With consistency being the benchmark for stardom in Hollywood, Richard Roundtree has proven his star power.
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Richard Roundtree
Actor & Model Known for "Shaft" Films; Breast Cancer Survivor
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With consistency being the benchmark for stardom in Hollywood, Richard Roundtree has proven his star power in every sense of the word. As a leading actor for over the last thirty years, he has established himself as a constant force in the entertainment industry.
Discovering that he enjoyed the spotlight while on a football scholarship at Southern Illinois University, Roundtree signed with Johnson Publications to model in their annual Ebony Fashion Fair, touring 79 cities in 90 days. He then returned to New York, his home state, began acting lessons, and later became a member of New York’s acclaimed Negro Ensemble Company. A succession of Off-Broadway roles resulted in his starring role as Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope.
Roundtree initially received international fame when Gordon Parks chose him to star as John Shaft, private detective and supercop hero in the feature film Shaft. That role catapulted him into the world arena as one of the hottest new actors on the scene. He continued the franchise with Shaft’s Big Score, Shaft in Africa, and the television series, “Shaft.”
But Roundtree was just beginning to stretch his talents as a movie star. He quickly moved on to star with some of Hollywood’s most well-known actors, including Clint Eastwood, Robert Shaw, Peter O’Toole, Richard Harris, David Niven, Tony Curtis, and Laurence Olivier, to name a few.
Among the more than 70 feature films that he has appeared in is the smash hit thriller Seven, the critically acclaimed Once Upon A Time…When We Were Colored, Steel with basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal, George of the Jungle for Disney Pictures, and Corky Romano with “Saturday Night Live” star Chris Kattan.
Roundtree’s television credits have included series regular roles on “Outlaws” for CBS, “413 Hope Street” where he garnered an NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Series, and “Buddies” with Dave Chappelle for ABC. He also has appeared in many movies for television, including the top-rated Having Our Say portraying Booker T. Washington, Christmas in Connecticut directed for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Starz production of Joe and Max.
Roundtree has also played recurring roles on series including “Desperate Housewives,” “Diary of a Single Mom,” and “Being Mary Jane.”
Roundtree won a Peabody Award for his narration on the PBS documentary The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow in 2002.
In 2019, Roundtree returned in a Shaft reboot alongside Samuel L. Jackson.
Roundtree is an advocate for the fight against breast cancer, a disease which he has personally overcome. Roundtree is on the lecture circuit and takes part in events to help raise awareness and funds towards finding a cure for this disease.
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Topics
Topics
An Evening With Richard Roundtree
Videos
Videos
‘Shaft’ Star Richard Roundtree Opens Up About his Battle with Breast Cancer
Celebrate Richard Roundtree's 80th birthday! WATCH #RollinWithRoland: 1-on-1 w/ Richard Roundtree
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