Yaphet Kotto (Actor)

Yaphet Kotto as Lieutenant Al Giardello on Homicide: Life on the Street. (Photo: NBC)

The descendent of African kings and British royalty, charismatic African-American actor Yaphet Kotto began studying the performing arts at age 16 at the Actor's Mobile Theater Studio in NYC. Three years later, he made his professional debut in the title role of "Othello". He also inherited two stage roles created by James Earl Jones: boxer Jack Johnson in the Broadway production of "The Great White Hope" and Troy Maxson in the Washington (DC) and London stage productions of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Fences" (1990). Kotto's imposing physical presence lent itself well to the portrayal of assertive, aggressive, rebellious characters. He made his film debut in a gem of a movie, Michael Roemer's insightful look into black life in the South, "Nothing But a Man" (1964), and received raves for his role as Sonny Boy Mosby, murderer of a bestial cop, in William Wyler's "The Liberation of L. B. Jones" (1968).

Kotto earned an Emmy Award nomination for his superb performance as Idi Amin in the TV docudrama "Raid on Entebbe" (NBC, 1977) and has appeared in numerous other TV-movies, including "Badge of the Assassin" (CBS, 1985), "Desperado" (NBC, 1987) and "Prime Target" (1989). Among his many film roles, Kotto provided the drug-dealing nemesis for Roger Moore's 007 in "Live and Let Die" (1973), was a doomed crew member in "Alien" (1979), managed (just barely) not to lose control as the incompetent FBI lead man in "Midnight Run" (1988) and played yet another FBI guy in "Two if by Sea" (1996). A guest star in series like "The Big Valley", "Gunsmoke" and "Mannix", Kotto landed his first regular role as Sergeant James 'China' Bell in the short-lived NBC drama "Love and Honor" (1983-84) but really scored big as Lieutenant Al Giardello in the critically-acclaimed "Homicide: Life on the Street" (NBC, 1993- ), even writing the "Narcissus" episode for its 1996-97 season.

Kotto made his feature directorial debut with "The Limit" (1972), also producing and starring in the film written from his story. His autobiography, "Royalty" (1997), revealed the results of more than 15 years of research into his lineage, perhaps explaining the regal bearing he brings to his roles. Not only is he the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of the Doualla region of West Africa's Cameroon, he also uncovered proof that he is the great-great-great-grandson of Britain's Queen Victoria. According to Kotto, the queen's son Prince Albert Edward VII had an illicit affair with Princess Nakande, daughter of King Doualla Manga Bell, producing the light-skinned Alexander Bell, Kotto's great-grandfather, but the deputy press secretary to Queen Elizabeth categorically refuted the story claiming, " . . . Edward VII never visited Cameroon." Kotto also edited and wrote the introduction for a spiritual book called "The Second Coming of Christ".