Kotto died March 14 at 10:30 p.m., local time in the Philippines, where he lived with his wife, Goldhar said. No information was provided on the cause of death.
Kotto’s on-screen work began in the late 1960s and remained constant throughout the 1990s. At that time, he put together a number of memorable roles that spoke to his transformative talent.
His notable film work includes roles in “Alien,” “The Running Man,” “Midnight Run” and “Live and Let Die,” in which he played Bond’s iconic villain, Mr. Big.
On television, his longest-running role was Lieutenant Al Giardello on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street.”
“Yaphet Kotto. My mother’s favorite,” director Ava DuVernay wrote Twitter. “He’s one of those actors who deserved more than the parts he got. But he took those parts and made them wonderful. A star. Rest well, sir.”
TV producer David Simon added: “Memories and respect for Yaphet Kotto, whose film career was legendary even before coming to Baltimore to adorn our television drama. But for me, it will always be Al Giardello, the most unlikely Sicilian, pulling softly the shutters of the office to the detectives in his squadron room. ”
