Famous Amos cookies are known worldwide for their all-around goodness and yummy flavors! Founder Wally Amos started the company in 1975 on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. He did this on the advice of friends and the support of singers such as Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy, who also invested in his company. Before entering the cookie world, he became the first African American talent agent at the William Morris Agency, one of the biggest and longest-running agencies, and after some of his successes, he was looking for a change. He did succeed as an agent at WMA by signing Simon & Garfunkel, representing Marvin Gaye and The Temptations while running the agency’s rock ‘n’ roll department. He sent cookies to prospective clients with an invite to entice them to meet with him. It seems his cookies were a hit before they ever ended up on store shelves or were sold in Hollywood. Well before his lovely and keen marketing techniques with agency skills, Amos served in the U.S. Air Force.
He served in the Air Force from 1954 to 1957 at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii (not a bad duty station!) and he returned to the island state 20 years after his discharge to sell Famous Amos cookies to a retailer. He earned his high school equivalent diploma and was honorably discharged before making his way to Hollywood and then being a serial entrepreneur with the Cookie Kahuna and Aunt Della’s Cookies. Amos developed his famous, no pun intended, cookie recipe while learning to cook from his aunt Della during his youth. She baked cookies for him while he grew up. Not only good at cookie making, Amos wrote a lot too. Books he authored include The Cookie Never Crumbles, The Power in You and The Famous Amos Story: The Face That Launched a Thousand Chips. He wrote 11 books, contributed to four more and conducted two audio books. A documentary on Amos was released in 2020 titled Wally Amos, The Great Wally Amos: reBaking Wally Amos.
Amos even became a pop icon with his appearances on famous shows which further helped his cookie brand make it into stores across the world. He appeared in TV shows such as Taxi, The Jeffersons, The Office and Boys Will Be Boys, usually as himself with Taxi being the big hit that made his cookies a household name. With his love for reading and writing, he hosted the adult reading show Learn to Read, to get more people to read. He thoroughly enjoyed being a reading advocate and served in the public role for over 40 years. He also received the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from President Reagan in 1986. Amos worked as a public speaker and motivator throughout his life sharing his successes and encouraging people to achieve more.
Famous Amos cookies did well in the marketplace, selling $300,000 in its first year of operation, then hit the $1M mark in its second year and reached $12M in sales status in 1982. He pressed on in business although his good times began to hit the rocks in the mid-1980s. He sold Famous Amos in 1988 and remained on with the company as a spokesman for a year. He left to build new companies and find more challenges. He partnered with businessman Lou Avigone on a new muffin company in 1994 named Uncle Noname Gourmet Muffins which later became Uncle Wally’s Muffin Company. They are sold in 3500 outlets in the US and are focused on being fat-free, nutritious snacks. In 2014, Amos founded the Cookie Kahuna company and made Fortune magazine for his “cookie comeback.” Cookie Kahuna’s were sold in Hawaii with special ingredients and he even went on Shark Tank to get a deal for his company. Unfortunately, no one from the tank bit (hehe) on the deal and shut down in 2018.
Famous Amos cookies live on under the owner, Ferro Spa, and can be found in markets across the planet. He left a legacy of entrepreneurialism, leadership, literacy and service. Amos passed on August 13, 2024, at his home in Honolulu.