the sign-off: “Rest In Peace Parker…Over and out, Ripley.”
In television, his longest-running role was as Lt. Al Giardello on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street.”
Kotto was born in New York City. 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. The couple separated when Kotto was a child, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents. His father was raised Jewish and his mother converted to Judaism. He was of Cameroonian royalty, as his father was the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of Cameroon.
Kotto was versed in the Hebrew liturgy and incorporated Jewish prayers at turning points throughout his life. He said his father “instilled Judaism” in him.
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Kotto retired from film acting in the mid-1990s, though had one final film role in Witless Protection (2008). However, he continued to take on television roles. Kotto portrayed Lieutenant Al Giardello in the long-running television series Homicide: Life on the Street. He has written the book Royalty and also wrote scripts for Homicide. In 2014, he voiced “Parker” for the video game Alien: Isolation, reprising the role he played in the 1979 movie.
