
Richard Arnold Roundtree (July 9, 1942 – October 24, 2023) was an American actor. He is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft, and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2019. For his performance in the original film, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor in 1972.
Roundtree died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory. His family hosted a memorial service for him at Saint Catherine African Methodist Episcopal Church in New Rochelle, New York on February 17, 2024.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA. Credits and photos from TMDB.
The titles people know Richard from.
IMDb rating of each title on Cineora, by year.
as Ben
as Ralph
as Tulls

as Grandpa · 1 episode
as Jebidiah McKellan
as Grandpa · 6 episodes
as John Shaft, Sr.
as Skip Davis
as Charles Floyd · 5 episodes
as Don Bennett · 1 episode
as Samuel Letts · 2 episodes

as Alonzo Sparks

as Lou Bailey

as J.T.

as Stan
as Floyd Benton · 1 episode
as Gary Markash
as Ben Burns

as Ben Burns
as Miles Porter

as Booker T. Washington

as Captain Durfee · 8 episodes

as Phil Thomas · 10 episodes
as Uncle Joe
as Kwame

as Gil Oberman
as Det. James Henegar · 1 episode
as Slick
as Lt. Johnson
as Captain Crane

as Gamble
as Lt. Doniger
as Captain Barnes

as Dundee
as Commissioner Pike

as Jason Ruigh
as Fessler

as Gideon Marunga
as Nat Judson

as Coco Morrell
as Dave Wilbur · 2 episodes
as Sgt. Aikens · 1 episode
as Sam Bennett · 1 episode

as Archie
The people who keep turning up in Richard’s titles.









