Richard Roundtree, cinema icon ‘Blaxploitation’ considered as the first black action hero from the world of cinema for his role as Detective John Shaft, died on Tuesday afternoon after a short battle with the pancreatic cancer. The actor was 81 years old and died at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

This was confirmed by Patrick McMinn, his representative since 1987. “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African-American protagonists in cinema,” McMinn said in a statement sent to ‘Variety’ and collected by CulturaOcio.com in the one who assures that “The impact he had on the industry cannot be underestimated” Roundtree’s pioneering work.

“His pioneering career changed the face of entertainment around the world and his enduring legacy will be felt for generations. Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones in these difficult times,” his representation agency, Artists & Partners, said in another statement.

After taking his first steps as a model, Richard Roundtree ofHe appeared in the cinema as a protagonist at the age of 28.with the first delivery of ‘Shaft’, the action thriller that Gordon Parks directed in 1971. The film about the tough and effective private detective, also known in Spain and Latin America with the title ‘The Red Nights of Harlem’, was a great success in theaters with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) grossing 12 million dollars at the box office with a budget of just $500,000.

But in addition to saving the studio from bankruptcy, the success of ‘Shaft’ started a prolific decade of ‘Blaxploitation’ cinema and demonstrated Hollywood’s historic failure to consider black talent and the film audiences they could reach.

A year after the release of the first film, in 1972, Roundtree once again put on his iconic leather jacket to star in the sequel, ‘Shaft Returns to Harlem’ (‘Shaft 2’), and the following year the third installment was released. film of the saga ‘Shaft in Africa’ (‘Shaft 3’), and ripped one television series of the character of only seven episodes.

The saga was resurrected in 2000 with ‘Shaft: The Return’a film directed by John Singleton in which Samuel L. Jackson He played the nephew of the original character and was attended by Richard Roundtree himself.

A role that he repeated in 2019 for a new one, and until now, latest film installment of ‘Shaft’ directed by Tim Story and of which he said that, Of the five films in the saga, that was his favorite. Roundtree said: “I’m most proud of this one in particular because of what it entails. It’s fun, it transcends all the previous ones and [ofrece] three generations of this character,” he said.

Roundtree also starred in the legendary slavery television drama ‘Roots’ (1977) and in such notable titles as ‘Terremoto’ (1974), ‘Seven’ (1995), ‘George of the Jungle’ (1997)‘Brick’ (2005) or ‘Speed ​​Racer’ (2008) and other series such as ‘Heroes’ (2006), ‘Chicago Fire’ (2015) or ‘Family Reunion’ (2019).