简介：Powerfully-built, intense Yaphet Kotto was one of the few actors of his generation to succeed in breaking racial stereotypes in Hollywood. He was born in Harlem, New York, of Cameroonian royal ancestry (his great -grandfather had been a king in pre-colonial days) and raised in both the Jewish and the Catholic faith at the behest of his parents (his father was a former businessman-turned construction worker who emigrated to America in the 1920's; his mother was a nurse and army officer). He also had an aunt in showbiz who ran a dance academy whose alumni included Marlon Brando and James Dean.
Kotto began acting on stage in 1958 with little theatrical experience, making his debut in the title role of Othello, a role he eventually reprised on screen in 1980. He also appeared on Broadway as understudy to James Earl Jones in The Great White Hope. After joining the Actor's Studio, Kotto commenced his screen career and soon gathered critical recognition with several edgy performances across diverse genres. From playing a barkeeper in 5 Card Stud (1968) and a thief in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), he moved on to juicier supporting roles as the evil Kananga/Mr. Big in the James Bond thriller Live and Let Die (1973), Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the telemovie Raid on Entebbe (1976) and the ill-fated Nostromo engineer Parker in Alien (1979). Kotto also starred as a street-smart Detroit car worker in Blue Collar (1978) and had a recurring role as a senior detective on television's long-running detective series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) (in addition to penning several scripts for the show). He was even on a Paramount shortlist for the coveted role of Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), alongside Mitchell Ryan and Roy Thinnes). He apparently spurned the role due to fear of being typecast, but came to rueing that decision in later years.
Kotto died on March 15 2021 in the Phillipines at the age of 81.
