Richard Roundtree, the suave actor who portrayed private eye John Shaft in the 1971 movie “Shaft,” died Tuesday. He was 81.
Roundtree’s death was confirmed by his manager, Patrick McMinn, Variety reported. He died at his Los Angeles home of pancreatic cancer, McMinn told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” McMinn said in a statement. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
Roundtree’s career spanned five decades, Deadline reported. His acting crossed several genres, from his most popular blaxploitation role to an early appearance on the soap opera “As the World Turns” in 1956. He appeared in eight episodes of “Cherish the Day” last year, the entertainment news website reported.
Roundtree reprised his role as John Shaft in the movie’s sequels, “Shaft’s Big Score!” in 1972 and “Shaft in Africa” the following year, Deadline reported. He also appeared in the 1982 television series, “Shaft.”
On the 1977 ABC miniseries “Roots,” Roundtree played the key role of carriage driver Sam Bennett, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Roundtree was born on July 9, 1942, in New Rochelle, New York, according to the entertainment news website. He attended New Rochelle High School and played for its undefeated football team.
After graduating in 1961, Roundtree attended Southern Illinois University and earned a football scholarship as a walk-on, but he left in 1963 to pursue a modeling career.
Roundtree was in a Philadelphia theater in the role of a boxer in a production of “The Great White Hope” when he heard about auditions for “Shaft,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“People come up and ask me if we really need this image of Shaft the Black Superman. Hell, yes, there’s a place for John Shaft,” Parks told Roger Ebert in a 1972 interview. “I was overwhelmed by our world premiere on Broadway. Suddenly, I was the perpetrator of a hero. Ghetto kids were coming downtown to see their hero, Shaft, and here was a Black man on the screen they didn’t have to be ashamed of. Here they had a chance to spend their $3 on something they wanted to see. We need movies about the history of our people, yes, but we need heroic fantasies about our people, too. We all need a little James Bond now and then.”