Richard Roundtree, an American actor who is most famous for playing the main character in the Shaft movies, has passed away at the age of 81.
He passed away on Tuesday afternoon at his home in Los Angeles. His family was with him when he died, according to his manager Patrick McMinn.
He died after a brief fight with pancreatic cancer.
“According to McMinn, Richard’s job and career marked an important moment for African American men taking on prominent roles in movies. ”
“He had a huge influence on the industry,” he said.
Roundtree was born on July 9, 1942 in New Rochelle, New York. He started acting in the 1960s.
He became famous at the age of 29 for his role as detective John Shaft, and many people thought he was a very special actor.
The movie series from the 1970s was very famous because it was one of the first movies in a genre called Blaxploitation. These movies were action films that focused on black characters who were heroes.
Roundtree also acted in several movies and TV shows. Some of the movies he appeared in are Inchon and Seven. He also appeared in TV series like Roots, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Desperate Housewives.
Samuel L Jackson, who was in the 2000 Shaft remake and a 2019 movie in the same series with Roundtree, said that the late actor was “the original and the greatest at what he did”.
He said that his death has caused a great sadness in his heart and he believes it has affected many other people as well.
“Brother, I love you. I see you walking on the main street in Heaven and Isaac is leading your song,” he said, mentioning the popular theme song from Shaft that won an Oscar for its great original music.
Roundtree was found to have breast cancer in 1993 and had surgery to remove both of her breasts.
According to the New York Times, he has four daughters named Kelli, Nicole, Taylor, and Morgan. He also has a son named John and at least one grandchild.