Richard Roundtree

Richard Roundtree gained fame as the stylish, charismatic private investigator John Shaft in the 1971 film *Shaft*, a role that launched a genre, two sequels, and a television series. The film made him a household name and, for a time, one of Hollywood’s top box-office attractions. As *New York Times* reviewer Vincent Canby noted: “Shaft is the sort of man who can drink five fingers of scotch without gagging or his eyes watering. He moves through Whitey's world with perfect ease and aplomb, but never loses his independence, or his awareness of where his life is really at.” Roundtree has often been described as blaxploitation’s James Bond. Success did not come immediately. Born in New Rochelle, New York, to Kathryn (a nurse and/or maid) and John Roundtree (a garbage collector and caterer), Richard excelled at football in high school and earned an athletic scholarship to Southern Illinois University. He left school in 1963 and held a variety of jobs, including janitor and salesman. He became a fashion model after being signed by Eunice Johnson of *Ebony Magazine*, later appearing in advertisements for a brand of hair grease and Salem cigarettes. Deciding to pursue acting, Roundtree returned to New York for drama lessons. In 1967, he joined the acclaimed Negro Ensemble Company, working with figures such as Robert Hooks, Rosalind Cash, and Moses Gunn. He soon appeared in several off-Broadway productions and had his first leading role as boxing legend Jack Johnson in *The Great White Hope*. In 1971, Roundtree, then largely unknown in show business, delivered a standout performance as the macho detective Shaft. Directed by Gordon Parks and filmed on location in Harlem, Greenwich Village, and Times Square, the film was a box-office success that appealed to both black and white audiences and likely helped save a struggling MGM from bankruptcy. *Shaft* also marked the beginning of the blaxploitation action genre of the 1970s. Roundtree starred in two less successful sequels—*Shaft's Big Score!* (1972) and *Shaft in Africa* (1973)—and a television series. He reprised the role in a 2000 film that featured Samuel L. Jackson as John Shaft's nephew. In later years, Roundtree played a range of roles, including a Union army deserter in *Charley-One-Eye* (1973), a professional jewel thief in *Diamonds* (1975) (also known as *Diamond Shaft*), a treasure hunter in *Day of the Assassin* (1979), and a Zimbabwean guerrilla in *Game for Vultures* (1979). By the mid-1980s, he was increasingly cast in supporting roles as authority figures, often in law enforcement or the military. Television provided several notable roles, including in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries *Roots* (1977) and as former slave-turned gunslinger Isaiah "Ice" McAdams in *Outlaws* (1986). He later had recurring roles in the soap opera *Generations* (1989) as a doctor, in the drama *Being Mary Jane* (2013) as the titular talk show host's father, and in the sitcom *Family Reunion* (2019) as a grandfather. Roundtree received several awards, including an MTV Lifetime Achievement Award for *Shaft* in 1994, a Peabody Award in 2002, and a Black Theater Alliance Award Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. Diagnosed with male breast cancer in 1993 and undergoing chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, he continued to work in film and television until his death from pancreatic cancer on October 24, 2023, at the age of 81.