Legendary actor Richard Roundtree passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old, according to
CBS News and other sources.
Although his most famous role was as the black American detective Shaft in the 1971 movie
Shaft, he appeared in many other productions including
Q: The Winged Serpent (starring David Carradine, Michael Moriarty, and Candy Clark as well as Richard), 3 episodes of the 1989 TV show
Beauty and the Beast (which starred Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton), 1997's
George of the Jungle (starring Brendan Fraser), and 2008's
Speed Racer starring Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci.
Basically, my point is that science fiction and fantasy fans have probably seen Richard Roundtree in a lot of TV shows and movies, even if none of them were as big in impact as
Shaft.
He reprised his original role in the the 2000 movie of the same name starring Samuel L. Jackson (who played the original John Shaft's nephew).
May he rest in peace.