I’m sorry to report that Richard Roundtree has died. The beloved actor was 81 years old.
Richard was most famous for playing John Shaft, the tough detective, in the 1971 hit “Shaft.” (Music by Isaac Hayes.) Over the years he appeared in several sequels, most recently the 2019 edition.
Just last year, Roundtree co-starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in “Moving On.” He was also famous for appearing in the original, classic miniseries, “Roots.” He was also a regular on the BET series, “Being Mary Jane.”
The word is he died of pancreatic cancer. Twenty years ago, Roundtree was diagnosed with men’s breast cancer and was very pro-active talking about it.
Richard Roundtree was a real soft spoken, gracious gentleman. Back in the summer of 2008 we spent a couple of days together at Isaac Hayes’s weird Scientology funeral in Memphis. That’s when I learned what a good sense of humor he had.
Condolences to his family, friends, and fans.
