Shaft star Richard Roundtree dies aged 81

Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing black actor who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective Shaft in several films beginning in the early 1970s, has died at the age of 81 (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing actor who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective in several Shaft films beginning in the early 1970s, has died at the age of 81.

Roundtree’s longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, said the actor had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday.