Richard Roundtree, original ‘Shaft’ star dies at 81
Richard Roundtree, who starred as detective John Shaft in Gordon Parks’ 1971 action thriller, died Tuesday afternoon after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81-years-old.
His death was confirmed by Patrick McMinn, his manager since 1987.
“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” McMinn said in his statement. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
Roundtree was a leading man from the very start of his lifetime in screen acting, Variety Magazine said in a post about the actor’s death.
The magazine added that after Roundtree began his career in modelling, he secured “Shaft” at the age of 28, marking his feature debut. A smash hit in theatres, the MGM release earned $12 million in ticket sales off of a $500,000 production budget, helping to save the studio from bankruptcy. A breakthrough hit, “Shaft” set the tone for a prolific decade of blaxploitation filmmaking and demonstrated Hollywood’s historical failure to consider black talent and the moviegoing audiences that they could reach.
Two sequels about the “bad mother (shut your mouth)” quickly followed within the span of two years: “Shaft’s Big Score” and “Shaft in Africa.” In 1973, CBS attempted a “Shaft” television series starring Roundtree — a run that only lasted a handful episodes.
Born July 9, 1942 in Rochester, New York, Roundtree briefly attended Southern Illinois University before dropping out to pursue a modelling career. In the late ’60s, he joined the Negro Ensemble Company and began acting in New York stage productions.
Roundtree worked regularly for more than 50 years, with his iconic turn in “Shaft,” rich history in genre filmmaking and compelling screen presence adding colour to the worlds of films like “Se7en,” “Brick” and “Speed Racer.” He played a supporting role in “Moving On,” a comedy starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda that debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last year before releasing in theatres this past summer.
Roundtree was married twice, first to Mary Jane Grant from 1963 to 1973, then to Karen M Cierna, from 1980 to 1998. He is survived by his four daughters, Nicole, Tayler, Morgan and Kelli Roundtree, and his son, James.
