He put the black in blaxploitation.
Posted on 10/24/2023 8:00:30 PM PDT by Macho MAGA Man
Richard Roundtree, star of the genre-defining blaxploitation series Shaft, has passed away at 81 years old, according to his agency.
Per Deadline, Roundtree died Monday afternoon surrounded by family, after a brief bout with pancreatic cancer. A statement from his representatives reads:
“Artists & Representatives Agency mourns the loss of our friend and client Richard Roundtree,” the agency said in a statement. “His trailblazing career changed the face of entertainment around the globe and his enduring legacy will be felt for generations to come. Our hearts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
....Snip.....
At the time director Gordon Parks was credited with kicking off what became known as the Blaxploitaton genre and delivering America’s first black action hero. And deservedly so. More than 45 years later, Shaft has aged into something even more exquisite.
Shot mostly on-location, few movies capture their time and place better. Moreover, watch it again and you will discover that Shaft really is not about race. That is what so many of its imitators never understood. As personified by star Richard Roundtree, John Shaft is the ultimate outsider, not because he’s black, but because he is an outspoken and unapologetic member of the smallest and most vulnerable minority in the world — John Shaft is his own man.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Good actor, really good movie, great theme song.
Dang I was just listening to the song Shaft for the movie. I ordered up some funk music on Apple and that song came up. Like him as an actor.
I remember well that movie came out. That movie was able to transcend a lot of things at the time, but it also had a black actor playing an antihero in a way, but what was amazing is it had a lot of crossover interest in the audience all different types of people can go watch shaft and love the picture. It had some great character actors in it and it worked on a lot of levels.
Of course, the Isaac Hayes soundtrack probably contributed that movie working as much as anything
Richard Roundtree was a really good actor and he had a pretty good career but he’ll always be shaft . Bringing Samuel L Jackson into the picture never really worked.
Rest In Peace, Richard.
They say that Shaft is a bad....
RIP.
“...Shut Yo Mouf!”
I’m talkin’ ‘bout Shaft.
Dittos. Did not age well. Rip Shaft.
bttt
He put the black in blaxploitation.
“They’re my theme music, every hero’s got to have some.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz-KwtKRBUY
Either Heaven got a new soul, or Hell just got 20 degrees cooler.
I loved that theme song. It was thrilling and well constructed. I was stunned to find out later, that even though Issac Hayes had written and sold several popular songs before his own fame, Issac did not read music. He knew music, and hired others to make the necessary notations for all the background vocals, strings and brass.
Guess who else (very famous) never had to learn to formally read music? Macca, aka Paul McCartney. None of the Beatles ever learned to read or write proper notation. That’s what they hired George Martin for.
“..Well, we can dig it!”
Elton John too. Maybe he had too much time on his hands and sticking that ,,,,never mind.
Richard Roundtree - one cool dude.
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