‘Shaft’ Star Richard Roundtree Dies at 81

Richard Roundtree, best known for playing the titular character in the groundbreaking "Shaft" franchise, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 24, at age 81.

His longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, confirmed to ABC News Roundtree died following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Roundtree was a leading man from the very start of his lifetime in screen acting. After beginning his career in modeling, he secured “Shaft” at the age of 28, marking his feature debut. The MGM release earned $12 million in ticket sales off of a $500,000 production budget, helping to save the studio from bankruptcy. A breakthrough hit, “Shaft” set the tone for a prolific decade of Blaxploitation filmmaking and demonstrated Hollywood’s historical failure to consider Black talent and the moviegoing audiences that they could reach.

"Artists & Representatives Agency mourns the loss of our friend and client Richard Roundtree," he said.

Though it was not his cause of death, Roundtree was also a well-known breast cancer survivor. He was diagnosed in 1993, and throughout his survival he advocated for greater breast cancer awareness among men.

Roundtree was born in New Rochelle, New York, played football for Southern Illinois University and did some modeling, according to his IMDb biography.

He was born on July 9, 1942, in New Rochelle, New York. His father, John, worked as a garbage collector and caterer, and his mother, Kathryn, was a maid and a nurse. He attended New Rochelle High School and played for its undefeated football team.

After graduating in 1961, Roundtree headed to Southern Illinois University and landed a football scholarship as a walk-on, but he left in 1963 to pursue a modeling career. He was hired by Eunice W. Johnson to appear at the Ebony Fashion Fair and posed for print ads for Salem cigarettes and Duke hair products.

In 1967, Roundtree heeded advice from Bill Cosby and moved to New York to hone his acting skills. He joined the Negro Ensemble Company and worked with the likes of Esther Rolle, Arthur French, Robert Hooks, Rosalind Cash, Denise Nicholas and Moses Gunn (later a Shaft co-star).

Roundtree's "Being Mary Jane" co-star Gabrielle Union reacted to his death on X, formerly Twitter, writing, "Working with Richard Roundtree was a dream. ... He was ALWAYS the coolest man in the room with the BEST vibes & ppl would literally run over to come see him. He was simply the best & we all loved him

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Sarah H

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