First Black Bond villain and Alien actor, Yaphet Kotto dies at 81

Los Angeles - Kotto got an Emmy nomination for playing former Ugandan President Idi Amin.

Actor Yaphet Kotto, who rose to fame in the 1970s fighting James Bond in Live and Let Die and an extraterrestrial stowaway in Alien, has died, his agent told AFP. He was 81.

In a statement Monday on Facebook, wife Sinahon Thessa described her late husband as a "legend".

"You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you're a real hero and to a lot of people also," she said.

Agent Ryan Goldhar confirmed his passing in an email to AFP. He did not share the cause of death.

"I am still processing his passing, and I know he will be missed," he said.

Born in New York to a Cameroonian immigrant father and a US Army nurse, Kotto's debut as a professional actor was in an all-Black stage performance of Shakespeare's Othello in Harlem in 1960.

Kotto drew plaudits for roles as the first Black Bond villain -- dictator Dr. Kananga -- in 1973's Live and Let Die, and an Emmy nomination for playing real-life Ugandan strongman Idi Amin in the TV movie Raid on Entebbe.