American actress Pam Grier with actor Yaphet Kotto at the Gold Medal Awards, March 1973. (Photo by Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Legendary Actor Yaphet Kotto Dies at Age 81

It is with great sadness that ComingSoon.net must report (via New York Times) that legendary actor Yaphet Kotto has passed away at age 81 at his home in the Philippines.

During his five decade career on stage and screen Kotto landed iconic roles including the blue collar technician Parker in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi landmark Alien (1979), the Bond villain Kananga/Mr. Big in the Roger Moore 007 entry Live and Let Die (1973), and the compassionate Police Lieutenant Al Giardello in David Simon’s watershed TV series Homicide: Life on the Street from 1993 to 2000.

Other notable roles include The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) opposite Steve McQueen, Across 110th Street (1972) with Anthony Quinn, blaxploitation classics Truck Turner (1974) opposite Isaac Hayes and Friday Foster (1975) with Pam Grier, the underrated crime thriller Report to the Commissioner (1975), Paul Schrader’s union drama Blue Collar (1978) alongside Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel, in the Robert Redford prison drama Brubaker (1980), the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle The Running Man (1987) and the Robert De Niro hit Midnight Run (1988). Kotto also co-wrote, directed and starred in the 1972 cop drama The Limit.

He effectively retired from acting in 2008 after the Larry the Cable Guy vehicle Witless Protection, although he made one last voice appearance reprising his role as Parker in the video game Alien: Isolation (2014).

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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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