Yaphet Kotto, Homicide: Life on the Street star, dies at 81
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Kotto, who died on Saturday, famously portrayed no-nonsense police lieutenant Al "Gee" Giardello throughout the entire run of the 1993-1999 NBC crime drama and in NBC's 2000 follow-up Homicide: The Movie. His portrayal of the half-black/half-Italian lieutenant reflected his own multicultural background. "I'm saddened and still in shocked of the passing of my husband Yaphet of 24 years," Kotto's wife Tessie Sinahon wrote on Facebook. In addition to his Homicide role and memorable movie appearances in Live and Let Die and Alien, Kotto also famously passed on two iconic roles: Star Wars' Lando Calrissian and Star Trek: Enterprise's Jean-Luc Picard. Kotto earned his only Emmy nomination for portraying Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 1976 NBC TV movie Raid on Entebbe.
TOPICS: Homicide: Life on the Street, Yaphet Kotto, Obits
