Yaphet Kotto Biography
Yaphet Kotto, born Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an actor and writer, known for Alien (1979), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and Live and Let Die (1973). He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Primetime Emmy Award for his role in Raid on Entebbe. His films include the science-fiction/horror film Alien, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger science-fiction/action film The Running Man.
In his autobiography entitled Royalty, Kotto writes that his father was “the crown prince of Cameroon.” However, Cameroon is a republic and its monarchs have limited responsibilities as state auxiliaries, which they must support at all times, as Cameroon is a typical example of an intrastate African monarchy.
Kotto said he learned that his father’s family was royal in adult life while studying the lineage of his family, and said he was also a descendant of Queen Victoria, through Princess Nakande, daughter of King Doualla Manga Bell of Cameroon, who said Kotto had an affair with Edward VII of Britain when he was the Prince of Wales in the late 19th century.
His father was an observer Jew who spoke Hebrew, according to Kotto. Kotto’s mother, of Panamanian descent, converted to Judaism before marrying his father. Kotto claims that in the late 19th century his great-grandfather, whom he names “King Alexander Bell,” ruled Cameroon’s Douala region and was also a practicing Jew.
Kotto said that his paternal family had come from Israel many centuries ago, migrated to Egypt and then to Cameroon, and had been African Jews for many generations. His claim to be a descendant of Queen Victoria has been denied by the Buckingham Palace Press Office.
Yaphet Kotto Age
Kotto was born on November 15, 1939, in New York City, New York, USA. Kotto is an American by nationality and he belongs to African ethnicity. Kotto is a practicing Jew by faith.
Yaphet Kotto Height
The American actor stands at a height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and he weighs 248 lb (112 kg).
Yaphet Kotto Family
According to these sources, Sonny Boy was born to Cameroon Prince Njoki Manga Bell and Panamanian Gladys Maria Joseph in the borough of New York’s Harlem, to a Black Jewish family, in what was a major African American residential, cultural and business center. His birth, which his mother Gladys Maria asserted was by miraculous conception, was also said to be heralded by miracles.
His parents divorced when he was 3. His father was royalty in Cameroon, making Yaphet the son of the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of the Doualla region of West Africa’s Cameroon.
He recently claimed to have uncovered proof that he is the great-great-great-grandson of Britain’s Queen Victoria. According to Kotto, the queen’s son Prince Albert Edward VII had an illicit affair with Princess Nakande, daughter of King Doualla Manga Bell, producing the light-skinned Alexander Bell, Kotto’s great-grandfather, but the deputy press secretary to Queen Elizabeth categorically refuted the story saying, “… Edward VII never visited Cameroon.”
When his mother re-married, Yaphet Kotto’s siblings included three half-sisters elder sister Antoinette Gilyard, sisters Deborah, and younger sister Leontine Gilyard.
Yaphet Kotto Wife
His first marriage was to Rita Ingrid Dittman, a German immigrant, whom he married in 1959 and divorced later in 1976. They had three children together. A week after his divorce, he married Toni Pettyjohn, and also had three children together, before again divorcing in 1989. Kotto married his third wife, Tessie Sinahon on July 12, 1998, until the present.
Yaphet Kotto Children
He had six children altogether, with his first and second marriage. Fred Kotto is one of his children.
Yaphet Kotto Movies
Filmography
1988 – 2008
- 2008 Witless Protection as Ricardo Bodi (alias Alonzo Mosley)
- 2000 Homicide: The Movie as Al Giardello
- 1996 Two If by Sea as FBI Agent O’Malley
- 1995 Out of Sync as Quincy
- 1994 The Puppet Masters as Ressler
- 1993 Extreme Justice as Larson
- 1992 Chrome Soldiers as Perry Beach
- 1991 Hangfire as Police Lieutenant
- 1991 Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare as Doc
- 1990 After the Shock as William McElroy
- 1989 The Jigsaw Murders as Doctor Filmore
- 1989 Whisper To A Scream as Jules Tallard
- 1989 Prime Target as Gilmore Brown
- 1989 Ministry of Vengeance as Mr. Whiteside
- 1989 Tripwire as Lee Pitt
- 1988 Midnight Run as FBI Special Agent Alonzo Mosely
1978 – 1987
- 1987 Prettykill as Harris
- 1987 Desperado as Bede
- 1987 In Self Defense as Tyrell
- 1987 Terminal Entry as Conl. Styles
- 1987 The Running Man as William Laughlin
- 1986 Harem as Agha Kislar
- 1986 Eye of the Tiger as J. B. Deveraux
- 1985 Playing With Fire as Fire Chief Walker
- 1985 Warning Sign as Major Connolly
- 1985 The Park is Mine as Eubanks
- 1985 Badge of the Assassin as Det. Cliff Fenton NYPD
- 1984 Terror in the Aisles as Himself
- 1983 The Star Chamber as Det. Harry Lowes
- 1983 For Love and Honor as Sgt. China Bell
- 1983 Women of San Quentin as Sgt. Therman Patterson
- 1982 A House Divided: Denmark Vessey’s Rebellion as Denmark Vessey
- 1982 Fighting Back as Ivanhoe Washington
- 1980 Othello as Othello
- 1980 Brubaker as Richard ‘Dickie’ Coombes
- 1980 Rage! as Ernie
- 1979 Alien as Technician Dennis Parker
- 1978 Blue Collar as Smokey James
1963 – 1976
- 1976 Drum as Blaise
- 1976 The Monkey Hustle as Big Daddy Foxx
- 1976 Crunch as Richard “Crunch” Blackstone
- 1976 Raid on Entebbe as President Idi Amin Dada
- 1975 Report to the Commissioner as Richard “Crunch” Blackstone
- 1975 Sharks’ Treasure as Ben Flynn
- 1975 Friday Foster as Colt Hawkins
- 1974 Truck Turner as Harvard Blue
- 1973 Live and Let Die as Dr. Kananga / Mr. Big
- 1972 Bone as Bone
- 1972 The Limit as Mark Johnson
- 1972 Across 110th Street as Lt. Pope
- 1971 Man and Boy as Nate Hodges
- 1970 The Liberation of L.B. Jones as Sonny Boy Mosby
- 1970 Night Chase as Ernie Green
- 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair as Carl
- 1968 5 Card Stud as Little George (Mama’s bartender)
- 1964 Nothing But a Man as Jocko
- 1963 4 for Texas as Extra
Television
- 1994 The Corpse Had a Familiar Face as Detective Martin Talbot
- 1993 SeaQuest DSV as Captain Jack Clayton
- 1993–2000 Homicide: Life on the Street as Lieutenant Al Giardello
- 1987 Murder, She Wrote as Lt. Bradshaw
- 1983 The A-Team as East-Side Charlie Struthers
- 1983 For Love and Honor as Platoon Sgt. James “China” Bell
- 1977 Roots
- 1971 Night Gallery as Buckner
- 1970 Gunsmoke as Piney Biggs
- 1969 Mannix as black jazz musician Gabe Johnson
- 1969 Hawaii Five-O as Marine Lance Corporal John T. Auston
- 1969 Daniel Boone as Jonah
- 1968 Bonanza as Joshua “Child” Barnett
- 1968 The High Chaparral as Sergeant Major
- 1968 Daniel Boone as Luke
- 1967 The Big Valley (Death Valley Days) as Lobo Brown Damien Abraham
Yaphet Kotto Net Worth
Yaphet Kotto is an American actor who has an estimated net worth of $5 million dollars.
Yaphet Kotto Bond
He portrayed the main villain Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die (1973).
Yaphet Kotto Bone
Bone is a 1972 American black comedy crime film written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen in his directorial debut. It stars Yaphet Kotto as Bone in a 1972 American black comedy crime film Bone.
Is Yaphet Kotto Alive | Where Is Yaphet Kotto
Dad of five has done very little in the past few years, the three times married, and instead devotes his time to exploring his views about the powers of alien life. The actor not only thinks he’s seen aliens, but he’s certain, they’ve even kidnapped him. Although Kotto’s mental health has been challenged by the media, the man who alludes to the fact that he has a 196 IQ insists that he has all his marbles.
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