Yaphet Kotto, the prolific actor known for his roles in Live and Let Die, Alien, and Homicide: Life on the Street, has died at age 81.

His wife of 24 years, Sinahon Thessa, shared the sad news on Facebook, writing: "You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you're a real hero and to a lot of people also. A good man, a good father, a good husband and a decent human being, very rare to find."

Kotto went head-to-head with Sir Roger Moore in the 1973 Bond movie Live and Let Die, portraying the corrupt Caribbean Prime Minister/drug lord Mr. Big a.k.a Dr. Kananga.

The official 007 account paid tribute to Kotto on Twitter today (March 16), sharing a photo of him in the movie and writing: "Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

In the classic 1979 sci-fi movie Alien, Kotto portrayed Parker, the chief engineer aboard the commercial space tug Nostromo. He also starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 action movie The Running Man and alongside Robert De Niro in the 1988 comedy movie Midnight Run.

Later, he portrayed Lieutenant Al Giardello in all seven seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street, which ran from 1993 to 1999. Back in 1987, he had turned down the role of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which eventually went to Sir Patrick Stewart.

"I should have done that, but I walked away," he said in a 2015 interview. "When you're making movies, you'd tend to say no to TV. It's like when you're in college and someone asks you to the high school dance. You say no."

In the same interview, he spoke about choosing movie roles "that would open up the doors for others."

"One of these movies was [1970's] The Liberation of L. B. Jones – no one had seen a Black man kill a white man onscreen prior to that," he explained. "That movie created what would later be known as blaxpolitation cinema. After that they started putting Black guys as cops, Black guys as killers, then Live and Let Die was the first time you saw a Black guy out to do James Bond. We’d never seen a Black man chase a white man across the screen. He was a hero!"

Selma director Ava DuVernay is among the many paying tribute to Kotto on Twitter today, writing: "Yaphet Kotto. My Mom’s favorite. He’s one of those actors who deserved more than the parts he got. But he took those parts and made them wonderful all the same. A star. Rest well, sir."

Rest in Peace, Yaphet Kotto, and thank you for your contribution.