Fred Kotto is a retired San Jose Police Department sergeant, television writer, and former college football player. He is best known as the eldest son of Yaphet Kotto, a prominent American actor. Kotto also competed in the U.S. Olympic boxing trials in 2000 and was a running back for the top-ranked University of Washington Huskies football team. He later transitioned into television writing and is one of the creators of the show The Rookie.
Fred Kotto was born in 1968 in the United States. He is the eldest son of actor Yaphet Kotto and his first wife, Rita Ingrid Dittman. Fred has an older sister, Natascha Kotto, and a younger brother, Robert Kotto. He also has three half-sisters—Sarada, Mirabai, and Salina Kotto—from his father’s subsequent marriages.
Yaphet Kotto divorced Rita in 1976, later marrying Toni Pettyjohn and then Tessie Sinahon, whom he remained married to until his passing in the Philippines on March 15, 2021, at the age of 81.
Fred Kotto's heritage includes German ancestry on his mother’s side and Cameroonian, Panamanian, and West Indian roots on his father’s. His paternal grandfather, Abraham Kotto (originally Njoki Manga Bell), was a Cameroonian merchant who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. Fred’s paternal grandmother, Gladys Marie, was an American nurse and U.S. Army officer of Panamanian and West Indian descent.
Kotto holds American nationality and identifies as African-American. He attended the University of Washington, where he played football and was active in athletics, including training for Olympic competition. He later pursued legal studies at William H. Taft School of Law. Although he was an Olympic hopeful for the 2000 U.S. Olympic boxing trials, a motorbike accident resulted in a knee injury that curtailed his athletic pursuits.
Before joining law enforcement, Kotto worked in the finance sector in New York and Los Angeles. In 1996, he joined the San Jose Police Department, where he served for over 17 years. Six of those years were spent undercover, with three years fully detached from the department for deep-cover assignments. He worked within METRO Special Operations, focusing on high-level manhunts and covert missions.
During his tenure, Kotto collaborated with federal agencies such as the DEA and FBI, targeting major criminal organizations. He was also a decorated member of the Crisis Intervention Team and was involved in both hostage negotiations and high-risk rescue operations. He retired in April 2014 as the Supervising Sergeant of the Internal Affairs Unit.
While still in law enforcement, Kotto began writing screenplays. His first feature-length spec script, AT Rist, was acquired by Lawrence Gordon Productions. He later sold a spec pilot, Sting Ops, to Fox Television Studios (FTVS) for cable development. Following his retirement, Kotto transitioned to full-time television writing.
He is best known as a co-producer and writer for the ABC television series The Rookie, a police procedural drama. His hands-on experience in law enforcement has helped provide a sense of authenticity to the show, making it popular among audiences seeking realistic portrayals of police work.
Kotto has also contributed as a writer to NBC's Chicago PD, and Freeform’s crime dramas Guilt and Ice.
Fred Kotto married Stanka Vuckovic in March 2013. Although little is publicly known about their family life or children, Kotto maintains a low personal profile. His dual careers in policing and television writing have likely contributed to his financial stability, though specific details of his net worth remain undisclosed.
His father, Yaphet Kotto, had a reported net worth of $5 million at the time of his passing, reflecting a successful career in film and television.
