With his powerful presence and refusal to take on roles he deemed demeaning, the late Yaphet Kotto left behind a legacy of dynamic performances that helped blaze a new trail for Black actors on-screen. Intense, fearless, and committed, Kotto often lent his passion and intelligence to finely shaded characters distinguished by their moral ambiguity and psychological complexity. Whether playing a villain for the ages in Larry Cohen’s ruthlessly subversive racial satire BONE, an autoworker fed up with the indignities of working-class life in Paul Schrader’s piercing drama BLUE COLLAR, or an unsung American hero in the stirring historical drama A HOUSE DIVIDED: DENMARK VESEY’S REBELLION, Kotto was never less than electric.
This interview with “New York Times” columnist Jamelle Bouie was recorded in 2022.
Directed by Larry Cohen • 1972 • United States
Starring Yaphet Kotto, Andrew Duggan, Jeannie Berlin
Welcome to Beverly Hills, where upper-class white married couples like Bill and Bernadette (Andrew Duggan and Joyce Van Patten) enjoy their happy life of wealth and privilege. But when an unstable...
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan • 1974 • United States
Starring Isaac Hayes, Yaphet Kotto, Alan Weeks
In this high-octane thriller, Truck Turner (Isaac Hayes, who also composed the soundtrack) is a bounty hunter who’s tracking a sadistic pimp on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Armed with his brute ...
Directed by Arthur Marks • 1975 • United States
Starring Pam Grier, Yaphet Kotto, Godfrey Cambridge
The legendary Pam Grier stars as photojournalist Friday Foster in this adaptation of the 1970s comic strip of the same name. After being warned by her boss that her personal involvement in the sto...
Directed by Paul Schrader • 1978 • United States
Starring Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto
Paul Schrader’s hard-nosed directorial debut features searing performances by comic great Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto. Fed up with the indignities of factory work, three disgru...
Directed by Stan Lathan • 1982 • United States
Starring Yaphet Kotto, Ned Beatty, Antonio Fargas
Yaphet Kotto stars in this dramatic account of the heroic true story of Denmark Vesey, who was born into slavery but bought his freedom, became a carpenter and pastor, and in 1822 planned a daring re...
Directed by Martin Brest • 1988 • United States
Starring Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto
When bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert DeNiro) is charged with tracking down bail jumper Jon Mardukas (Charles Grodin), he has no idea that both the mob and the FBI have the same plan. Propelled ...
