Richard Roundtree, who played the role of investigator John Shaft in Gordon Parks' 1971 action thriller, passed away on Tuesday afternoon after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Roundtree was considered an icon of the Blaxploitation cinema genre. He had 81 years under his belt.

Patrick McMinn, who had managed his career since 1987, stated that the musician had passed away.



In his statement, McMinn claimed that the work and career of Richard "served as a turning point for African American leading men in film." Richard was an actor. It is impossible to overestimate how much of an impact he made on the sector.



From the very beginning of his career as a screen actor, Roundtree established himself as a leading man. After getting his start in the industry as a model, he made his debut in the feature film "Shaft" when he was 28 years old. In spite of having a production budget of only $500,000, the MGM release generated ticket sales of $12 million, which assisted in preventing the studio from going bankrupt. It was a breakout hit that proved Hollywood's historical failure to acknowledge Black talent and the moviegoing masses that they could reach. "Shaft" set the tone for a prolific decade of Blaxploitation filmmaking and was the film that demonstrated this failure.In an interview with the New York Times that took place in 2019, the subject of the "exploitation" label that had been linked to "Shaft" was brought up, and Roundtree gave a response that was rather ambiguous regarding the term.

"You can't erase events, but that's one I wish I could," Roundtree said in an interview with the Times in 2019. "I had just gotten back from 'Shaft in Africa' when they tried to adapt the character for the small screen," Shaft says. "Shaft in Africa" is a film. There was no chance of that happening. That was a low period in an otherwise illustrious and lengthy career of mine.



It had a long and famous history. Already a household name, Richard Roundtree soon established himself as a major player in the film industry with performances in the ensemble disaster movie "Earthquake," a leading turn opposite Peter O'Toole in "Man Friday," and another as an unfortunate investigator in Larry Cohen's monster comedy "Q — The Winged Serpent." In addition to that, he had numerous appearances as a guest star on many television shows, some of which include "Roots," "Magnum P.I.," and "The Love Boat."



Roundtree made his way back into the "Shaft" universe for the relaunch of the franchise that was directed by John Singleton and starred Samuel L. Jackson in the year 2000. Although Jackson also portrayed a detective named John Shaft, his character was written as the nephew of Roundtree's initial private eye. Roundtree was the original actor to play the role of John Shaft. Both actors returned in 2019 to reprise their roles in the comedy adaptation of the series that Tim Story directed.



Roundtree was born in Rochester, New York, on July 9, 1942, and attended Southern Illinois University for a short period of time before dropping out to pursue a career in modeling. In the late 1960s, he became a member of the Negro Ensemble Company and started performing in theater plays in New York City.



Roundtree had a career that spanned more than 50 years, with roles as diverse as the iconic one he had in "Shaft," an extensive background in the production of genre films, and a compelling screen presence that added depth to the universes of films such as "Se7en," "Brick," and "Speed Racer." The comedy "Moving On," in which Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda star, made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival the previous year before it was released in theaters this past summer. He appeared in the film in a supporting role.



Roundtree has been married twice; his first marriage was to Mary Jane Grant, which lasted from 1963 until 1973, and his second marriage was to Karen M. Cierna, which lasted from 1980 until 1998. James Roundtree and his children Nicole, Tayler, Morgan, and Kelli Roundtree are the only members of his family he leaves behind.
LIKE, COMMENT & Share this Video :)
Also subscribe our channel    / @ustonight  


We are working hard to grow this channel and it is really hard to work from start. If you have any issue about content used in the video. Then contact us at () before complaining to YouTube. We will delete your content right then.
THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING.

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting , teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. NON commercial organizations, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.