Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Yaphet Kotto has died at the age of 81. The actor was best known for playing a Bond villain in 1973 classic Live and Let Die and for his performance as technician Dennis Parker in Ridley Scott’s Alien.
Kotto’s wife, Tessie Sinahon, first shared news of his death on Facebook Monday night. “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,” she wrote. “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 bestfriend, my rock,” continued Sinahon. “I love you and you will always be in my heart. Till we meet again!”
Born in Harlem in 1939, Kotto made his professional theatrical debut at the age of 19 before breaking into film and television. In the 1960s, he scored small roles in Nothing But a Man, the Tarzan TV series, and The Thomas Crown Affair. By the early 1970s, Kotto had made a name for himself as a character actor, and in 1973, he snagged his breakout role in Bond film Live and Let Die, in which he played both Caribbean dictator Dr. Kanaga and his stylish alter ego, Mr. Big.
Following the success of Live and Let Die, Kotto went on to appear in various high-profile films, including Alien (1979), Midnight Run (1988), and The Running Man (1987), in which he starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the television side, Kotto appeared in drama series For Love and Honor, Murder, She Wrote, The Trials of Rosie O’Neill, among other shows. In 1993, he was cast in Homicide: Life on the Street as Lieutenant Al Giardello, a role he remained in for the drama’s entire six-year run.
Kotto’s final roles came in 2008 comedy Witless Protection and 2014 video game Alien: Isolation, in which he reprised the role of Parker. However, his wife writes that before his death, Kotto had “movie offers like G.I. Joe and the movie of Tom Cruise and others.”
Rest in Peace, Yaphet Kotto. You will be missed.
