American actor Yaphet Kotto has passed away at the age of 81, his representatives have confirmed. Across his screen career, Kotto appeared in iconic films and groundbreaking TV series, from major blockbusters to cult classics – including a role in Ridley Scott’s original Alien, and playing a James Bond villain.
Kotto’s career began on the stage in the early ‘60s, and in 1964 he took on his first screen role in Nothing But A Man. Four years later, he had a supporting turn as Carl in Norman Jewison’s original 1968 Thomas Crown Affair. His screen credits continued to grow through the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and in 1973 he took one on his most famous roles – portraying the villainous dictator Dr. Kananga, aka drug kingpin Mr. Big, in Roger Moore-era James Bond film Live And Let Die.
In the following years, Kotto went on star in films including blaxploitation movie Truck Turner (1974) and Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar, and he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his portrayal of Idi Amin in Irvin Kershner’s 1976 TV film Raid On Entebbe. In 1979, he took on another pivotal role – playing Dennis Parker in Ridley Scott’s Alien, a member of the Nostromo crew who survives much longer than many of the rest of the team and gets the honour of incinerating the malevolent android Ash. He is, of course, eventually dispatched by the Xenomorph before it has its final confrontation with Ripley.
Kotto continued to work consistently through the ‘80s and ‘90s, and in 1986 he played resistance fighter William Laughlin in Paul Michael Glaser’s adaptation of The Running Man, starring opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1988, he appeared alongside Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Martin Brest’s buddy action-comedy Midnight Run, playing FBI agent Alonzo Mosely. In 1991, Kotto appeared in Nightmare On Elm Street sequel Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, though his most notable role in the ‘90s was playing Al Giardello in David Simon’s pre-The Wire series Homicide: Life On The Street. He appeared in all seven seasons of the show between 1993 and 1999, and reprised the role in 2000’s Homicide: The Movie. Kotto’s final film performance was in 2008’s Witless Protection, though in 2014 he returned to voice Parker for video game Alien: Isolation.
In a statement on Facebook, Kotto’s wife Tessie Sinahon wrote: “I’m saddened and still in shocked of the passing of my husband Yaphet of 24 years. He died last night around 10:30pm Philippine time […] You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people also. A good man, a good father, a good husband and a decent human being, very rare to find. One of the best actor in Hollywood a Legend. Rest in Peace Honey, I’m gonna miss you everyday, my best friend, my rock. I love you and you will always be in my heart.”
Our thoughts are with his friends, family and loved ones.