And along came a third in 1973: Shaft in Africa, in which Roundtree has to bust a people-trafficking network. With John Guillermin taking over from Gordon Parks Jr as director, it didn’t match the original’s commercial success
Arguably his most celebrated TV role, Roundtree appeared in the landmark slavery drama Roots, which aired in 1977, as Sam Bennett, who romances Leslie Uggams’ Kizzy in a section set in the early 19th century
Roundtree in 413 Hope St, the 1997 TV series co-created by Damon Wayans about a corporate executive who sets up a crisis centre after his son is killed for his sports shoes
Photograph: 20th Century Fox Television/Kobal/Shutterstock
Roundtree rejoined fellow blaxploitation legends in 1996 action film Original Gangstas as the subgenre regained its cult status. From left: Jim Brown, Ron O’Neal, Roundtree, Pam Grier and Fred Williamson
Shaft was remade in 2000 by Boyz n the Hood director John Singleton, with Samuel L Jackson in the lead role, playing the original Shaft’s nephew. Roundtree, left, had a cameo role
The Shaft remake got its own sequel in 2019, with three generations of Shafts. Jessie T Usher, left, is an FBI analyst; his dad (Jackson, centre) is a private investigator, and Roundtree, right, plays his grandfather
Photograph: Warner Bros/Netflix/Kobal/Shutterstock
Roundtree with Taraji P Henson in 2019 film What Men Want, in which sports agent Henson can hear men’s thoughts – a gender-flipped version of the Mel Gibson comedy What Women Want
