“The script was so good and the camera work was so different than what I was used to that I forgot my lines,” he told The Register. James Bond star Yaphet Kotto, who played the first black 007 villain in 1973's Live And Let Die, has passed away aged 81. “Or they say I fill up a room. 79,472, This story has been shared 46,432 times. In 1969, still largely unknown, he had the formidable task of replacing James Earl Jones on Broadway in “The Great White Hope,” Howard Sackler’s drama based on the life of the boxer Jack Johnson. He was 81. Alien was a … LOS ANGELES -- Actor Yaphet Kotto, who rose to fame in the 1970s fighting James Bond in "Live and Let Die" and an extraterrestrial stowaway in "Alien," has died, his agent told AFP. He was 81. Yaphet Kotto was best known for his portrayal of Dr Kananga, also known as Mr Big, in the 1973 James Bond film Live And Let Die. Kotto went on to appear in various films before landing his breakout role as the evil Kananga, also known as Mr. Big, in the 1973 James Bond thriller "Live and Let Die." Yaphet Kotto. The death of the actor - … I broke down one night and just bawled like a baby after seeing the show. Yaphet Kotto, the actor known for his role in "Alien" and as James Bond villain Mr. Big in "Live and Let Die," has died at age 81, his wife announced on Facebook. But he took those parts and made them wonderful all the same. He appeared in some quality films including Alien, Brubaker, Thomas Crown Affair and as the villain in Live and Let Die. And I think I have this image of a monster. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the Bronx after his parents split up and his mother joined the Army. A native of Harlem, Kotto was born on Nov. 15, 1939, a descendant of Cameroonian royalty on his father’s side. He's one of those that represents an era to me. I was just a voicebox for the writers,” Kotto lamented during an interview with Feed Magazine in 1999, noting that all of his best acting scenes never made it to the air. Fans of the beloved Hollywood heavyweight, including director Ava DuVernay, are rushing to Twitter with their condolences and fondest memories. Then, in 1979, came “Alien,” Ridley Scott’s outer-space horror classic, in which Mr. Kotto’s character, Parker, was part of a spaceship crew doing battle with a nasty extraterrestrial creature. I couldn’t see myself in ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ either, playing the chauffeur, taking it from some old lady. Mr. Kotto worked mostly in the theater for the first decade or so of his career. De Niro struggling to keep up with wife’s ‘thirst for Stella McCartney’: divorce lawyer. “… You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people also. Your California Privacy Rights “One day, when I was about 16, I walked into this theater showing ‘On the Waterfront’ and I saw Marlon Brando for the first time,” he told The Orange County Register of California in 1994. The Bell family is a very powerful, well-known and respected royal family in the Wouri estuary of what is now the Republic of Cameroon, with authority over the township of Bell. The first, in 1973, was in “Live and Let Die,” Roger Moore’s debut as James Bond. I was blasted out of the theater. Homicide: Life on the Street was my religion when it was on the air.Him and Andre Braugher were like oxygen. Getty. Yaphet Kotto 'Alien' Star and Bond Villain Dead at 81. The first Duala leader to use the title was King Ndumbe Lobe Bell, who succeeded his father Lobé Bébé Bell in 18… Yaphet Kotto In an interview with nerdist.com; At this point you had already been in James Bond Live and Let Die. Mr. Kotto tackled the role in 1990 at Arena Stage in Washington, again drawing raves. Making history as the first black antagonist in the Bond franchise, Kotto served as a double threat to the late Sir Roger Moore as 007 in 1973’s “Live and Let Die.” In the cinematic classic, Kotto assumed the villainous swagger of corrupt Caribbean dictator Dr. Kananga as well as his drug-pushing alter ego Mr. Big. LOS ANGELES — US actor Yaphet Kotto, who rose to fame in the 1970s fighting James Bond in “Live and Let Die” and an extraterrestrial stowaway in … Live and Let Die actor Yaphet Kotto dies aged 81 Rege-Jean Page teases us with James Bond rumours after Bridgerton exit ‘Because there’s something about … Actor Yaphet Kotto, who rose to fame in the 1970s fighting James Bond in “Live and Let Die” and an extraterrestrial stowaway in “Alien”, has died, his agent told AFP. , was a career high point, running for seven seasons my friend... Despite his eventual disdain for the first to call the Duala people before. 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