Yaphet Kotto

Yaphet Kotto

Birth : 1939-11-16, New York City, New York, U.S.A

Death : 2021-03-15

History

Yaphet Frederick Kotto was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-99) as Lieutenant Al Giardello. His films include the science-fiction and horror film Alien (1979), and the Arnold Schwarzenegger science-fiction and action film The Running Man (1987). He portrayed the main villain Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die (1973). He appeared opposite Robert De Niro in the comedy thriller Midnight Run (1988) as FBI Agent Alonzo Mosley.

Profile

Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Kotto

Movies

King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen
Himself
A feature-length documentary focusing on the acclaimed work and eclectic career of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, writer-director of "Black Caesar," "It's Alive," "God Told Me To," "Q," "The Stuff," and many more.
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy
Self (archive footage)
For decades, Freddy Krueger has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters, scaring up over half a billion dollars at the box office across eight terrifying, spectacular films.
Witless Protection
Ricardo Bodi
The story centers on a small-town sheriff who witnesses what he believes is a kidnapping and rushes to rescue a woman. The kidnappers turn out to be FBI agents assigned to protect her and deliver her to a big Enron-type corruption trial in Chicago but are later found to be on the take and are villains who are bent on killing her
The Beast Within: Making 'Alien'
(archive footage)
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Alien,” the terrifying classic about a spaceship crew trapped with a hideous monster that's hunting them one by one.
Best Ever Bond
Mr. Big / Dr. Kananga (archive footage) (uncredited)
Roger Moore presents the ten best sequences ever to have appeared in the James Bond series, and cast members recall their favourite moments.
BaadAsssss Cinema
Self
With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.
Stiletto Dance
Captain Rick Sands
Two undercover police officers must try to prevent a multi-million dollar nuclear arms deal among several mob factions.
Homicide: The Movie
Al Giardello
Retired police lieutenant Al Giardello is running for mayor when he is suddenly shot at a press conference. All of the detectives, past and present, clamor for an opportunity to help find the shooter.
Inside 'Live and Let Die'
A behind the scenes look at the James Bond film "Live and Let Die"
The Defenders: Payback
Judge Williams
Television movie remake of the 1960s courtroom drama series, "The Defenders." After the death of his eldest son and his partner in the law firm of Preston and Preston, senior partner, Lawrence Preston enlists his granddaughter, M.J, a former prosecutor, and his other son Don, a law professor, to continue the work of ensuring that every individual accused of a crime is entitled to a proper defense. In this telefilm, a father murders the rapist of his young daughter after the man is released from prison and moves back to his old neighborhood. The Prestons take the case even though the father is unrepentent and unwilling to offer the attorneys any help in finding legally mitigating circumstances for his actions.
Two If by Sea
FBI Agent O'Malley
Frank O'Brien, a petty thief, and his 7-year-long girlfriend Roz want to put an end to their unsteady lifestyle and just do that last job, which involves stealing a valuable painting. Frank takes Roz to an island on the coast of New England, where he wants to sell the painting and also hopes that their sagging relationship will get a positive push back up. Not everything goes as planned.
The World of James Bond
Elizabeth Hurley hosts a one hour documentary on the history of the James Bond film series to tie in with the seventeenth Bond film, GoldenEye.
Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan
Marty Talbot
Inspired by the the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning, Miami-based journalist, Edna Buchanan, who investigates the murder of a man with ties to the Miami mafia.
Dead Badge
Captain Hunt
After a cop dies, his shield goes back on duty. They call it a "dead badge" - a way to honor a fallen officer. Badge #2424 used to belong to Many Torres - a cop who died of a heroin O.D. Now it belongs to Dan Sampson... and it's haunting him.
The Puppet Masters
Ressler
The Earth is invaded by alien parasites—AKA 'slugs'—that ride on people's backs and control their minds.
The Corpse Had a Familiar Face
Detective Martin Talbot
The Corpse had a Familiar Face is a 1994 American TV-Movie with Elizabeth Montgomery, playing Edna Buchanan, a Miami's criminal journalist.
Almost Blue
Terry
The young jazz saxophonist Morris Poole is at the height of his career. When his wife dies he is almost overcome by grief and blames himself. When after a while he finds a new love, he ends up in a situation that reminds him of his wife's mysterious death.
Extreme Justice
Larson
Jeff Powers is the newest member of a very elite and very secret LAPD division. Their mission is to target important criminals and to get them to stop. Police brutality is not a known term for the division and they will stop at nothing to get the job done, even if it means murder.
The American Clock
Moe, Rose and Lee Baumler are members of an upper class family who find the world completely changed when they lose everything in the stock market crash of 1929. Lee, a college-age young man, who now faces no possibility of entering college, decides to go on the road to see what is happening to the rest of the country.
Intent to Kill
Captain Jackson
A young policewoman relentlessly tries to bring down a ruthless drug kingpin whom plots his own agenda for his drug distribution empire.
Chrome Soldiers
Perry Beach
Five ex-soldiers go to a small town in Oregon to help a friend investigate the murder of his brother.
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Doc
Just when you thought it was safe to sleep, Freddy Krueger returns in this sixth installment of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, as psychologist Maggie Burroughs, tormented by recurring nightmares, meets a patient with the same horrific dreams. Their quest for answers leads to a certain house on Elm Street -- where the nightmares become reality.
Hangfire
When a large group of escaped convicts take Ike Slayton, a Vietnam veteran's wife hostage, Slayton enlists the help of his old army friend in a furious search to find her, while a hard-nosed National Guardsman leads a platoon of solders determined to kill or capture all the convicts, even if it means killing all the hostages in the crossfire.
After the Shock
William McElroy
On October 17 1989, an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale rocked San Francisco. Presented here are some of the stories of the brave members of the public and emergency services who rescued people who were trapped in the rubble in houses or on the freeway.
Tripwire
Lee Pitt
A band of ruthless international terrorists led by Josef Szabo (David Warner) hijack a speeding railroad train loaded with a full arsenal of powerful military weaponry capable of threatening world peace. The only hero who can stop the terrorists' scheme for world domination is Jack DeForest (Terence Knox). During the battle between good and evil the hero DeForest accidentally kills the son of the Szabo. Seeking revenge Szabo locates DeForest’s family, murders his wife and kidnaps their teenage son thereby turning their fight it into a personal vendetta. So, DeForest must fight not only to save the world, but for his only remaining family.
Ministry of Vengeance
Mr. Whiteside
David Miller is a Vietnam vet who renounced violence and became a minister after he was forced to blow up a Viet Cong kid in self defense, but years later, when David's wife Gail and daughter Kim are killed by a group of terrorists led by Ali Aboud, in a massacre at an airport in Rome, Italy, David is devastated. Going against his faith, David sets out to find and kill Ali Aboud.
Prime Target
Gilmore Brown
An inspector is researching a number of murders on police officers in New York. During his research he starts suspecting that the serial killer is a police officer as well.
The Jigsaw Murders
Doctor Tyrone Fillmore
A jigsaw puzzle is the key in a detective's investigation of a gruesome murder.
A Whisper to a Scream
Jules Tallard
A young girl who was frustrated in her desire to become acrtress starts to work for a telephone-sex company. There she meets a fascinating man who has an obsession for music related with crime.
Terminal Entry
Col. Styles
The USA is attacked by a large group of well organized terrorists who communicate through a computer network via satellite. A bunch of highschool kids has hacked the password and gained access. Believing it's a game they unknowingly cause terror acts all over the country. An anti-terror force fights against the terrorists.
Midnight Run
Alonzo Mosely
An accountant embezzles $15 million of mob money, jumps bail and is chased by bounty hunters, the FBI, and the Mafia.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel
General Sorenson
Perry is sueing a gutter trash newspaper that is running a story about a love affair between him and Della. The editor also has "dirt" files on an Army General, his banker and other "clients". All of them make little-concealed verbal threats to him at a party but the person that hated him most is a female reporter who the editor had just fired from the paper for attempting to write a serious story. She threatens him and soon after the editor is found, floating in his pool, shot. The reporter is arrested for the crime and Perry, who has a personal stake in this matter, with the aid of Della and Paul set out to solve the mystery. But the other suspects just want the case over with and will go to any lengths to protect their pasts and their secrets
The Running Man
William Laughlin
By 2017, the global economy has collapsed and U.S. society has become a totalitarian police state, censoring all cultural activity. The government pacifies the populace by broadcasting a number of game shows in which convicted criminals fight for their lives, including the gladiator-style The Running Man, hosted by the ruthless Damon Killian, where “runners” attempt to evade “stalkers” and certain death for a chance to be pardoned and set free.
In Self Defense
Lt. Tyrell
A witness is terrorized by the killer against whom she testified.
Desperado
Bede
Duell McCall finds himself in the middle of a deadly feud in a small mining town. Framed for the murder of Sheriff John Whaley, McCall is forced to wander the wild frontier in search of the one man who can clear him.
Pretty Kill
Harris
A detective tries to track down a serial killer who is murdering prostitutes while at the same time having to deal with his girlfriend's mental problems, which are gradually deteriorating into a split personality.
Eye of the Tiger
J.B. Deveraux
Buck is a Vietnam vet, recently released from prison. He returns home to discover the town being terrorized by a vicious motorcycle gang. When the bikers murder his wife and traumatize his daughter, Buck and his friends arm themselves to the teeth and wage war against the gang to destroy them once and for all.
Harem
Agha Kislar
A young British woman is kidnapped by an Arabian sheikh and held captive in his harem. At first she frantically tries to escape, but as they slowly get to know and appreciate each other the difference between captor and captive dissolves.
The Park Is Mine
Eubanks
A Vietnam vet takes forceful control of Central Park to remember those who served and died in the Vietnam War.
Warning Sign
Major Connolly
An accident occurs in an ultra-secret government biological weapons laboratory spreading a sinister bacteria.
Playing with Fire
Fire Chief Walker
Gary Coleman stars as a teenage arsonist. The authorities, friends, and neighbors warn his absentee parents until it is too late.
Badge of the Assassin
Detective Cliff Fenton NYPD
Three black revolutionaries gun down two New York City police officers. The subsequent investigation puts a white assistant DA and a black police detective on the trail of the killers that leads from New York to San Francisco and down to New Orleans.
Women of San Quentin
Sgt. Therman Patterson
A young female prison guard finds out that her first assignment is to San Quentin, one of the toughest prisons in the country.
For Love and Honor
Sgt. China Bell
A military drama set on a Texas base focuses on the ups and downs of young paratroopers, who, while they're gearing up for possible combat assignments, often find themselves entangled in love affairs.
The Star Chamber
Detective Harry Lowes
As violence escalates in Los Angeles and heinous murders are committed, Steven Hardin, a young judge of the California Supreme Court, must struggle with his tortured conscience and growing despair as he watches helplessly as the ruthless criminals brought before his court go free because clever lawyers find obscure loopholes in the law.
Fighting Back
Ivanhoe Washington
An Italian deli owner forms a vigilante group to rid his Philadelphia neighborhood of street punks.
A House Divided: Denmark Vessey's Rebellion
Denmark Vessey
Story of Denmark Vesey, who was raised as a slave but bought his freedom. He organized a plot to seize the city and free the black slaves, but this failed and he and others were hanged. Set in Charleston in 1822.
Rage!
Ernie
In an attempt to be rehabilitated, a rapist goes to therapy while in prison.
Brubaker
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Othello
Othello
The Moorish general Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality it is all part of the scheme of a bitter ensign named Iago.
Alien
Parker
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
Blue Collar
Smokey James
Fed up with mistreatment at the hands of both management and union brass, and coupled with financial hardships on each man's end, three auto assembly line workers hatch a plan to rob a safe at union headquarters.
Raid on Entebbe
President Idi Amin - Jr.
Based on a true Military operation by Israeli commandos. An Air France flight is hijacked by the PFLP. The plane has about 100 Jewish passengers. The plane is grounded in Uganda. Israelis would not negotiate. The movie then shows how less than 500 soldiers actually flew so far and rescued the passengers in one of the most successful Military operations in history. The only casualty for Israeli soldiers was Lt. Col. Jonathan "Yoni" Netanyahu..
The Monkey Hustle
Daddy Foxx
A new highway threatens a Chicago neighborhood, so to protest the residents throw a block party.
Drum
Blase
A mid-19th century mulatto slave is torn between his success as a pit-fighter and the injustices of white society.
Crunch
Richard "Crunch" Blackstone
Detective goes after drug-dealers in Manhattan.
Friday Foster
Colt Hawkins
Friday Foster, a magazine photographer, goes to Los Angeles International airport to photograph the arrival of Blake Tarr, the richest black man in America. Three men attempt to assassinate Tarr. Foster photographs the melee and is plunged into a web of conspiracy involving the murder of her childhood friend, a US senator, and a shadowy plan called "Black Widow".
Sharks' Treasure
Eccentric charter skipper Jim Carnahan and his team of hard-luck dreamers battle sharks, bandits and their own greed to recover sunken treasure
Report to the Commissioner
Richard 'Crunch' Blackstone
Police officer Patty Butler, alias "Chicklet," is the live-in girlfriend of Thomas 'Stick' Henderson to gather evidence. Detective Bo Lockley is instructed to try to find her, not knowing she's also a cop.
Truck Turner
Blue
Truck Turner and his partner Jerry, who make their living as bounty hunters in Los Angeles, are hired to hunt down Gator, a pimp who has skipped bail.
Live and Let Die
Kananga/Mr. Big
James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big.
Across 110th Street
Lt. William Pope
In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?
The Limit
Producer
In Los Angeles, black motorcycle police officer Mark Johnson patrols gang-infested neighborhoods with his white partner and best friend, Jeff McMillan. One afternoon, Mark has a run-in with a gang known as The Virgins, whose leader, Big Donnie, is taken aback by the policeman's understanding, dignified demeanor despite the gang's constant derision. When Mark advises Donnie not to continue to allow his heavily pregnant girl friend, Judy, to ride a motorbike, the gang leader agrees. Later, after Donnie actively seeks Mark out for advice, the Virgins' second-in-command, Kenny, reacts with outrage.
The Limit
Story
In Los Angeles, black motorcycle police officer Mark Johnson patrols gang-infested neighborhoods with his white partner and best friend, Jeff McMillan. One afternoon, Mark has a run-in with a gang known as The Virgins, whose leader, Big Donnie, is taken aback by the policeman's understanding, dignified demeanor despite the gang's constant derision. When Mark advises Donnie not to continue to allow his heavily pregnant girl friend, Judy, to ride a motorbike, the gang leader agrees. Later, after Donnie actively seeks Mark out for advice, the Virgins' second-in-command, Kenny, reacts with outrage.
The Limit
Director
In Los Angeles, black motorcycle police officer Mark Johnson patrols gang-infested neighborhoods with his white partner and best friend, Jeff McMillan. One afternoon, Mark has a run-in with a gang known as The Virgins, whose leader, Big Donnie, is taken aback by the policeman's understanding, dignified demeanor despite the gang's constant derision. When Mark advises Donnie not to continue to allow his heavily pregnant girl friend, Judy, to ride a motorbike, the gang leader agrees. Later, after Donnie actively seeks Mark out for advice, the Virgins' second-in-command, Kenny, reacts with outrage.
The Limit
Mark Johnson
In Los Angeles, black motorcycle police officer Mark Johnson patrols gang-infested neighborhoods with his white partner and best friend, Jeff McMillan. One afternoon, Mark has a run-in with a gang known as The Virgins, whose leader, Big Donnie, is taken aback by the policeman's understanding, dignified demeanor despite the gang's constant derision. When Mark advises Donnie not to continue to allow his heavily pregnant girl friend, Judy, to ride a motorbike, the gang leader agrees. Later, after Donnie actively seeks Mark out for advice, the Virgins' second-in-command, Kenny, reacts with outrage.
Bone
Bone
A thief breaks into the home of a wealthy, happily married Beverly Hills couple. He soon finds out, though, that the couple is neither as wealthy as he thought they were and are not as happily married as they appeared.
Man and Boy
Nate Hodges
At the beginning of the 19th century a man and his son settle in Arizona which used to be a frontier state and full of criminals at that time.
Night Chase
Ernie Green
A man fleeing the scene after shooting his wife's lover forms an unexpected relationship with the tough cab driver he hires to drive him to the Mexican border.
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
Sonny Boy Mosby
Undertaker L.B. Jones, the richest black man in his county of Tennessee, is divorcing his wife for infidelity with a white policeman. Taking a stand against racism, he is greeted with a hostile bunch of Southern bigots and other various stereotypes.
5 Card Stud
Little George
The players in an ongoing poker game are being mysteriously killed off, one by one.
The Thomas Crown Affair
Carl
Young businessman, Thomas Crown is bored and decides to plan a robbery and assigns a professional agent with the right information to the job. However, Crown is soon betrayed yet cannot blow his cover because he’s in love.
Nothing But a Man
Jocko
A proud black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.