Richard Roundtree, the actor who rose to fame as the enduring detective John Shaft within the 1971 movie Shaft and its sequels, has died on the age of 81.
Roundtree handed away on Tuesday (October 24) in Los Angeles after a battle with pancreatic most cancers, his longtime supervisor Patrick McMinn confirmed. “Richard’s work and profession served as a turning level for African American main males in movie,” McMinn mentioned in an announcement to CNN. “The impression he had on the trade can’t be overstated.”
Roundtree was born in New Rochelle, New York in 1942. He began his profession as a mannequin earlier than becoming a member of the Negro Ensemble Firm in 1967 to pursue performing. He made his movie debut in 1970’s What Do You Say to a Bare Girl?.
His breakthrough position got here a yr later when he performed John Shaft, a personal eye who fights crime in Harlem, in Gordon Parks’ Shaft. The movie was a box-office hit and spawned two sequels, Shaft’s Large Rating! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973), in addition to a short-lived TV collection.
Roundtree reprised his position as Shaft within the 2000 remake, starring Samuel L. Jackson as his nephew, and once more within the 2019 sequel, that includes Jessie T. Usher as his son. He additionally appeared in different movies comparable to Earthquake (1974), Roots (1977), Seven (1995) and Velocity Racer (2008), in addition to TV exhibits comparable to The Love Boat, The Contemporary Prince of Bel-Air, Being Mary Jane and L.A.’s Most interesting.
Roundtree was additionally an advocate for breast most cancers consciousness, having survived the illness himself in 1993. He revealed his analysis in 2000 and have become one of many first male celebrities to talk publicly about it. He participated in occasions and campaigns to boost funds and educate individuals concerning the illness.
Roundtree is survived by his three youngsters and 5 grandchildren.
“Working with Richard Roundtree was a dream. Getting to hold with him & our Being Mary Jane household was all the time ass time with the most effective tales & laughs,” Gabrielle Union, who performed his daughter on Being Mary Jane, tweeted.
“He was ALWAYS the best man within the room with the BEST vibes & ppl would actually run over to return see him. He was merely the most effective & all of us cherished him”, she added.
