Richard Roundtree, the icon of the ‘Blaxploitation’ cinema, who was considered the first black action hero of the cinema world with his role as Detective John Shaft, died on Tuesday afternoon after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. The actor was 81 years old.
His death was confirmed by Patrick McMinn, his agent since 1987, who assured that the actor died at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family. “Richard’s work and career marked a turning point for African American heroes in cinema,” McMinn said in a statement sent to ‘Variety’ and collected by CulturaOcio.com, assuring that Roundtree’s “influence cannot be underestimated.” Studies were carried out for the sector.
“His pioneering career changed the face of the entertainment industry worldwide, and his lasting legacy will be felt for generations. Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones at this difficult time,” his management agency Artists & Partners said in a statement. another expression.
Richard Roundtree, who took his first steps as a model, entered the cinema at the age of 28 as a leading actor in his first film, the action thriller “Shaft” directed by Gordon Parks in 1971. The influential crime special, also known in Spain and Latin America as ‘Red Nights of Harlem’, was a huge success in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s (MGM) theaters, where it grossed $12 million at the box office on a $12 million budget. barely $500,000.
But in addition to saving the studio from bankruptcy, the success of ‘Shaft’ ushered in a fruitful decade in ‘Blaxploitation’ cinema and demonstrated Hollywood’s historic failure to consider black talent and the film audiences they could reach.
A year after the release of the first film, in 1972, Roundtree donned his iconic leather jacket once again to star in the sequel ‘Shaft Returns to Harlem’ (“Shaft 2”), with the third film released the following year. The film of the saga ‘Shaft in Africa’ (‘Shaft 3’) and started a television series of the character, which consisted of only seven episodes.
The saga was revived in 2000 with the film ‘Shaft: The Return’, directed by John Singleton, starring Samuel L. Jackson as the original character’s nephew and also starring Richard Roundtree.
He reprized the role in 2019 for the new and last-ever installment of Tim Story’s ‘Shaft’ and said it was his favorite out of the five films in the saga. Roundtree said: “I’m most proud of this one, especially because of what it contains. It’s fun, it surpasses all its predecessors and [ofrece] “There are three generations of this character,” he said.
Roundtree also appeared in the legendary television slavery drama ‘Roots’ (1977) and in notable productions such as ‘Earthquake’ (1974), ‘Seven’ (1995), ‘George of the Jungle’ (1997), ‘Brick’ (2005). ) or ‘Speed Racer’ (2008) and other series like ‘Heroes’ (2006), ‘Chicago Fire’ (2015) or ‘Family Reunion’ (2019).