Yaphet Kotto

Yaphet Frederick Kotto (November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) as Lieutenant Al Giardello.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaphet_Kotto

Family

He is said to have been descended from King Bell V, August Manga Ndumbé.

Kotto was born in New York City.[4] His mother was Gladys Marie, an American nurse and U.S. Army officer of Panamanian and West Indian descent. His father was Avraham Kotto (who was, according to his son, originally named Njoki Manga Bell), a businessman from Cameroon who emigrated to the United States in the 1920s.[4] The couple separated when Kotto was a child, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents.[5][6] His father was raised Jewish and his mother converted to Judaism.[7][8] He was of Cameroonian royalty, as his father was the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of Cameroon.[9]

Kotto was married three times. He was first married in 1962 to Rita Ingrid Dittman. The couple went on to have three kids before they divorced.

Toni Pettyjohn - Kotto married his second wife in 1975. Toni Pettyjohn and Kotto also had three children before divorcing in 1989.

Tessie Sinahon and Kotto first met in 1995. According to a report, Sinahon met Kotto in a brief encounter at an airport and "meet-cute" ended in a three-year-long relationship before the pair got married in 1998. The couple lived in the Philippines where Kotto died on March 15, 2021.

He was the father of four daughters and two sons (three children from each of his first two marriages), named (from eldest) Natasha, Fred, Robert, Sarada, Mirabai and Salina.

References

• “Alien' and 'Homicide: Life on the Street' actor Yaphet Kotto dies at 81” USA TODAY, March 17, 2021
• “Mon, 11.15.1937 Yaphet Kotto, Actor born“
• ethnicelebs, imdb, FamilySearch
• Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Birth Index, 1910-1965 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017. AncestryImage Name: Frederick S Kotto; Birth Date: 15 Nov 1939; Birth Place: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA; Certificate Number: 29831
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQST-7H2 : 21 January 2020), Frederick S Katto in household of Samuel Joseph, Assembly District 22, Manhattan, New York City, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 31-1945, sheet 11B, line 65, family 231, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2671.
• Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017. AncestryImage Name: Frederick Samuel Kotto Gender: Male Marriage License Date: 1962 Marriage License Place: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA Spouse: Rita Ingried Dittman License Number: 2709
• Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1960-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. AncestryImage Name Antoinet M Pettyjohn Gender Female Birth Year 1942 Age 33 Marriage Date 29 Jan 1975 Marriage Place Los Angeles, California, USA Spouse Name Yaphet F Kotto Spouse Age 35
• “Yaphet Kotto’s Royal Grand Father”