Kotto and Weaver in center/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Sigourney Weaver has issued a statement mourning the loss of her Alien co-star Yaphet Kotto, who died Monday in the Philippines. He was 81.

Kotto played engineer Dennis Parker, a crew member aboard the deep space mining vessel Nostromo in Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking 1979 classic.

Although their characters often butted heads, Parker eventually sacrificed himself to the movie’s titular xenomorph, allowing Weaver’s Ellen Ripley the chance to become the ship’s sole survivor. 

“Every day Yaphet Kotto blew me away on the set of Alien,” Weaver wrote, according to Deadline.

“He just went for it in every scene, making the stakes higher and higher and giving each scene a terrifying reality. It was a nonstop master class for me and I will always be grateful to him.”

Weaver closed with, “Rest In Peace Parker…Over and out, Ripley.”

By Stephen Iervolino
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