Yaphet Kotto

(2008) Yaphet is currently co-starring in the comedy Witless Protection.

Yaphet co-starred with soul music pioneer Isaac Hayes in Truck Turner (1974).

Yaphet claims to have proof that he is the great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria. According to Kotto, the Queen's son Albert (later King Edward VII) had an illicit affair with Princess Nakande, daughter of King Doualla Manga Bell, which produced Alexander Bell, Kotto's great-grandfather.

Yaphet wrote, directed, and acted in Speed Limit 65 (1972), in which he played a motorcycle cop.

Yaphet has been married three times, first to Rita Dittman from 1960 to 1975, then to Antoinette Pettyjohn in 1975 to 1988, and now to Tessie Sinahon, since 1998.

Yaphet is 6 feet 6 inches tall.

While filming Alien (1979), Yaphet deliberately provoked fights with Bolaji Badejo, the actor inside the Alien costume, to make his character Parker's on-screen hostility towards the creature more realistic.

Yaphet was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special in 1977 for his portrayal of General Idi Amin Dada in Raid on Entebbe.

Yaphet was nominated for the Image Award 4 years in a row for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Homicide: Life on the Street, from 1996-1999.

Yaphet's most famous science-fiction role was in Alien (1979) as Parker.

Yaphet portrayed the first black James Bond villain, Mr. Big, in Live And Let Die (1973).

Yaphet portrayed President Idi Amin Dada in the 1977 teleivsion movie Raid On Entebbe.

Yaphet's name was used by a San Fransisco Bay area punk band.

Yaphet moved from Littleton, Colorado to Canada in 1997, feeling that it would be safer to raise his children there. 2 years later, he saw news coverage of the Columbine High School massacre and recognized some of the children fleeing the school.

Yaphet campaigned for Steve Forbes' Republican Presidential nomination in the 2000 primaries.

Yaphet has written two books: "Royalty" (1997), and "The Second Coming of Christ" (1999).

Yaphet turned down the role of Lando Calrissian, in Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back because he feared the character would be killed off and he would be typecast as a result.

Yaphet has a San Fransisco Bay area punk band named after him.

Yaphet's father was royalty in Cameroon, making Yaphet the son of the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of the Doualla region of Cameroon.

Yaphet's son, Steve, is a police officer in San Jose, CA.