Another actor I thought was already passed away, whoops! Still, I’m saddened to see him depart because he was pretty cool. For me he was a great villain (Mr. Big) in Roger Moore’s debut as James Bond in Live and Let Die. Yaphet’s character had one of the more interesting deaths too. Then a few years later, he was Parker, the cynical but doomed engineer-hero in Alien who gave his life trying to rescue Ripley and Lambert. According to The AV Club, he turned down Lando Calrissian which went to Billy Dee Williams and Captain Picard. His reason? He didn’t want to be typecast as a “space guy.” It was probably the right choice for him since Yaphet was a dramatic heavyweight.
Thanks for everything Mr. Kotto. I know you weren’t big on my favorite genres yet you didn’t phone it in, you brought your A game which led to memorable performances!