Yaphet Kotto.
A Broadway trained actor’s, actor and a member of ‘The Actors Studio’ in New York has died.
November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021
He was 81.
From ‘Across 110th St.’ to ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Homicide Life on the Streets.’ ‘Aliens’ or ‘Midnight Run’, this 6 foot 4 New York born actor had presence!
He could hold his own on stage and screen with the best of them. Whether it was Anthony Quinn, Robert De Niro, Roger Moore, Sigourney Weaver it didn’t matter, when Yaphet Kotto was on the screen or on stage you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. And that’s the simple and pure definition of presence. He had it for sure.  
His mother— Gladys Marie, was an American nurse and U.S. Army officer of Panamanian and West Indian descent. His father was a businessman from Cameroon who emigrated to the United States in the 1920s.
Kotto was married three times: In 1959 he married German immigrant Rita Ingrid Dittman. The marriage produced three children. They divorced in 1976. He later married Toni Pettyjohn – they too had three children but they also divorced — in 1989.
Kotto’s current wife was Tessie Sinahon from the Philippines
People speculated and made jokes for years about whether or not he wore a hairpiece or not. I honestly don’t know. What I [do] know is that we were fortunate to have him in our time and space and so there are many films and great performances of his to choose from to watch over and over again.
Rest In Peace Yaphet Kotto. You blazed a trail and left a path for other actors to follow. Thank you. The film world was a better world because you were a part of it. —
