Richard Roundtree, the actor who helped define cinematic cool with his iconic title role in Shaft and its sequels, has died at the age of 81 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Often described as “the first black action hero,” the actor was best known for his role as a detective in the Shaft franchise that premiered in 1971, but he had a number of credits to his name.
The New Yorker first starred detective John Shaft in 1971, directed by photographer and composer-filmmaker Gordon Parks and featuring a classic soundtrack recorded by Isaac Hayes.
In 2019, the movie star reprized his role in Shaft, with Samuel L. Jackson playing his son in the final film in the series, this time directed by Tim Story, who was responsible for directing Ride Along, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart.
But who were the wife and children of the famous actor? The star had a colorful personal life with two marriages, two divorces, a highly publicized relationship with actress Cathy Lee Crosby and five children.
Often described as “the first black action hero,” Richard was best known for his role as a detective in the Shaft franchise that premiered in 1971, but had a number of credits to his name.
In 2019, the movie star reprized his role in Shaft, with Samuel L. Jackson playing his son in the final film in the series, this time directed by Tim Story, responsible for directing Ride Along, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart .
A life full of glamour
Born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1942, Roundtree was a star football player in high school before attending Southern Illinois University.
He quit in 1963 after planning to pursue a career in modeling. He moved to New York City on the advice of Bill Cosby and later began acting in stage productions in the 1960s.
It was his first major film role as the title character in Shaft that changed his career forever and made him an in-demand film and television star.
After his initial success, he played the title character in 1975’s Man Friday, opposite Lawrence Of Arabia star Peter O’Toole as Robinson Crusoe.
In 1981, he appeared with Lawrence Olivier and Ben Gazzara in the Korean War drama Inchon, and he again played a private detective working with Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood in 1984’s City Heat.
Other classic or popular films in which he appeared include Earthquake (1974), Body Of Influence (1993), Maniac Cop (1988), Se7en (1995), George Of The Jungle (1997) and Brick (2005).
One of his later roles was in 2019’s What Men Want, which received poor reviews but was a box office success.
Woman and children
In November 1963, at the age of 21, Richard married Mary Jane Grant. Their marriage lasted ten years and they divorced in 1973.
The couple shared two children, daughters Kelli and Nicole, who prefer to stay out of the spotlight.
After his turbulent marriage, he married Karen Michelle Ciernia in 1980 and the couple had three children together; Taylor, Morgan and John James.
This romance didn’t last long either and the couple divorced in 1998, meaning their marriage lasted eight years longer than his.
He is said to have at least one grandchild The New York Times.
Richard was also in a relationship with the glamorous blonde actress Cathy Lee Crosby with whom he appeared in an episode of the television series Shaft, based on the films of the same name.
The relationship didn’t last long – and predated his marriage to Karen.