2023-10-25 14:05:44
of Entertainment Editorial Staff
The actor helped open the doors of cinema and TV to a generation of African-American performers. He succumbed to pancreatic cancer. In the past he had undergone breast cancer surgery
Farewell to a Blaxploitation icon, the first black hero to star in an action film. The actor Richard Roundtree, who helped open the doors of cinema and TV to a generation of African-American performers with his portrayal of private investigator John Shaft in the film «Detective Shaft» (1971), the first of a series , and starring in other successful films such as “Man Friday” and on TV as the protagonist of “Roots”, he died on Tuesday 24 October at the age of 81 at his home in Los Angeles due to pancreatic cancer.
The announcement of his passing was made by Patrick McMinn, his manager since 1987. «Richard’s work and career represented a turning point for African-American cinema protagonists – declared McMinn -. The impact he had on the film industry can neither be underestimated nor forgotten.” In 1993 the American actor was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. “Breast cancer is not specific to women,” Roundtree declared in an interview in 1997. Men have a quibbling attitude towards health problems. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback because I’ve talked about it and it’s been quite a few years now. I’m a survivor.”
After having been a football player in his adolescence and then a model, Roundtree became very popular playing the role of black detective John Shaft on the big screen in the early 1970s, a “tough guy” disliked by the criminal circles of the New York neighborhood of Harlem, and viewed with suspicion by the police themselves (“the cat who doesn’t back down when there is danger around”, the investigator said of himself): after the first title in 1971 “Shaft the detective” came the sequel «Shaft Strikes Again» (1972), both directed by Gordon Parks, and then «Shaft and the Slave Traders» (1973) by director John Guillermin, a Hollywood veteran in action cinema.
The success of «Shaft the Detective» was also fueled by the song that gives the film its title, «Theme from Shaft», written and sung by Issac Hayes, who performed it at the 1972 Oscar ceremony and won the Oscar for best original song. «Shaft» also became a 7-episode television mini-series broadcast in the USA between 1973 and ’74, again with Roundtree in the title role. In 2000, another sequel was made, «Shaft», with Samuel L. Jackson in the role of detective John Shaft’s nephew, with the uncle still played by Roundtree. He and Jackson got back together in 2019 for another «Shaft».
Roundtree played the title character Friday, opposite Peter O’Toole, as Robinson Crusoe, in Jack Gold’s “Man Friday” (1975); he starred as an army sergeant, alongside Laurence Olivier, in the role of General Douglas MacArthur, in Terence Young’s Korean War drama “Inchon” (1981); he played Burt Reynolds’ partner in a private detective business in Richard Benjamin’s «Please Don’t Save My Life» (1984). In the innovative TV miniseries “Roots” (1977), the slavery saga based on the novel by Alex Haley, Roundtree played the key role of carriage driver Sam Bennett, who falls in love with Kizzy (Leslie Uggams). In an interview Roundtree revealed that he was particularly fond of the film «Once Upon a Time … When We Were Colored» (1996), which tells the story of a black family from Mississippi facing inequality in the South. His father, who had become a Pentecostal minister, had refused to see all of his son’s films until this one.
From the second half of the 90s, after defeating breast cancer, the actor returned to the limelight as an iconic character, also thanks to a new interest in Blaxploitation. He appeared in «Seven» (1995) by David Fincher, «The Final Show» (1996) by Larry Cohen, «George of the Jungle…?» (1997) by Sam Weisman and «Steel» (1997) by Kenneth Johnson. His other films include «Earthquake» (1974), «The Billion Dollar Heist» (1975), «Friends and Foes» (1979), «The Serpent» (1982), «Maniac Cop» (1988) , «Corky Romano – Second Hand Agent» (2001), «Brick – Mortal Dose» (2005), «Speed Racer» (2008) and «What Men Want» (2019). On TV he was the protagonist in several episodes of «Desperate Housewives» (2004-2005), playing an unscrupulous detective, and also appeared in the science fiction series «Heroes» (2006-2007), «Grey’s Anatomy» (2006) and «Being Mary Jane» (2013-2019).
Born in New Rochelle, New York, on July 9, 1942, Richard Roundtree, after starting his career as a model, landed the role in “Shaft the Detective” at the age of 28, marking his film debut . Based on a 1970 novel by Ernest Tidyman, the film was originally intended to star a white actor. It was director Gordon Parks who insisted on hiring Roundtree after noticing him during a casting. The film, distributed by MGM, earned $12 million at the US box office against a production budget of $500,000, helping save the studio from bankruptcy. “Shaft the Detective,” which was a smash hit, kicked off a prolific decade of Blaxploitation films.
The soundtrack to the 1971 film was also an extraordinary hit, released under the title «Shaft» in a double album by the American soul musician Isaac Hayes. Hayes’ biggest commercial and critical success, “Shaft” was his best-known work and the best-selling album of all time on the Stax Records label. Hayes’ fourth consecutive effort to reach No. 1 among the R&B albums, remaining there for 14 consecutive weeks in 1971, “Shaft” was certified gold. The single “Theme from Shaft” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, winning two Grammys and the 1972 Academy Award for Best Song and the Golden Globe for Best Original Score. Furthermore, the album earned him a further Grammy for best soundtrack in 1972 and a nomination for best soundtrack at the Oscars of the same year. In 2014 «Shaft» was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress for being «culturally, historically or aesthetically relevant». In the 1970s the song was also used as the soundtrack for an advertisement for Emulsio wax in Rai’s Caroselli. Roundtree was married to Mary Jane Grant from 1963 to 1973 and to Karen Michelle Ciernia from 1980 to 1998. The actor is survived by daughters Kelli, Nicole, Tayler and Morgan and a son, John.
October 25, 2023 (changed October 25, 2023 | 2:05 pm)
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