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Yaphet Kotto
Life Time
15 November 1939 - 15 March 2021
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Jafet Cotto was born in New York on November 15, 1937. In the late 50s, he was considered one of the most prominent black theater actors. He took part in many Broadway and off-Broadway productions, accepting work in local theaters with more pleasure than taking stereotypical roles in film and television. His first film, Nothing But a Man (1964), dealt with the question of black pride in the face of white indifference. Although Cotto vehemently avoided being paid as a "black actor," a far lower-than-lighter-skinned
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Jafet Cotto was born in New York on November 15, 1937. In the late 50s, he was considered one of the most prominent black theater actors. He took part in many Broadway and off-Broadway productions, accepting work in local theaters with more pleasure than taking stereotypical roles in film and television.
His first film, Nothing But a Man (1964), dealt with the question of black pride in the face of white indifference. Although Cotto vehemently avoided being paid as a "black actor," a far lower-than-lighter-skinned colleague, he did personally produce, write, and direct Speed Limit 65 (sometimes titled "Limitation" or "Time Limitation"), a sort of black biker film.
The biggest movie in terms of money spent in Cotto’s career was Bond’s Live and Let Die, in which he played Mr. Big’s bad uncle and was blown up in the finale. Something similar awaited the actor in “Aliens”, although there he was no longer so bad.
On television, Jafet Cotto's most famous work can (and should) be called "Homicide Division."