Richard Roundtree, the long-lasting actor famend for portraying the suave personal detective within the groundbreaking “Shaft” movie sequence, has died at 81.
His longtime supervisor Patrick McMinn, confirmed that Roundtree succumbed to pancreatic most cancers at his residence in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The legendary actor, who additionally battled and triumphed over breast most cancers in 1993, underwent a double mastectomy.
“Richard’s work and profession served as a turning level for African American main males,” McMinn mentioned. “The influence he had on the trade can’t be overstated.”
Roundtree’s legacy prolonged past the Seventies classics. He reprised his iconic function within the 2000 “Shaft” movie, sharing the display screen with Samuel L. Jackson, who portrayed his nephew. The movie was a revival that aimed to captivate a wider viewers, and Roundtree and Jackson returned in the identical roles for the 2019 rendition starring Jessie T. Usher.
In a heartfelt social media publish, Jackson hailed Roundtree because the “prototype” and praised him as “the most effective to ever do it.” Jackson added, “SHAFT, as we all know it’s [and] will at all times be his Creation. His passing leaves a deep gap not solely in my coronary heart, however I’m certain a lotta y’all’s, too.”
Born on July 9, 1942, in New Rochelle, New York, to John and Kathryn Roundtree, the younger Roundtree confirmed promise in athletics and teachers. He attended New Rochelle Excessive College, incomes recognition for his contributions to the varsity’s nationally ranked soccer workforce. In 1961, Roundtree’s athletic prowess earned him a scholarship to Southern Illinois College in Carbondale, Illinois. Nonetheless, his ardour for appearing and modeling prompted him to depart faculty in 1963.
Roundtree’s profession took off when Eunice Johnson of Ebony journal recruited him to mannequin on the Ebony Vogue Truthful in 1963. He joined the Negro Ensemble Firm in 1967, the place he delivered a memorable efficiency as boxing legend Jack Johnson in “The Nice White Hope.”
The pivotal second in Roundtree’s profession got here in 1971 when he landed the function of Shaft within the Gordon Parks-directed movie.
The movie’s success catapulted Roundtree to stardom, culminating in two sequels, “Shaft’s Huge Rating” (1972) and “Shaft in Africa” (1973). In recognition of his distinctive expertise, Roundtree acquired the Golden Globe Most Promising Newcomer Award in 1972.
In response to the HistoryMakers, all through the Seventies and Eighties, Roundtree graced the silver display screen in an array of movies, together with “Earthquake” (1974), “Escape to Athena” (1979), “A Recreation for Vultures” (1979) and “Day of the Murderer” (1979). He additionally made a memorable look within the 1977 ABC tv miniseries “Roots.”
Within the ensuing many years, Roundtree continued to depart an indelible mark within the leisure trade, showing in numerous tv sequence reminiscent of “Soul Meals,” “Determined Housewives,” “Heroes” and “Gray’s Anatomy.” He secured a recurring function within the 2013 tv present “Being Mary Jane” alongside Gabrielle Union and Margaret Avery. Roundtree additional graced Fox’s tv sequence “Star” together with his presence in 2017 and 2018.
In 1993, Roundtree confronted a uncommon type of male breast most cancers with unwavering willpower. His resilience led him to turn out to be a distinguished advocate for breast most cancers consciousness, lending his voice to the Susan G. Komen Basis and the Know Your Rating Males’s Well being Initiative. Roundtree earned quite a few awards, together with the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award for his iconic portrayal of Shaft, an Picture Award nomination in 1998, a Peabody Award in 2002, and a Black Theater Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
