Richard Roundtree

Richard Arnold Roundtree was an acclaimed American actor born on July 9, 1942. He gained significant fame for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and four of its sequels. Besides his work in cinema, he also demonstrated his versatility across TV series like Roots, Generations, and Desperate Housewives.

Cemented as 'the first Black action hero', Roundtree was instrumental to the rise of African American leading actors in Hollywood. His embodiment of Shaft as a bold, assertive, and charismatic character remoulded the depiction Black men and Black masculinity in the cinema. He commenced his acting career in 1963, after dropping out of Southern Illinois University. He joined the Negro Ensemble Company in 1967 and made his first big-screen appearance in the film, What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?, in 1970. His career spanned across numerous highly-rated films and TV series, contributing significantly to the film industry until his demise in 2023.