Othello (1980 film) Othello (1980 film) Othello is Liz White's 1980 dramatic adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello. An all black cast and crew, including budding actor Yaphet Kotto in his first role, created the film. Yaphet Kotto as Othello<br> Benjamin Ashburn as Montano<br> Olive Bowles as Emilia<br> Louis Chisholm, Jr. as Cassio<br> Audrey Dixon as Desdemona<br> Richard Dixon as Iago<br> Douglas Gray as Roderigo<br> Lincoln Pope as Duke of Venice<br> Liz White as Bianca<br> Jim Williams as Brabantio White's Othello began as an acclaimed performance in 1960-1961 at Shearer Summer Theater, White's own repository company on Martha's Vineyeard, and in 1960 in Harlem.
Othello is the model for Shakespeare's Othello, but some researchers believe the poet also took inspiration from the several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England "circa" 1600. Another possible source was the "Description of Africa" by Leo Africanus. The book was an enormous success in Europe, and was translated into many other languages, remaining a definitive reference work for decades (and to some degree, centuries) afterwards. An English translation by John Pory appeared in 1600 under the title "A Geographical Historie of Africa, Written in Arabicke and Italian by Iohn Leo a More..." in which form Shakespeare may have seen