Richard Roundtree Dies: ‘Shaft’ Star Was 81

American actor Richard Roundtree, known for his iconic role in the movie ‘Shaft,’ has passed away at the age of 81 after a battle with pancreatic cancer

Richard Roundtree, who broke ground with his signature role in the Shaft movie franchise, passed away this afternoon, Oct. 24, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer with his family at his bedside. He was 81

Richard Roundtree, who was born in 1942 in New Rochelle, NY, starred in blaxploitation films in the early 1970s. He is best known for playing detective John Shaft in the 1971 action movie Shaft and its sequels, Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973)

For his performance in the original film, Roundtree was nominated for a New Star of the Year Golden Globe. Decades later, Roundtree reprised his role in the 2000 John Singleton movie starring Samuel L. Jackson and the 2019 Tim Story-directed sequel