{"id":70000,"date":"2023-10-25T01:44:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T01:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geels.net\/?p=70000"},"modified":"2023-10-25T01:44:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T01:44:46","slug":"richard-roundtree-who-starred-in-classic-shaft-series-is-dead-at-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geels.net\/beauty\/richard-roundtree-who-starred-in-classic-shaft-series-is-dead-at-81\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Roundtree, who starred in classic Shaft series, is dead at 81"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Richard Roundtree dead at 81: Groundbreaking actor who starred in the classic Shaft film franchise passes away following brief battle with pancreatic cancer<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Roundtree died Tuesday after a cancer battle while surrounded by family<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He&#8217;s best known for starring as private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The smash hit Blaxploitation film led to dozens of roles in subsequent years<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Richard Roundtree, who helped define cinematic cool with his iconic title role in Shaft and its sequels, has died at age 81.<\/p>\n<p>Roundtree died on Tuesday afternoon after a short bout with pancreatic cancer, according to Deadline.<\/p>\n<p>He was surrounded by family at the time of his death.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, the screen star reprised his Shaft role with Samuel L. Jackson\u00a0playing his son.<\/p>\n<p>Roundtree first starred as the detective John Shaft in 1971&#8217;s Shaft, which was directed by the photographer and composer\u2013turned\u2013filmmaker Gordon Parks and featured a classic soundtrack recorded by Isaac Hayes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/02\/76964119-12668987-image-a-94_1698196654972.jpg\" height=\"906\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Classic star: Richard Roundtree, who helped define cinematic cool with his iconic title role in Shaft and its sequels, has died at age 81 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer; seen in 2022<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/02\/76964225-12668987-Iconic_role_Roundtree_first_starred_as_the_detective_John_Shaft_-m-96_1698196775457.jpg\" height=\"971\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Iconic role: Roundtree first starred as the detective John Shaft in 1971&#8217;s Shaft, which was directed by the photographer and composer\u2013turned\u2013filmmaker Gordon Parks and featured a classic soundtrack recorded by Isaac Hayes<\/p>\n<p>Shaft initially received mixed reviews, with some critics objecting to the films harsh language and occasionally brutal violence.<\/p>\n<p>Others criticized the feature for not having a more dignified character for Roundtree and other Black actors to play, though Parks responded to one critical essay in the New York Times\u00a0in 1971.<\/p>\n<p>The original author had criticized Shaft for focusing on a private detective in the mold of Raymond Chandler&#8217;s Philip Marlowe, rather than being a more high-minded drama in the mold of the Jack Nicholson\u2013starring Five Easy Pieces<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I don&#8217;t think the choice for Black people is limited to either Five Easy Pieces or Stepin Fetchit,&#8217; Parks wrote in defense, referring to the actor who was infamous for his racist portrayals of lazy Black men.<\/p>\n<p>Even if Shaft polarized critics, it was a hit with audiences, at the film went on to earn an astounding $12 million (equivalent to over $373 million when accounting for inflation) against a budget of just $500,000.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/25\/02\/76964221-12668987-image-a-98_1698196946629.jpg\" height=\"442\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Fan favorite: Shaft initially received mixed reviews, with some critics objecting to the films harsh language and occasionally violence, but it was a hit with audiences and at the box office<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/tvshowbiz\/article-12668987\/Richard-Roundtree-actor-Shaft-dead-81.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Roundtree dead at 81: Groundbreaking actor who starred in the classic Shaft film franchise passes away following brief battle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US Entertainment News. 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