Richard Roundtree will always be known as the original John Shaft – and that’s a good thing. For years, he tried disassociating himself from his iconic 1970s role, until sometime in the 90s he realized he embodied in John Shaft the leader of a movement in a period of self-expression – an era lost. While some associate his films as “blaxploitation,” Roundtree himself claims they’re not, at least not the original 1971 “Shaft” directed by Gordon Parks. Really, he’s a badass in badass movies.
Richard was born in 1942 in New Rochelle, New York and won a scholarship to play football at Southern Illinois University. He worked as a male model following school back in New York and took acting lessons. His film debut was in 1970’s “What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?” Richard caught the attention of director Gordon Parks who cast him in the title role of “Shaft,” the private dick who’s short on talk but quick on action. On an extremely low budget, the film was a huge hit, spawning two immediate sequels and catapulting Roundtree as head of the blaxploitation movement. He worked his ass off in other parts (“Portrait of a Hitman,” “Escape to Athena,” “Gypsy Angels” among them) but he still could not shake Shaft. By the 1980s, the explosive movies identified with Roundtree pacified and disappeared.
In 1993, Richard developed breast cancer and now speaks at engagements as a cancer survivor. The wandering in ubiquitous roles in television and movies changed in 1995 when David Fincher utilized him in “Se7en.” Five years later, he was Shaft again in John Singleton’s update starring Samuel Jackson as Shaft’s nephew. Richard’s career resurged, appearing as a recurring character on “Desperate Housewives” and “Heroes.” He has acted in over 100 projects, and now proudly claims that it is Shaft himself who made it all possible. Isaac Hayes probably has something to do with that as well.
Badass Bracket – Shaft
In 2007, we created a Badass Bracket for 32 of the most badass characters from the movies and TV that we could think of. It was pretty hard narrowing it down to that number, and Shaft made the cut as the 12th seed on one side of the bracket. He didn’t make it through the first round but couldn’t get past Bruce Lee.
Here’s the Badass Bracket profile for Shaft:
Richard Roundtree, “Shaft”
He’s the black private dick that’s a sex machine to all the chicks, the man who’d risk his neck for his brother man, and the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about. He’s also a complicated man…but, sadly, no one understands him but his woman. With a steady stream of rapid-fire patter and his funky-ass fists of fury (plus a shotgun as backup), John Shaft is, quite simply, the baddest badass in Harlem. Can you dig it? In closing, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that they say this cat Shaft is a bad mother…Definitive badass moment: When Shaft slaps on his trademark leather outfit, grabs his shotgun, and gets down to business.
Classic badass line: After Willy suggests that he and Shaft are gonna tangle one of these days, Shaft snaps back, “Why don’t you stop playing with yourself, Willy? You ain’t gonna do shit!”
Seed: #10
Occupation: Private dick
Strengths: He’s a bad muthafucka
Weaknesses: There are 31 other bad muthafuckas in this competition
Richard on the Screen
He’s Shaft five times: in the original 1971 film, the two sequels “Shaft’s Big Score! and “Shaft in Africa,” a short-lived TV series from 1973-1974, and in the 2000 update by John Singleton. In addition, he’s Miles Quade in “Earthquake,” Coco Morell in “Portrait of a Hitman,” and as a guest star on TV in episodes of “CHiPs,” “Magnum P.I.,” and “MacGyver.” He’s Prescott in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Christmas in Connecticut,” and appears in one episode of “90210” as Robinson Ashe, Jr. In “Se7en” he’s the District Attorney, part of the huge “Original Gangstas” cast in 1996, Howard Shuster in “Corky Romano,” and the Assistant V.P. in “Brick.”
Richard Says
On playing John Shaft:
“Number one, it put me on the map. To this day that film still works. I was blessed.”