Awards in March 2006. Dubois has died at the age of 74. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Ja'net DuBois, best known for portraying Willona Woods on Good Times, has died at the age of 74.

DuBois died unexpectedly Tuesday in her sleep at her home in Glendale, Calif., her family confirmed to Deadline.

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TMZ also confirmed her death.

DuBois' Willona Woods was the Evans family's neighbor on Good Times, which also starred Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker, Bern Nadette Stanis and Janet Jackson. The sitcom, from Norman Lear, ran for six seasons from 1974 to 1979.

She appeared on ABC's Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good Times special in December, alongside Walker and Stanis.

The actress also co-wrote and performed the theme song "Movin' on Up" for Lear's The Jeffersons and won two Emmys for her voice-over work on animated series The PJs.

DuBois appeared in other television shows such as A Different World, Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show and The Wayans Bros. among others. She starred in films such as Diary of a Mad Housewife, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Tropic Thunder and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.

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"I saw first hand how she broke stereotypes and changed the landscape for Black women in entertainment," Jackson said on Instagram alongside photos of herself with DuBois.

"I'm grateful in recent years I had a chance to see her and create more lasting memories. I pray for comfort for all her family and friends. Thank you Ja'net. I'll miss you," Jackson continued.

Lear also paid homage to DuBois on Instagram. "Ja'net DuBois was all light and will be missed. I love that she wrote the theme song for her passing, 'Movin' on Up,'" he said.

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Richard "Dick" Thornburgh, former attorney general of the United States and former governor of Pennsylvania, takes a seat at the witness hearing after U.S. Chief Justice nominee Judge John Roberts testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on September 15, 2005. Thornburgh died on December 31 at age 88. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo

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