New Rochelle Walk Of Fame Loses A Star: First Black Action Hero Dies

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Richard Roundtree, the New Rochelle actor who redefined cool for a generation, has died at age 81.

Roundtree’s longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, told the AP that Roundtree had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and underwent a double mastectomy, according to the report.

"Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men," McMinn told the AP. "The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated."

Roundtree, who was born in the Queen City on the Sound in 1942, is among the New Rochelle luminaries honored on the New Rochelle Walk of Fame at Ruby Dee Park at Library Green.

"The modern image of the Black male in cinema began with Richard Roundtree," according to the plaque enshrining one of New Rochelle's brightest stars. "As the charismatic private detective John Shaft in the wildly successful 1971 film "Shaft," Roundtree created a Black action hero of an entirely new kind: confident, hip, funny, triumphant over white antagonists, and possessed of a certain enjoyment of life. For American movie audiences of the 1970s, Roundtree was among the most recognizable of all leading men in Hollywood."

It was his role in the acclaimed television mini-series "Roots," as Sam Bennet, however that earned him his greatest critical acclaim.

Roundtree was a graduate of New Rochelle High School, where he was was a standout player on the undefeated 1960 varsity team. He grew up on Remington Place in the city.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.