‘Alien’ actor Yaphet Kotto, who played James Bond villain, dead at 81
10/12/97 Los Angeles, CA. Yaphet Kotto and his wife at the BACS (Black American Cinema Society Awards) Awards. (Albert Ortega/Getty Images/TNS)
Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, (TNS)
Yaphet Kotto, whose decades-long acting career included a memorable turn as a James Bond villain and prominent roles alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robert De Niro, has died.
He was 81.
The “Alien” actor’s death was announced Monday by his wife, who remembered him as a “legend.”
“You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people also,” Sinahon Thessa wrote on Facebook. “A good man, a good father, a good husband and a decent human being, very rare to find.”
Yaphet Kotto has died at the age of 81.
Kotto, who may have been best known for his role as Dennis Parker in the original 1979
Alien film, was known for playing tough guys on screen. In the 1990s, he starred as Lieutenant Al Giardello in the NBC series,
Homicide: Life on the Street.
He also played two roles as a villain against James Bond in the 1973 hit
Live and Let Die.
Veteran film and TV actor Yaphet Kotto, pictured at the 1997 Black American Cinema Society Awards, has died at age 81. (Getty Images)
The acclaimed actor also made memorable appearances in a range of cinema classics, including the hit