Richard Roundtree broke ground with his role of detective John Shaft in 1970s Richard Roundtree, a US actor best known for his starring role in the Shaft film franchise, has died aged 81.

Richard Roundtree, who played the original John Shaft in three '70s crime dramas, has a cameo as Jackson's uncle and namesake. Busta Rhymes, Vanessa Williams, Dan Hedaya.

Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing actor who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective in several "Shaft" films beginning in the early 1970s, has died. He was 81. Roundtree's longtime manager ...

Roundtree died at his home in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer, his manager, Patrick McMinn, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and had a double mastectomy.

Jackson and Richard Roundtree. "So I had to play this tough badass and had to do my own stunts," Williams told Elle. "The scariest moment was probably when I get shot and have to be propelled back ...