Mark Blinch/Reuters
Richard Roundtree, the actor who cemented his legacy playing the classy and self-possessed police detective John Shaft in the 1971 film and its sequels, died Tuesday, his manager said. He was 81.
Roundtree died at his Los Angeles home after a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to a statement from Patrick McMinn, who managed the actor’s career from 1987 to his death.
“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film,” McMinn said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”