In 2016, Wallace "Wally" Amos appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank," asking for $50,000, which would give the investor 20% stock in the company, The Cookie Kahuna, a Hawaii-based cookie company. Amos, Wally, Eden-Lee Murray, and Neale Donald Walsch. In the back of his mind, however, he considered the idea of selling his cookies. The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Company was officially born in March 1975 at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Formosa Avenue in Los Angeles. Amos fragrant store is as much about reading as it is about cookies. But it was her recipes for life that sustain me to this day," he states on his website. Somebody did something to me that paralyzed me for life. If you believe that, youll never move forward.. In 1957, he returned to New York and joined the William Morris Agency, where he worked his way up from the mailroom to become the first black talent agent in the industry. He ultimately lost the company to investors in 1988. In 1988, the Shansby Group bought the company for $3 million dollars, not a lot of dough for that era. //. By 1985, Famous Amos reported a $300,000 loss on sales of $10 million. His two factories were then making six tons of chocolate-chip cookies a week. Web site: http://www.quiksilver.com The former high school dropout has penned eight books, served as spokesman for Literacy Volunteers of America for 24 years and now gives motivational talks to corporations, universities and other groups. Eventually Amos laughs and wheels back into the hall. But Famous Amos sued, contending trademark infringement, so he changed the name to Uncle Noname. Theyve said I am a victim. 548; May 1983, p. 53. Wally Amos is a salesman who uses flair, hype, and showmanship to convey his message.". . Today, Famous Amos is an international brand you can find in most grocery stores. This is where he introduced Los Angeles and the rest of the world to his sweetest star, "The Cookie." Cookies were a hobby to relieve stress, says his son Shawn Amos, musician, and author of Cookies & Milk. A Self-Made Man Wallace Amos, Jr. was born in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1936. Bush in 1991. Amos never forgot those cookies. Famous Amos was selling $5 million worth of cookies by 1980, and just two years later sales had rocketed to $12 million. That means everything to us.. Recalling the episode in the Providence Business News in 1995, Amos said, "I was irresponsible. They were saying I didnt even have the right to my own name, Amos said in Parade. . In 1967, Amos decided to leave William Morris and launch his own talent agency. while serving in the Air Force. In his book, Man With No Name: Turn Lemons Into Lemonade, Amos explains how he lost Famous Amos even before it was sold it off for $63 million to a Taiwanese company in 1991. By 1980 Amoss trademark Panama hat and shirt were inducted into the Smithsonian Institutions Collection of Business Americana. For an entrepreneur who was down on his luck it was almost too good a deal to pass up. In 1994, the two became partners and subsequently launched Uncle Noname Gourmet Muffins.