Yaphet kotto actor biography william

All All. Sign In. Frederick Samuel Kotto. Physically imposing, intense Yaphet Kotto was one of the few actors of his generation to succeed in breaking racial stereotypes in Hollywood. He was born in Harlem, New York, the son of Gladys, a nurse and army officer, and Abraham Kotto, a businessman-turned-construction worker. His father was a Cameroonian immigrant, of royal ancestry his great-grandfather had been a king in pre-colonial days , and his mother's family was from Antigua and Panama.

Yaphet, whose first name means "beautiful" in Hebrew, was raised in the Jewish faith. After his parents divorced, he was brought up by his grandparents in the tough Bronx district of New York.

Yaphet kotto funeral

He also had an aunt in showbiz who ran a dance academy. Among her alumni were Marlon Brando and James Dean. In fact, it was Brando's performance in On the Waterfront which inspired Kotto to go into acting. He began acting on stage in with little theatrical experience, making his debut in the title role of Othello, a role he eventually reprised on screen in After joining the Actor's Studio, Kotto commenced his screen career and soon gathered critical recognition with several edgy performances across diverse genres.

Yaphet kotto death cause

Kotto also starred as a street-smart Detroit car worker in Blue Collar and had a recurring role as a senior detective on television's long-running crime series Homicide: Life on the Street in addition to penning several scripts for the show. He apparently spurned the role for fear of being typecast, but came to rueing that decision in later years.

Kotto died on March 15 in Manila, Phillipines at the age of