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.
Desdemona 1669. Pepys was present for a performance of "Othello" at the Cockpit on 11 October 1660, noting in his diary: "a pretty lady that sat by me called out to see Desdemona smothered." In the eighteenth century, the play was sometimes cut to heighten the tragic nobility of the protagonist. Bell's acting version, for example, omitted several moments including Desdemona's conversation with Emilia before her death—a death which is accomplished in Bells' version by stabbing rather than strangulation. In the nineteenth century, behind-the-scenes events in the lives of the play's performers garnered for "Othello" a shocking and sensational reputation. Charles