Richard Roundtree

Early life and education

Richard Arnold Roundtree was born on July 9, 1942, in New Rochelle, New York, to John Roundtree and Kathryn Watkins. Roundtree attended New Rochelle High School, where he graduated in 1961. He subsequently attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, but eventually dropped out of college in 1963, in order to begin his acting career.

Career

Roundtree started his professional career around 1963, as he began working as a model at the Ebony Fashion Fair after being scouted by Eunice W. Johnson; he then began modeling in advertisements for products such as Johnson Products' Duke hair grease and Salem cigarettes. In 1967, Roundtree joined the Negro Ensemble Company: he then went on to play his first theatrical role by portraying boxer Jack Johnson in the company's production of The Great White Hope. According to J. E. Franklin, he acted in the Off-Off-Broadway production of her play Mau Mau Room, by the Negro Ensemble Company Workshop Festival, at St. Mark's Playhouse in 1969, directed by Shauneille Perry.

In the following years, he became a leading man in early 1970s films, and gained widespread popularity through his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the action movie Shaft (1971) and its sequels, Shaft's Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973); he also played the same role in the eponymous television series, aired by CBS between 1973 and 1974. In early-1974, Roundtree was cast in the role of an Evel Knievel-type motorcycle daredevil in the disaster film Earthquake, a part which was originally written for Joe Namath. Hired after filming had already begun, the script was re-written to accommodate Roundtree in the part, alongside Gabriel Dell and Victoria Principal. In 1981, he appeared opposite Laurence Olivier and Ben Gazzara in the epic war film Inchon, directed by Terence Young. In 1984, he starred again as a private detective, Diehl Swift, in the buddy-crime comedy movie City Heat, acting alongside Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds.

On television, he played the slave Sam Bennett in the 1977 television mini-series Roots, and then starred as Dr. Daniel Reubens in the soap opera Generations from 1989 to 1991. Although Roundtree worked throughout the entirety of the 1990s, many of his films from that era were not well-received publicly; however, he found success in several stage plays.

During that same period of time, Roundtree kept featuring in TV series: on September 19, 1991, he appeared in the episode "Ashes to Ashes", from the second season of Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1995, he acted in David Fincher's critically-acclaimed movie Seven; in 2000, he starred again as John Shaft in a new, eponymous sequel of the original 1971 film, with Samuel L. Jackson playing the title character. In 1997, he appeared in the comedy movie George of the Jungle; around the same year, he played a leading role as Phil Thomas in the Fox ensemble drama, 413 Hope St; in 1999, he portrayed Booker T. Washington in the 1999 television movie Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years. He served as a voice actor for the title character from the PlayStation game Akuji the Heartless, which was first released in 1999.

In 2004, Roundtree guest-starred in several episodes of the first season of Desperate Housewives as an amoral private detective; in 2005, he played the assistant vice principal of a high school in the neo-noir mystery film Brick.

In 2019, Roundtree co-starred in the comedy film What Men Want, before once again returning to the role of John Shaft in Shaft, a new sequel to the 2000 film, opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Jessie T. Usher, who portrayed John Shaft II and John Shaft III, respectively. Starting from the same year, Roundtree also had a recurring role on Family Reunion.

Roundtree's final film to be released in his lifetime was Moving On (2023) with Jane Fonda. The last film released was Thelma (2024).

Personal life, health problems, and death

Roundtree was married and divorced twice and had five children. He married Mary Jane Grant in 1963; the couple had two children before divorcing in 1973. He dated actress and TV personality Cathy Lee Crosby shortly thereafter. Roundtree later married Karen M. Ciernia in 1980; they had three children together before divorcing in 1998.

In 1993, Roundtree was diagnosed with breast cancer, and subsequently underwent a double mastectomy and chemotherapy.

Roundtree died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Los Angeles on October 24, 2023, at the age of 81. 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.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Stage

Discography

• The Man from Shaft (MGM Records 1972)

Awards and nominations

References

Notes

Bibliography

References

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