Yaphet Kotto

Currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland. [August 2012]

With the death of Joseph Wiseman on October 19, 2009, he is the earliest surviving actor to have played a main Bond villain. He played Dr. Kananga (Mr. Big) in Live and Let Die (1973).

Along with his wife, Tessie, they operate an artists retreat resort in Southern Leyte, Philippines called "The Running Man Institute", which was founded in 2001 and is focused on working with people in the entertainment industry to build their creativity, as well as to relax and read up about holistic health.

Campaigned for Steve Forbes during his bid for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in the 2000 primaries.

Along with Richard Belzer, Kyle Secor, Clark Johnson and Sharon Ziman, he is one of only five actors to appear in both the first and last episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street (1993): Homicide: Life on the Street: Gone for Goode (1993) and Homicide: Life on the Street: Forgive Us Our Trespasses (1999).

Although he did not enjoy filming Midnight Run (1988), the character Agent Alonzo Mosley remains his favorite. He later played the same role for the film Witless Protection (2008).

Turned down the role of Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He feared that Lando would be killed in the movie, and that he would be forever typecast. The role went to Billy Dee Williams.

He is an actor and writer, known for Alien (1979), Live and Let Die (1973) and Homicide: Life on the Street (1993).

He made guest appearances on both of the longest running prime time dramas in US television history: Gunsmoke (1955) and Law & Order (1990).

Yaphet Kotto was born on November 15, 1939 in New York City, New York, USA as Yaphet Frederick Kotto.

His father, Njoki Manga Bell, was the great-grandson of King Alexander Bell, who ruled the Douala region of Cameroon in the late 19th century, before the nation fell into the hands of Germany and, later, France and Britain. Fleeing the Germans, Manga Bell emigrated to Harlem in the 1920s and changed his name to Abraham Kotto (the surname is from a relative).