Line #34 Creator/YaphetKotto


1	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/600896_homicide___yaphet_kotto_001.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:280:[[Film/LiveAndLetDie Names is for tombstones, baby.]]]]
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4	->''"I was roaming around [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity Manhattan]] looking for work; in fact I had just come from an employment center in New York called 'Warren Street' where you can buy a part-time job for about ten bucks. On this particular day I didn't feel like delivering lunches, or pushing a dolly truck through lower Manhattan, so I went up to 42nd Street around Times Square, which at the time looked like a circus: porn theaters on one side of the street and b-movies on the other. I stopped before one particular theater and there were gangster photos all over the marquee. The movie must have cost about seventy-five cents, so I went in and sat down and saw ''Film/OnTheWaterfront''. I was so blown away after that day -- it was [[Creator/MarlonBrando Brando]]'s performance that made me leave the streets to become an actor."''
5	-->-- '''On when he decided to become an actor'''
6
7	Yaphet Frederick Kotto (November 15, 1939[[note]]Some sources say anything between 1937 and 1944[[/note]] – March 15, 2021) was a prolific American actor of film, television and theatre.
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9	He was well-known for having broken down a number of Hollywood stereotypes about black characters. He is recognized by most audiences as a character actor who regularly commands the scenes he's in for his powerful performances. He was known to regularly turn down roles which are badly written stereotypically "black" parts, [[MoneyDearBoy although he would on occasion have to do a film just to put food on the table.]] His breakout film was ''Film/NothingButAMan'', which is now regarded as a classic.
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11	He played the BigBad in the ''Film/JamesBond'' film ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'',[[note]]A role which was originally stereotypically written (as most of the black roles in the film were) and which he managed to blow out of the water with his serious and human performance.[[/note]] Parker in ''Film/{{Alien}}'' and Lieutenant Giardello in ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet''.[[note]]In fact he has played a [[DaChief police chief]] so often, (''and so well'') throughout his career that he was named an honorary Police Captain at Frederick PD[[/note]] He also turned down the role of Picard in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and Lando in ''Franchise/StarWars'',[[note]]For a time Creator/GeorgeLucas was also considering him for the role of Han Solo.[[/note]] which he would later regard as a mistake.
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13	He arguably kickstarted {{Blaxploitation}} cinema with his role as a killer in ''The Liberation of L. B. Jones'', where he is shown onscreen killing a white character (which had not been seen previously in American cinema). Other blaxploitation films he appeared in are ''The Limit'' (1972)[[note]]Which he wrote, starred and directed because he wasn't getting the kind of roles he wanted to play.[[/note]] and ''Truck Turner'' (1974).[[note]](Talking on the latter film) "He [Music/IsaacHayes] watched me do the death scene and that's all he talked about afterwards: "Man, you all see the way my man Yaphet did his death scene?" I can't take too much credit for that scene, I had seen it in ''The Young Lions'' with Creator/MarlonBrando and that gave me a skeleton to work from.[[/note]]
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15	He was of UsefulNotes/{{Cameroon}}ian descent on his father's side (the latter emigrated to the USA in the 1920s), and in fact he comes from a [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal direct male-lineage of the Cameroon royalty]] (as described in his autobiography ''Royalty''). Further, he claimed in his book that he was also a [[LostOrphanedRoyalty direct descendant]] of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria. He was a practicing Jew, and spoke about experiencing both racism and antisemitism while growing up in The Bronx.
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17	His latest work was providing the voice for Parker in ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation''. He was also a member of the UsefulNotes/{{Academy\|Award}}.
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19	His wife announced his passing on March 15, 2021.
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21	----
22	!!Works he appeared in with pages on TV Tropes:
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24	[[folder:Film roles]]
25	* ''Film/NothingButAMan'' (1964) as Jocko
26	* ''Film/FiveCardStud'' (1968) as George "Little George"
27	* ''Film/{{The Thomas Crown Affair\|1968}}'' (1968) as Carl
28	* ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' (1973) as Kananga/Mr. Big
29	* ''Film/BlueCollar'' (1976) as John "Smokey" James
30	* ''Film/{{Alien}}'' (1979) as Parker [[note]]"I liked Creator/SigourneyWeaver from the moment I met her. Ridley told me "No, no, don't start cozying up with Sigourney". He wanted me to annoy the crap out of her, which I did. He told me to get on Sigourney's nerves; stop speaking to her on the lunch breaks, dressing rooms, etc. All for the end of the movie at that moment when she blows up at (me) "Parker" and takes over leadership. I did exactly as Ridley told me. To this day, I don't know if he ever told her. I will never let a director do that to me again! I asked him when I saw him in Canada at their film festival and the release of the Director's Cut and I don’t think he had."[[/note]]
31	* ''Film/{{Brubaker}}'' (1980) as Richard Coombes
32	* ''Film/TheStarChamber'' (1983) as Det. Harry Lowes
33	* ''Film/WarningSign'' (1985) as Col. Morse
34	* ''Film/TheRunningMan'' (1987) as William Laughlin
35	* ''Film/MidnightRun'' (1988) as Alonzo Mosely [[note]]"...But Marty Brest! "Herr Director" shot so many takes of the scenes that I lost all joy in doing the film. ...I was shocked when it came off so funny... It sure wasn't funny making it."[[/note]]
36	* ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'' (1991) as Doc
37	* ''Film/ThePuppetMasters'' (1994) as Ressier
38	* ''Film/TwoIfBySea'' (1996) as Agent O'Malley
39	* ''Film/WitlessProtection'' (2008) as Ricardo Bodi[=/=]Alonzo Mosely
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Television roles]]
43	* ''Series/TheBigValley'' (2 episodes, 1966–67) as Lobo Brown[=/=]Damien
44	* ''Series/{{Tarzan\|1966}}'' (1 episode, 1967) as Kesho
45	* ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'' (1 episode, 1968) as Child Barnett
46	* ''Series/DanielBoone'' (2 episodes, 1968–69) as Luke[=/=]Jonah
47	* ''Series/HawaiiFiveO'' (1 episode, 1969) as [=LCpl.=] John T. Auston
48	* ''Series/{{Mannix}}'' (1 episode, 1969) as Gabe Johnson[=/=]Gabriel Dillon
49	* ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'' (1 episode, 1970) as Piney Biggs
50	* ''Series/NightGallery'' (1 episode, 1971) as Buckner
51	* ''Series/FantasyIsland'' (1 episode, 1983) as Big Gus Belly
52	* ''Series/TheATeam'' (1 episode, 1983) as Charles F. "East-Side Charlie" Struthers
53	* ''Series/HillStreetBlues'' (1 episode, 1985) as Calvin Matthias
54	* ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' (1 episode, 1985) as Convict
55	* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' (1 episode, 1987) as Lt. Bradshaw
56	* ''Series/FatherDowlingMysteries'' (1 episode, 1990) as Lt. Fleming
57	* ''Series/SeaQuestDSV'' (1 episode, 1993) as Capt. Jack Clayton
58	* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' (122 episodes, 1993–99) as Lt. Al Giardello [[note]]"I felt like I was a beggar doing ''Homicide''. Begging to act. Begging for scenes. The writing was not obviously for me. It mainly focused on others. I went from a movie star playing leads to a bit player doing one line here and one line there. The rest of the week I would be hanging around Fells Point waiting to come in and do my one line. When I asked if they could write more for me to do, they'd say "You're doing great. You're the anchor of the show." "Anchor? I'm an actor, let me out!" I finally ended up writing for the show and gave myself something to do… Nine years of not acting."[[/note]]
59	** ''Series/LawAndOrder'' (1 episode, 1997) as Lt. Al Giardello
60	** ''Homicide: The Movie'' (TV movie, 2000) as Lt. Al Giardello
61	[[/folder]]
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63	[[folder:Video game roles]]
64	* ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'' (2014) as Parker (voice)
65	[[/folder]]
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Context Creator / YaphetKotto