At the age of 81, Richard Roundtree lost his brief fight with pancreatic cancer.The American actor passed away on October 24 in the afternoon.
His longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, announced his passing.
“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” the actor’s management since 1987 said in a statement. “It is impossible to overstate the impact he had on the industry.”
The Shaft star overcame yet another health obstacle earlier in 1993. After receiving a breast cancer diagnosis, he underwent a double mastectomy.
“Breast cancer is not gender-specific,” the actress said in a statement four years later. “And males have this flippant attitude about health concerns. It has been quite a few years since I spoke out about it, and I had such a good reaction. I have survived.
Known as the first black action hero after his outstanding performance as private eye John Shaft in Mark Gordan’s 1971 blockbuster Shaft, Shaft is the emblem of blaxploitation.
He then played the same character in the action thriller sequels Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973), as well as the brief Shaft TV series that year.
He received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year for his work in the original Shaft.
