Yaphet Kotto Movies and Career Information

Yaphet Frederick Kotto (born November 15, 1937) is an American actor, known for numerous film roles, and his starring role in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street. Kotto was born in New York City, the son of Gladys Marie, a nurse and army officer, and Avraham Kotto (originally named Njoki Manga Bell), a businessman from Cameroon. In his autobiography titled Royalty, Kotto claims that his father was "the crown prince of Cameroon", despite the fact that Cameroon is a republic and has never had a crown prince. Kotto claims to have found out that his family was royal in adult life while studying his family's lineage, and also claims to be a descendant of Queen Victoria Kotto's father, who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s, was, according to Kotto, an observant Jew who spoke Hebrew, and Kotto's mother reportedly converted to Judaism before marrying his father. Kotto also clams that his great-grandfather King Alexander Bell ruled the Douala region of Cameroon in the late 19th century and was also a practicing Jew. Kotto has said that his paternal family originated from Israel and migrated to Egypt and then Cameroon, and have been African Jews for many generations.