Richard Roundtree

Richard Roundtree

1942-07-09 New Rochelle, New York, USA 98 Credits

Biography

Richard Roundtree (July 9, 1942 – October 24, 2023) was an American actor. He is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft, and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2019. For his performance in the original film, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor in 1972. He reprised the role of Shaft in the movie Shaft (2019), starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Thelma

Thelma

2024

as Ben

6.9
Acting

When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to recla...

Thelma

Thelma

2024

In Memory Of

6.9

When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to recla...

Moving On

Moving On

2023

as Ralph

5.9
Acting

Two old friends reconnect at their friend's funeral, and decide to exact revenge on the widower who wronged all three of them decades earlier.

A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks

A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks

2021

as Self

6.8
Acting

This documentary chronicles renaissance man Gordon Parks’ stellar career from staff photographer for LIFE magazine, through his artistic development p...

Haunting of the Mary Celeste

Haunting of the Mary Celeste

2020

as Tulls

5.2
Acting

Rachel, a concerned researcher, and her team have set out to sea to prove that the disappearance of a family and crew from a merchant ship was for rea...

A Family Reunion Christmas

A Family Reunion Christmas

2019

as Jebidiah McKellan

5.9
Acting

M'Dear and her sisters struggle to keep their singing act together before a church Christmas pageant while Grandpa teaches the kids a valuable lesson.

Harlem to Hollywood

Harlem to Hollywood

2019

as Self

Acting

An insider's look at the most famous person most people have never heard of: singer-songwriter Billy Vera.

Shaft

Shaft

2019

as John Shaft, Sr.

6.5
Acting

JJ, aka John Shaft Jr., may be a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, but to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death, he ne...

What Men Want

What Men Want

2019

as Skip Davis

6.2
Acting

Magically able to hear what men are thinking, a sports agent uses her newfound ability to turn the tables on her overbearing male colleagues.

Collar

Collar

2015

as Alonzo Sparks

Acting

While his life begins to crumble, TJ Williams's fast fading future is bartered for political gain by his former best friend and boss, a mayor with her...

Django Unchained

Django Unchained

2012

Thanks

8.2

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

Retreat!

Retreat!

2012

as Henshaw

Acting

Inspired by war films from the 1950's, Retreat! tells the story of nine U.S. Soldiers who were forced to retreat into unknown territories deep in the ...

The Confidant

The Confidant

2010

as Claude

4.4
Acting

The feature weaves an intricate tale about childhood best-friends that have an unusually strong bond and a more intriguing secret. Both young men are ...

Whatever She Wants

Whatever She Wants

2010

as Theodore Wolf

6.7
Acting

Whatever She Wants is the story about one woman s determination to rediscover who she really is... Vivian Wolf (Vivica A. Fox) has suffered one heartb...

Diary of a Single Mom

Diary of a Single Mom

2009

as Lou Bailey

4.0
Acting

Ocean a 27-year-old highly-motivated mother has found her calling in managing a neighborhood apartment building along with the residents and the probl...

Set Apart

Set Apart

2009

as J.T.

3.0
Acting

Four troubled, inner city kids get a western-style shot at redemption when a cowboy pastor invites them to his country ranch and offers them a chance ...

Ladies of the House

Ladies of the House

2008

as Stan

4.5
Acting

When three women are asked to refurbish a house for their church, they find that they must break down their own self-perception in order to build some...

Final Approach

Final Approach

2008

as Gary Markash

5.0
Acting

FBI hostage rescue team leader Jack Bender has been sacked for not being a team player, and months later he finds himself in the ultimate hostage nigh...

Speed Racer

Speed Racer

2008

as Ben Burns

6.3
Acting

Speed Racer is a young and brilliant racing driver. When corruption in the racing leagues costs his brother his life, Speed must team up with the poli...

Point of Entry

Point of Entry

2007

as Miles Porter

4.7
Acting

A young woman named Katherine Alden becomes the unwanted victim of her new handsome next door neighbor Caleb, after her and her husband and son moves ...

All The Days Before Tomorrow

All The Days Before Tomorrow

2007

as El Doctor

6.8
Acting

Wes is awakened in the middle of the night by an unexpected phone call. It’s Alison, the girl who could have been, who is flying home to Tokyo in the ...

Brick

Brick

2006

as Assistant V.P. Trueman

6.8
Acting

A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

Wild Seven

Wild Seven

2006

as Lee Marvin / Cleetus Woods

4.0
Acting

In this darkly karmic vision of Arizona, a man who breathes nothing but ill will begins a noxious domino effect as quickly as an uncontrollable virus ...

Painkiller Jane

Painkiller Jane

2005

as Colonel Watts

4.9
Acting

Jane, a young soldier, is exposed to a biochemical weapon that endows her with self-healing powers. She uses her abilities to fight crime while eludin...

Max Havoc: Curse Of The Dragon

Max Havoc: Curse Of The Dragon

2004

as Tahsi

4.5
Acting

A former kickboxer returns to his fighting ways when he encounters a gang in Guam.

Vegas Vampires

Vegas Vampires

2003

as Rick Apping

3.7
Acting

A series of brutal murders at several top nightclubs have left the Las Vegas police department baffled. But when they discover that the killers are a ...

Men Cry in the Dark

Men Cry in the Dark

2003

7.0
Acting

The future has never looked better for Derrick Reed. Bachelorhood is great, he has a group of guys he can really call friends, and he's the publisher ...

Boat Trip

Boat Trip

2002

as Felicia's Dad

5.3
Acting

Two guys whose love lives are a wreck look forward to finding ladies on the high seas. Unfortunately, they've mistakenly been booked on a gay cruise.

BaadAsssss Cinema

BaadAsssss Cinema

2002

as Self

6.1
Acting

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than...

Al's Lads

Al's Lads

2002

as Boom-Boom

5.8
Acting

Three Englishmen working as waiters on a cruise ship in 1927 are given a chance to work for the Al Capone gang.

Undercover Brother

Undercover Brother

2002

as John Shaft (archive footage) (uncredited)

5.9
Acting

An Afro-American organization, the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., is in permanent fight against a white organization "The Man" defending the values of the bl...

Joe and Max

Joe and Max

2002

as Jack Blackburn

4.9
Acting

True story of boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling and their enduring friendship.

Hawaiian Gardens

Hawaiian Gardens

2001

as M.O.

1.0
Acting

A romantic drama/detective story about big-time copyright fraud and a bigger-time crush. A complicated love triangle plays out to a dramatic climax, t...

Corky Romano

Corky Romano

2001

as Howard Shuster

4.3
Acting

Corky Romano is a bumbling, simpleton, veterinarian and the youngest, outcast son of an aging gangster, named Pops Romano, who calls upon Corky to inf...

Antitrust

Antitrust

2001

as Lyle Barton

6.1
Acting

A computer programmer's dream job at a hot Portland-based firm turns nightmarish when he discovers his boss has a secret and ruthless means of dispatc...

Shaft

Shaft

2000

as "Uncle" John Shaft

6.0
Acting

New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail...

Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

1999

as Booker T. Washington

7.5
Acting

Tells the story of Sadie and Bessie Delany, two African-American (they preferred "colored") sisters who both lived past the age of 100. They grew up o...

Steel

Steel

1997

as Uncle Joe

4.3
Acting

When a renegade military reject puts new superweapons in dangerous hands, John Henry Irons becomes Steel. Wearing body armor, wielding a fearsome elec...

George of the Jungle

George of the Jungle

1997

as Kwame

5.6
Acting

Deep in the African jungle, a baby named George, the sole survivor of a plane crash, is raised by gorillas. George grows up to be a buff and lovable k...

Any Place But Home

Any Place But Home

1997

as Gil Oberman

Acting

A businessman's son is kidnappped, but the kidnapper's sister-in-law and her husband are opposed to the plan. They take the boy and the ransom money t...

Original Gangstas

Original Gangstas

1996

as Slick

5.6
Acting

A violent street gang, the Rebels, rule the streets of Gary, Indiana. The Rebels shoot Marvin Bookman, a store-keeper, for giving the police informati...

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored

1996

as Cleve

4.2
Acting

A narrator tells the story of his childhood years in a tightly knit Afro-American community in the deep south under racial segregation.

Theodore Rex

Theodore Rex

1995

as Commissioner Lynch

3.6
Acting

In an alternate futuristic society, a tough female police detective is paired with a talking dinosaur to find the killer of dinosaurs and other prehis...

Se7en

Se7en

1995

as Talbot

8.4
Acting

Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film t...

Ballistic

Ballistic

1995

as Harold

2.9
Acting

Jesse Gavin is an undercover cop, part of an elite police team and highly skilled in lethal martial arts! She is suspended from the force after a witn...

Bonanza: Under Attack

Bonanza: Under Attack

1995

as Jacob

6.5
Acting

After a rogue band of Pinkerton detectives led by ruthless Charley Siringo bushwhacks reformed outlaw Frank James, he seeks sanctuary on the Ponderosa...

Shadows of Desire

Shadows of Desire

1994

as Dunc

1.7
Acting

A woman is torn between her love for a gentle man, and her secret passion for his dangerous brother.

Blind Man's Bluff

Blind Man's Bluff

1994

as Gray

Acting

A young heiress, Bianca, blind following an accident, stays in a beautiful hotel in the Caribbean. The business is managed by Anna and her beautiful n...

Mind Twister

Mind Twister

1994

as Frank Webb

3.4
Acting

Two former exotic dancers devise a plot to expose a physciatrist as the murderer of their friend.

Black as the Heart

Black as the Heart

1994

as Rod

Acting

Lawyer Valentino Bruio goes to the "Sun City" bar for a meeting and on leaving the club he meets Ray who submits to him the case of his son who myster...

Sins of the Night

Sins of the Night

1993

as Les

5.2
Acting

Jack Nietsche is a hardened ex-con who now works for an P.I. firm, run by Ted Quincy. Quincy's ex-lover is Roxie, now wife to godfather Tony Falcone. ...

Bonanza: The Return

Bonanza: The Return

1993

as Jacob Briscoe

6.5
Acting

A man with a grudge against the late Little Joe seeks revenge on the Cartwrights and attempts to take over the Ponderosa.

Amityville: A New Generation

Amityville: A New Generation

1993

as Pauli

4.2
Acting

Keyes, a successful photographer who lives at the border of Skid Row, notices a homeless man with a strange old mirror. Immediately struck by it for r...

Deadly Rivals

Deadly Rivals

1993

as Agent Peterson

5.8
Acting

A physicist involved in classified military research meets a woman who he begins to suspect is a spy. Her sister is involved with the mob and one of t...

Body of Influence

Body of Influence

1993

as Harry Reams

4.4
Acting

A successful psychiatrist has his world turned upside-down by the appearance of a mystery woman who cannot recall her own past...

Christmas in Connecticut

Christmas in Connecticut

1992

as Prescott

4.6
Acting

Elizabeth is the star of a successful cooking show and author of several cookbooks. But when her manager, Alexander sees forest ranger Jefferson, who ...

Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight

Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight

1992

as Samuel Stark

4.6
Acting

Don Wilson returns to the screen as a man unjustly accused of a brutal crime. Within the prison he must fight for survival, freedom and justice.

A Time to Die

A Time to Die

1991

as Captain Ralph Phipps

4.4
Acting

A female photographer teams up with a policeman to try to bring down a corrupt police officer who framed her for drug possession and during her invest...

Gypsy Angels

Gypsy Angels

1990

as Dr. Carlson

2.7
Acting

Vanna White is a stripper who falls for a stunt pilot who develops amnesia after a crash.

Bad Jim

Bad Jim

1990

as July

7.3
Acting

A cowpoke buys Billy the Kid's horse and, upon riding it, becomes an incorrigible outlaw himself.

The Banker

The Banker

1989

as Lloyd

4.3
Acting

High-priced prostitutes are being systematically murdered, their corpses mutilated, and a bizarre South American symbol painted in blood is found at t...

Crack House

Crack House

1989

as Lt. Johnson

5.2
Acting

Rick and Melissa are a pair of young lovers hoping to get out of the slums for good and escape the poverty and crime their families and friends have g...

Night Visitor

Night Visitor

1989

as Captain Crane

4.2
Acting

A teenager insists he saw a satanist kill the call girl next door, and tries to prove it.

Miami Cops

Miami Cops

1989

as Gamble

5.0
Acting

Richard Roundtree takes on thugs on the streets of Miami.

Angel III: The Final Chapter

Angel III: The Final Chapter

1988

as Lt. Doniger

4.9
Acting

Molly Stewart is now a successful freelance photographer in New York, and after seeing a familiar woman at an art gallery, begins to suspect that she ...

Party Line

Party Line

1988

as Captain Barnes

4.8
Acting

A rich brother and sister are crazed killers. She lures men into her bed, and he attacks them and murders them. A detective is assigned to find the ki...

Getting Even

Getting Even

1988

as Dundee

4.0
Acting

After being betrayed by a fellow Marine and spending five years in a POW camp, homeless Vietnam vet Roy Evans reunites with his commander, Dundee, and...

Maniac Cop

Maniac Cop

1988

as Commissioner Pike

6.1
Acting

Innocent people are brutally killed on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. A young cop, Jack Forrest, finds himself marked as the c...

Daddy Can't Read

Daddy Can't Read

1988

as Jason Ruigh

Acting

Teenage girl doesn't understand why her father is against her campaign to promote literacy at his factory. Until she discovers that her father can't r...

Jocks

Jocks

1986

as Chip

4.4
Acting

When an odd-ball tennis team of a Los Angeles college sets out on a road trip to a regional college tennis tournament in fun-filled Las Vegas, all the...

Opposing Force

Opposing Force

1986

as Stafford

4.4
Acting

A group of elite soldiers, including one woman, sign up for the ultimate training mission. The group parachutes onto a remote island, where their obje...

The Fifth Missile

The Fifth Missile

1986

as Cmdr. Frederick Bryce

4.8
Acting

The crew of a Polaris submarine, on a training mission simulating an attack on Russia, is stricken by toxic poisoning. One of the poison's effects is ...

City Heat

City Heat

1984

as Dehl Swift

5.5
Acting

Set in Kansas City in 1933, Eastwood plays a police lieutenant known simply by his last name, Speer. Reynolds plays a former cop turned private eye na...

The Baron and the Kid

The Baron and the Kid

1984

as Frosty

Acting

Johnny Cash heads the cast in this sentimental drama, which follows a famed pool hustler (Cash) whose reunion with his long-lost son (Greg Webb) sets ...

Killpoint

Killpoint

1984

as Agent Bill Bryant

5.5
Acting

An L.A. cop investigating the rape and murder of his wife traces the crime to a psycho biker gang that smuggles guns. He teams up with an FBI agent to...

Young Warriors

Young Warriors

1983

as Sergeant John Austin

3.7
Acting

After a young woman is gang raped and murdered in a California college town, her brother takes up arms by night with a gang of like-minded vigilantes...

Just an Overnight Guest

Just an Overnight Guest

1983

Acting

A family takes in an abused girl and eventually decide to adopt her.

The Big Score

The Big Score

1983

as Gordon

5.0
Acting

A narcotics detective, played by Fred Williamson, lets nothing stand in the way of his bringing down a major drug dealer. After a bust gone awry, he's...

One Down, Two to Go

One Down, Two to Go

1982

as Ralph

4.5
Acting

A pair of tough cops go after the mob who jinxed the martial arts tournament and injured their buddy.

Q

Q

1982

as Powell

5.7
Acting

New York police are bemused by reports of a giant flying lizard that has been spotted around the rooftops of New York, until the lizard starts to eat ...

An Eye for an Eye

An Eye for an Eye

1981

as Capt. Stevens

5.2
Acting

Sean Kane is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department's Narcotics Division when he goes berserk after his partner is murdered. He dec...

Inchon

Inchon

1981

as Sgt. Augustus Henderson

3.4
Acting

Gen. Douglas MacArthur leads a Korean War campaign, and the war tests a married couple's relationship.

Day of the Assassin

Day of the Assassin

1979

as Fessler

4.5
Acting

Treasure hunters from around the world race to Mexico after a Middle Eastern luxury yacht explodes, sending a Shah's fortune and mysterious document t...

Game for Vultures

Game for Vultures

1979

as Gideon Marunga

4.4
Acting

The South African businessman David Swansey is delivering illegal German helicopters to Rhodesia. That makes the patriot Gideon Marunga an angry man.

Escape to Athena

Escape to Athena

1979

as Nat Judson

5.7
Acting

During the World War II, the prisoners of a German camp in a Greek island are trying to escape. They not only want their freedom, but also seek an ine...

Portrait of a Hitman

Portrait of a Hitman

1979

as Coco Morrell

4.2
Acting

A professional hitman is hired to kill a brain surgeon. However, it turns out that not only are he and the surgeon old friends, but they are both in l...

Diamonds

Diamonds

1975

as Archie

5.4
Acting

Charles Hodgson is a British aristocrat who decides to become a thief as a way of getting at his twin brother, Earl, a security expert who has built a...

Man Friday

Man Friday

1975

as Friday

6.9
Acting

Englishman Robinson Crusoe, stranded alone on an island for years, is overjoyed to find a fellow man, a black islander whom he names Friday. But Cruso...

Earthquake

Earthquake

1974

as Miles Quade

6.1
Acting

Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.

Shaft in Africa

Shaft in Africa

1973

as John Shaft

6.1
Acting

Detective John Shaft travels incognito to Ethiopia, then France, to bust a human trafficking ring.

Charley-One-Eye

Charley-One-Eye

1973

as The Black Man

4.8
Acting

A black Union Army deserter and his crippled American Indian hostage form a strained partnership in the interests of surviving the advancing threats o...

Firehouse

Firehouse

1973

as Shelly Forsythe

4.6
Acting

Conflict erupts within a close-knit engine company of a big-city fire department when a black recruit and a bigoted white veteran clash during a wave ...

Nationtime

Nationtime

1972

as Self

8.0
Acting

A report on the National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana, in 1972, a historic event that gathered Black voices from across the politi...

Shaft's Big Score!

Shaft's Big Score!

1972

as John Shaft

6.0
Acting

John Shaft is back as the lady-loved black detective cop on the search for the murderer of a client.

Embassy

Embassy

1972

as Dick Shannon

5.0
Acting

A KGB assassin infiltrates the American embassy in Beirut in an attempt to eliminate a Russian defector being protected by the CIA.

Shaft

Shaft

1971

as John Shaft

6.4
Acting

Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.

Soul in Cinema: Filming 'Shaft' on Location

Soul in Cinema: Filming 'Shaft' on Location

1971

as Self

7.0
Acting

A behind the scenes look at the filming of the movie Shaft (1971). The movie's director, Gordon Parks is seen directing a couple of fight scenes which...

What Do You Say to a Naked Lady

What Do You Say to a Naked Lady

1970

as Interracial Couple

4.2
Acting

Candid Camera's Allen Funt secretely tapes people's reactions to unexpected encounters with nudity in unusual situations, such as when a naked young w...