Talk:Yaphet Kotto

Untitled
Always liked this actor since he was in Forever Knight. Wikipedia is the first place I have ever heard that he is Jewish. Glad to know that, being Jewish myself also.

The above comment was posted by DakotaKahn on 1 September 2005.

Roodog2k 11:06, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

unreferenced, unverifiable
First, is it appropriate to call him "prince"?

Second, the business with his wife seeing the Virgin Mary.

Third, concerning the royal blood, is there a good source other than IMDB that states this? Also, could it be clarified? Would he be a prince with claim to all of Cameroon, or just part of Cameroon? That is, does his royal status extend to before current boundaries? Assuming that its true, of course.

Fourth, moving to Canada.

Roodog2k 11:16, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I think that he is a bit crazy guy, but crazy in a positive way. Best wishes to him.


 * Here is the uncited info: "making Yaphet the son of the Crown Prince of the Royal Bell family of the Doualla region of West Africa's Cameroon.

He recently claims to have uncovered proof that he is the great-great-great-grandson of Britain's Queen Victoria. According to Kotto, the queen's son Prince Albert Edward VII had an illicit affair with Princess Nakande, daughter of King Doualla Manga Bell, producing the light-skinned Alexander Bell, Kotto's great-grandfather, but the deputy press secretary to Queen Elizabeth categorically refuted the story saying, " . . . Edward VII never visited Cameroon."

Yaphet Kotto is not from any family crow in Duala families, even from Duala Manga Bell!!!!!!

Kotto is married to Shirley Kotto, a Catholic, and recently claims to have seen the apparition of the Virgin Mary at Marmora, Ontario, Canada (known as Our Lady of Marmora). The couple have bought a house near Marmora and applied for landed immigrant status in Canada. It is unclear if Kotto has fully renounced his Jewish faith or not. However, according to IMDB.com "to this day, he remains a devout, practicing Jew"." Mad Jack 20:35, 21 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Also, I don't quite have time right this second, but anyone working on this page might want to use this - - Yahoo movies - has a lot of background and family info and is usually quite reliable, unlike IMDB Mad Jack 20:37, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

His ancestry is widely accepted public information and is considered reliable. Some sources from a quick google search: In case that isn't enough, a lexis nexis search yields dozens more, inclusing but not limited to: On the opposite of the coin, I could find no sources, reputable or otherwise that dispute the claim. Reverting to include Cameroon text, citing Official bio at Yahoo and Edmonton Journal. Kershner 07:18, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Yahoo Movies Bio
 * Hollywood.com Bio
 * Note the verbatim similarities between the two. That text is his official bio as released by Kotto's agent.
 * IMDb Bio
 * Essence Magazine 1999
 * "Kotto is a descendant of a crown prince of Cameroon and was raised in Harlem as a Jew." The Edmonton Journal May 28, 2000
 * "His father, Avraham, an observant Jew, was the crown prince of Cameroon who immigrated to America and became a businessman." Israel Faxx May 6, 1999
 * "His father was the grandson of King Alexander Bell, who ruled a region of what is now Cameroon." Emerge March 31, 1998
 * Are you responding to me? All I did was remove info that had an "uncited" tag on it for a while. Mad Jack 20:30, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I was responding to your deletion of the uncited information, but I did so without prejudice. I wanted to ensure that there was no further doubt on some of the info I retained.  Kershner 20:28, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Removed "Nightmare on Elm Street actor" category entry
I believe that whoever added that to this article confused Yaphet Kotto with Ken Sagoes...
 * No, Kotto appeared in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (and survived it!) Mad Jack 23:49, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Yaphet Kotto the screamo band
Why was my edit reverted? The band are commonly identified with screamo, and are mentioned on the emo (music) page, but I am yet to seem them identified with punk. Hardcore, I could take or leave. --Matthew Proctor 04:03, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I think I was just a little rollback-happy that day. Please accept my apologies and go ahead and reinstate your edit. — Brian ( talk ) 02:18, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Kotto.jpg
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WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 21:23, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Dubious article
This article is full of dubious claims, and the sources cited seem extremely dubious and based solely upon his own claims (that are proven incorrect in some cases, such as his claim of being a descendant of Queen Victoria). This alleged "crown prince of Cameroon" "Avraham Kotto" doesn't even have his own article and doesn't really seem to exist (Google results are mostly mirrors of this Wikipedia article or worse, I can't find a single serious/reliable source mentioning this alleged "crown prince" who was allegedly also a Jew and a businessman for some weird reason and who married a nurse - an unusual career for a crown prince) Jeannedeba (talk) 21:37, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Once again, there hasn't been provided a single reliable third-party source that supports the claim that his father was a "crown prince" and the other dubious stuff (to put it very mildly). An interview with himself in some trash website such as www.allbusiness.com, that only reports his own claims without backing them up with any serious sources, is NOT a reliable source, merely his own unsupported claims. If his father was really the crown prince of Cameroon etc., it would be easy to back it up with serious sources, instead of his own claims in interviews with www.allbusiness.com. So unless we see some serious sources, these dubious claims stay out of the article. Jeannedeba (talk) 00:39, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Incidentally, Cameroon has been a republic (not a kingdom) since its independence, and was formerly a colony and a mandate territory, not a kingdom. There has never been a "king of Cameroon" (or a "crown prince of Cameroon"). I think this establishes that the "crown prince" story is a hoax. There is an interesting story about another alleged "king of Cameroon" here. Jeannedeba (talk) 00:55, 14 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Your use of the phrase "original research" is completely incorrect. According to WP:NOR, "No original research" means that "all material in Wikipedia must be attributable to a reliable, published source. Articles may not contain any new analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position not clearly advanced by the sources." Taking information from newspapers like The Tuscaloosa News, the Kentucky New Era and The Standard-Times (New Bedford) is not original research, nor is taking information from an interview with the subject of the article in People (magazine) (or AllBusiness.com, for that matter). If not for newspapers and journals, we would nary have any sources at all. All Hallow&#39;s Wraith (talk) 22:53, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
 * An interview with himself in some obscure publication that only reports his own claims is not a reliable source for anything else than what he's claiming, it doesn't establish that his claims are true, specifically when it's very easy to establish that there has never been a crown prince of Cameroon. Taking mere unsupported claims of royalty from an obscure local newspaper like The Tuscaloosa News and presenting it as a fact is original research. Jeannedeba (talk) 16:16, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

According to the source currently cited in the article, he wasn't born as a "royal", it was something he "found out" in adult life "whilestudying his family's lineage". There are lots of examples of grown people who have "found out" that they were in reality royals, claims that are seldomly accepted. Kotto also claims to be the "great, great grandson of Queen Victoria", a claim that has been widely dismissed (genealogists are very well aware of all of Victoria's descendants, Wikipedia probably has a list somewhere, most of the living ones (except those who married catholics) are included in the Line of succession to the British throne). Simply claiming that you are the "great, great grandson of Queen Victoria" doesn't make you a real "great, great grandson of Queen Victoria". Notably, the Buckingham Palace has dismissed Kotto's claims. Jeannedeba (talk) 16:21, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

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2020 death rumors
No news showing he died on January 23, 2020. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:2A81:10:E8EA:1E74:761C:4478 (talk) 03:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Bell family
So is Kotto's descent from "King Alexander Bell" proven anywhere, or is this alleged descent, like that from Queen Victoria, only based on his own claims? For example, is there any source indicating his father to have originally been "Njoki Manga Bell", and even if that were his name, that he descends from "King Alexander Bell"? If not- and frankly, considering the existence of separate articles about members of that family, even if so- the whole massive paragraph about the history of the Bell family in Cameroon is irrelevant. For all it goes on about this "King" and that, nowhere does it establish the link to the former "Njoki Manga Bell". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.144.76.6 (talk • contribs) 01:52, 20 April 2020 (UTC)
 * In fact, what he's saying is that his "Bell" line is illegitimate, given that "Princess Nakande, daughter of King Doualla Manga Bell... had an affair with Edward III... in the late 19th century". Who was "King Doualla Manga Bell"? Presumably Rudolf Duala Manga Bell (1873-1914)? He was s. of Manga Ndumbe Bell and grandson of Ndumbe Lobe Bell, who the article redirects to "King Alexander Bell", but that would make "Alexander Bell" more than Yaphet Kotto's "great-grandfather"... also, Nakande would have barely been born in the "late 19th century" given her putative father's age. None of this really holds up to scrutiny without more independent (i.e. not Kotto-derived) sources; for example, I can't find a single thing about "Princess Nakande" anywhere that isn't about Yaphet Kotto's claim, for the record. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.144.76.6 (talk • contribs) 02:02, 20 April 2020 (UTC)
 * The source cited for Kotto giving his "great-grandfather" as "King Alexander Bell" doesn't equate that name with Ndumbe Lobe Bell, to whose article this links; in fact, the cited source doesn't even mention a name, it only states that his father was "crown prince of Cameroon" [sources cited later in the article do however give Kotto's "King Alexander Bell"; one of these ought to be moved to cite that specific piece of information]. In light of this, is there any basis for assuming Ndumbe Lobe Bell to be the individual Kotto intended in saying "King Alexander Bell", aside from the (possibly inaccurate, as "family legends" so often are) alleged rulership "of the Douala region of Cameroon in the late-19th century"? Finally, the whole "he was a practising Jew" (not in Ndumbe Lobe Bell's article at all) and "(Kotto's) paternal family originated from Israel many centuries ago, migrating to Egypt and then Cameroon, and have been African Jews for many generations" elements, which enter the realms of speculation (on his part or whoever else's), are sufficient to cause the raising of an eyebrow at the very least. Given the absolute lack of any sources aside from Kotto's own (alleged) conclusions, it all just seems- particularly the "we were always Jewish, OK?" aspect, like some weird fanciful story conjured up by an evidently devout man to legitimise and ease the pain of his identity issues and difficult upbringing, fistfights and all, as the article then continues to describe. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.144.76.6 (talk • contribs) 02:19, 20 April 2020 (UTC)


 * This section has since been removed. As noted in the edit summary, this information should only be added back if reliable secondary sources can be found for it. -- GentlemanGhost  (séance)  11:33, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

I think Yaphet Kotto was prone to extreme claims. He claimed to be an 'experiencer' who was in regular contact with real extra-terrestials. He kept quiet about it, because people would think he was saying it to promote Alien. He also claimed to have an IQ of 196, which would make him one of the smartest people to have walked the planet. If I had an IQ of 196, I wouldn't have gone into acting. I would have found a cure for cancer. Eligius (talk) 00:42, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

Married with two different persons at the same time?
Did he really marry while still married, in 1975? Calle Widmann (talk) 13:15, 16 March 2021 (UTC)


 * This is a relatively recent edit. The source is "California, Marriage Index, 1960-1985, California Department of Health, P.O. Box 997410, Sacramento, CA 95899-7410." I don't know if anyone has tried to verify that. -- GentlemanGhost  (séance)  18:31, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

That would make him a bigamist, which is obviously illegal, and there is no mention of that anywhere. According to the second article source, he was married to his first wife for fourteen years, and married his second wife within a week of his divorce which seems much more likely. Editrite! (talk) 10:13, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Birth name
What is Kotto's full birth name?

In the article we have two different variants :

Yaphet Frederick Kotto (most sources)

and

Frederick Samuel Kotto (Ancestry.com)

Washington Post states a third variant :

Samuel Fredrick Kotto

Which one should be classified as the official one? Can we combinate them? Should we have special section in the article clarifying this?

Does anyone out there have any ideas?

194.69.14.132 (talk) 16:06, 17 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Ancestry.com is not a reliable source as per WP:ANCESTRY.COM. Some of the primary documents it hosts may be usable under WP:BLPPRIMARY, but secondary sources are usually preferred. -- GentlemanGhost  (séance)  19:23, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Date of death?
When did Yaphet Kotto actually die? Most sources, like New York Times and Hollywood Reporter, says he died on Monday according to his wife.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/yaphet-kotto-dead-homicide-life-street-live-let-die-alien-actor-was-81-1115082

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/arts/yaphet-kotto-dead.html

However, CNN states that he died on Sunday according to his agent.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/16/entertainment/yaphet-kotto/index.html

So, who do we trust, his wife or his agent?

Is this a just a screwup from one of them or is it just the usual timezone crap? Could someone please clear this mess up, before people start changing the death date back and forth...

90.235.17.109 (talk) 23:40, 17 March 2021 (UTC)


 * You've answered your own question: it's the usual timezone crap. Such are the complications of living on one continent while your agent lives on another. -- GentlemanGhost  (séance)  23:47, 17 March 2021 (UTC)