Richard Roundtree, the actor best known for playing the title role in the iconic Shaft films, has died after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer earlier this year. He was 81. “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” Roundtree’s manager Patrick McMinn said in his statement. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
Apart from an early role on soap opera As The World Turns when he was a teenager, Roundtree’s first screen credit was 1971’s Shaft, staring as private detective John Shaft who is hired by a crimelord to find his kidnapped daughter. Isaac Hayes‘ equally iconic theme song and director Gordon Parks’ dynamic visual style helped propel Shaft to a wider audience, but it was Roundtree’s onscreen charisma that really made the film, which was the first big hit in a genre that, a year later, would be dubbed Blaxploitation. Generally regarded as the first Black movie action hero, Roundtree went on two make two more Shaft movies — 1972’s Shaft’s Big Score and 1973’s Shaft in Africa — and a short-lived Shaft TV series, and reprised his role in John Singleton’s 2000 Shaft reboot starring Samuel L Jackson.
Apart from Shaft, Roundtree was a busy actor, regularly appearing in guest roles on TV series (CHiPs, Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., Gray’s Anatomy), and his other film roles include Earthquake, Se7en, Maniac Cop, and more. He continued to act up until his death.
Rest in peace, Richard.