‘Shaft’ star Richard Roundtree, considered the ‘first Black action’ movie hero, has died at 81

Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing Black actor who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective “Shaft” in several films beginning in the early 1970s, has died. Roundtree’s longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, said the actor had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men,” McMinn said.