Yaphet Kotto, James Bond Villain And ‘Alien’ Star, Dead At 81
Yaphet Kotto, star of films likeAlien, the James Bond filmLive and Let Die, and the TV seriesHomicide: Life on the Street, has died at age 81.
Kotto’s agent Ryan Goldhar confirmed the actor’s passing toVarietyafter Kotto’s wife, Tessie Sinahon, first posted about Kotto’s death onFacebookMonday 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 best friend, my rock.”
Kotto may be best known for playing the villain of the 1973 James Bond flickLive and Let Die, in which he starred as the corrupt Caribbean dictator Dr. Kananga and his drug-pushing alter ego Mr. Big. He is also beloved for his role as the technician Dennis Parker in 1979’sAlienand for his seven-season run as Al Giardello in the NBC seriesHomicide: Life on the Streetfrom 1993 to 1999. Other notable roles include the Blaxploitation picTruck Turner(1974),Report to the Commissioner(1975),Friday Foster(1975),The Monkey Hustle(1976),Fighting Back(1982),The Star Chamber(1983),Warning Sign(1985),Eye of the Tiger(1986) andFreddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare(1991).
Though he’s been a frequent presence in both blockbuster genre films and TV, Kotto also passed on roles like Lando Calrissian, which would go on to be played by Billy Dee Williams inStar Wars, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard onStar Trek: The Next Generation.
“Once you get one of those big blockbuster hits, you better have some other big blockbuster hits to go with it too and be Harrison Ford, because if you don’t … you place yourself right out of the business,” Kottosaidin a 2003 interview.
Born in New York City on August 25, 2025, Kotto began studying acting a the age of 16 at the Actors Mobile Theater Studio. At 19, he made his professional theater debut inOthelloand continued to perform on Broadway inThe Great White Hope. He would make his first film appearances in movies like 1964’sNothing But a Manand 1968’sThe Thomas Crown Affair. He would also make a guest-star appearance as Marine Lance Corporal onHawaii Five-Oin 1969.
Kotto had a rich career on both the big and small screen, but one of Kotto’s longest and final roles was that of Al Giardello onHomicide: Life on the Street, for which he also holds several scriptwriting credits. He also starred inHomicide: The Moviein 2000, and most recently voiced Parker in theAlien: Isolationvideo game.
Kotto is survived by his wife and six children.
