RICHARD ROUNDTREE, PHOTOGRAPHED BY HUGH BELL FOR THE COVER OF *NEWSWEEK* MAGAZINE. SOURCE: GARTENBERG MEDIA ENTERPRISES.

On Tuesday, October 24th, 2023, actor Richard Roundtree died at the age of 81 following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

A pioneering performer who broke down barriers for Black actors, Roundtree was photographed at the height of his fame by Hugh Bell, a photographer who helped pave the way for Black visual artists and whose body of work GME exclusively represents. Bell’s photograph of Roundtree was featured on the cover of the October 23rd, 1972 issue of Newsweek magazine, as part of a larger profile on blaxploitation cinema. During this period, many of the print advertisements for which Hugh Bell was hired to photograph targeted the African-American community and appeared in major publications such as Black Enterprise, Ebony and The Urbanite.

Roundtree was scouted by Eunice B. Johnson in the 1960s, which led to modeling work in the Ebony Fashion Fair. Shortly thereafter, Roundtree joined the Negro Ensemble Company and appeared in a number of New York Stage productions. In 1970, he made his screen debut in WHAT DO YOU SAY TO A NAKED LADY?. The following year, Roundtree landed his breakthrough role as the title character, a suave New York City detective, in Gordon Parks’ action thriller SHAFT (1971). The film was massively successful, winning an Academy Award (for Best Original Song) and two Grammys (for Best Original Score and Best Instrumental Arrangement), and was credited with starting the “blaxploitation” genre of the 1970s. Roundtree’s performance made him a household name; he was later credited as being the “first Black action hero.” He reprised the role of Detective John Shaft in the short-lived eponymous TV series of the same name, the sequels SHAFT’S BIG SCORE! (1972) and SHAFT IN AFRICA (1973), and in the 2000 and 2019 reboots. Roundtree also found success outside of the SHAFT franchise, appearing in the critically-acclaimed 1977 miniseries ROOTS and co-starring in hit films like EARTHQUAKE (1974), MAN FRIDAY (1975), CITY HEAT (1984), and SE7EN (1995). He most recently appeared in the comedies WHAT MEN WANT (2019) and MOVING ON (2022).

GME manages the Hugh Bell photography archive. For all inquiries related to sales, exhibition, and licensing, contact David Deitch, GME’s Fine Arts Curator, at david@gartenbergmedia.com.