By Actor Yaphet Kotto, who rose to fame in the 1970s fighting James Bond in “Live and Let Die” and an extraterrestrial stowaway in “Alien” has kicked the bucket at age 81.
Sinahon Thessa, wife of Yaphet described her late husband as a “legend” in a statement released on Monday.
“You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people also,” she said.
Yaphet’s Agent, Ryan Goldhar confirmed his passing on but did not share the cause of death.
“I am still processing his passing, and I know he will be missed,” he said.
Born in New York to a Cameroonian immigrant father and a US Army nurse, Kotto’s debut as a professional actor was in an all-Black stage performance of Shakespeare’s “Othello” in Harlem in 1960.
Kotto drew plaudits for roles as the first Black Bond villain — dictator Dr. Kananga — in 1973’s “Live and Let Die”, and an Emmy nomination for playing real-life Ugandan strongman Idi Amin in the TV movie “Raid on Entebbe”.
He then took on a villainous xenomorph as ship engineer Dennis Parker in Ridley Scott’s claustrophobic sci-fi horror film “Alien” in 1979, and fought alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1987’s dystopian thriller “Running Man”.
