Richard Roundtree. Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Richard Roundtree, the Black actor who changed American cinema as the titular character of the Shaft film series, passed away on October 24 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81.
Roundtree's manager Patrick McMinn confirmed the actor's passing in a statement to Variety. “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” he said. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
Born July 9, 1942 in Rochester, N.Y., Roundtree dropped out of Southern Illinois University in pursuit of a career in modeling. A member of the Negro Ensemble Company, Roundtree was cast as detective John Shaft at age 28. The first film, titled Shaft, was made on a $500,000 budget and grossed $12 million in ticket sales, groundbreaking numbers for an action film with a Black lead.
The film's success helped create the "Blaxploitation" genre and forced Hollywood to reassess its views on the commercial viability of racialized leading actors. Its legacy is also tied to the iconic soundtrack — composed by Isaac Hayes, the album spawned the No. 1 hit "Theme from Shaft," a song sampled in hundreds of rap songs.
Roundtree appeared as the character in four sequels, the most recent of which was 2019's Shaft helmed by Tim Story. The film starred Samuel L. Jackson, who played the original John Shaft's nephew, a role that originated with the 2000 reboot of the franchise, directed by John Singleton.
Outside of Shaft, Roundtree appeared in film and TV projects that include Seven, Speed Racer, Brick, and Roots.