- At 33, he was the youngest actor to play a main Bond villain.
- He was the first black actor to play a main Bond villain.
- Spends the majority of his free time living in the Philippines.
- Eldest son, Fred Kotto, is a very successful officer in the San José Police Department.
- Turned down the role of Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He feared that Lando would be killed in the movie, and that he would be forever typecast. The role went to Billy Dee Williams.
- Moved from Littleton, Colorado to Canada, because he felt it would be safer to live there. Two years after moving, he saw the news coverage on Columbine, and recognized some of the kids fleeing the school.
- His father, Njoki Manga Bell, was the great-grandson of King Alexander Bell, who ruled the Douala region of Cameroon in the late 19th century, before the nation fell into the hands of Germany and, later, France and Britain. Fleeing the Germans, Manga Bell emigrated to Harlem in the 1920s and changed his name to Abraham Kotto (the surname is from a relative).
- Along with his wife, Tessie, they operate an artists retreat resort in Southern Leyte, Philippines called "The Running Man Institute", which was founded in 2001 and is focused on working with people in the entertainment industry to build their creativity, as well as to relax and read up about holistic health.
- Although he did not enjoy filming Midnight Run (1988), the character Agent Alonzo Mosley remains his favorite. He later played the same role for the film Witless Protection (2008).
- Yaphet means "beautiful" in Hebrew.
- With the death of Joseph Wiseman on October 19, 2009, he was the earliest surviving actor to have played a main Bond villain until his own death on March 15, 2021. He played Dr. Kananga (Mr. Big) in Live and Let Die (1973).
- He made guest appearances on both of the longest running prime time dramas in US television history: Gunsmoke (1955) and Law & Order (1990).
- The "Film Production" section of the May 4, 1988, issue of Variety lists the movie "Nightmares of the Devil", directed by Yaphet Kotto, which began filming in Los Angeles September 20, 1987. Cast included Kotto and Tina Marie Goff. No evidence the film was ever completed or released.
- Has a Bay Area hardcore punk band named after him.
- 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.
- Campaigned for Steve Forbes during his bid for the Republican nomination for the Presidency in the 2000 primaries.
- Upon his death, he was cremated and his ashes were given to his widow.
- Along with Richard Belzer, Kyle Secor, Clark Johnson and Sharon Ziman, he is one of only five actors to appear in both the first and last episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street (1993): Gone for Goode (1993) and Forgive Us Our Trespasses (1999).
- His parents divorced when he was 3.
- Within a week of the divorce from his first wife Rita, he married Antoinette Pettyjohn.
- He made his Broadway debut in "The Great White Hope".
- Appeared in repertory productions of 'A Raisin in the Sun' and 'Othello'.
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