Richard Roundtree is one of those celebrities who has held the attention of fans worldwide due to his career exploits in the entertainment industry. He is notable for playing the breakout role of Private John Shaft in Shaft (1971). Since then, he has translated many movie and television roles, which explains his net worth of $2 million. Roundtree has been married twice; first to Mary Jane Grant and Karen M. Ciernia, whom he divorced in 1998.
Considering all these mind-blowing details about his successful career, he has also dealt with many challenges, including losing his breasts to cancer. Here is all we found out about him.
The Early Life and Background of Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree was born on July 9, 1942, to John Roundtree and Kathryn Watkins in New Rochelle, New York. He spent his childhood there and had his high school education at New Rochelle High School. While there, he started getting the attention of football fans by playing on the school’s highly-rated team. Unsurprisingly, he was able to get a football scholarship in 1961 at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
While many notable people used scholarships to step up their careers, he could not wait to start acting and modeling, and this made him drop out of college in 1963.
He Started his Career as a Model
According to reports, Richard was first spotted and hired by Eunice Johnson of Ebony magazine in 1963. He was part of the Ebony Fashion Fair, which toured 79 cities in 90 days. After the tour ended, he did not return to school but turned his attention to entertainment.
But first, he needed to get training in the industry, and to do this, he moved back to New York to start acting classes. While there, he was invited to join the Negro Ensemble Company in 1967 to pursue his dream of acting. It was while with the company that Roundtree made his debut appearance as Jack Johnson in the production of The Great White Hope. This early work did not give him the popularity that any rising actor craves.
Thankfully, this did not last long, as he broke into the limelight in 1971 when he appeared in the role of the original John Shaft in the action film Shaft. His stellar performance was critically acclaimed, and this made Roundtree a household name. On top of this, he appeared in two sequels to the movies, Shaft’s Big Score and Shaft in Africa. Ever since that initial success, Richard’s acting career has continued, leading to more roles in which he shared the screen with other icons like Samuel L. Jackson and Clint Eastwood. Notable among the movies and TV series he appeared in are:
- A Family Reunion Christmas (2019)
- Being Mary Jane (2013-2019)
- Diary of a Single Mom (2009–2013)
- Speed Racer(2008)
- Heroes(2006-2007)
- Brick(2005)
- Desperate Housewives(2004-2005)
- George of the Jungle (1997)
- Generations(1991)
The Actor Had a Health Scare in 1993
As Richard’s career continued to expand, he was slowed down in 1993 when he was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following the diagnosis, he had to prioritize his life and concentrate on fighting the disease. He started chemotherapy and eventually had to go through a double mastectomy, a surgical removal of the breast.
Following this, the Day of the Assasin actor became a strong advocate for breast cancer awareness. He works closely with the Susan G. Komen Foundation as well as the Know Your Score Men’s Health Initiative.
How Wealthy is Richard Roundtree?
Roundtree has an estimated net worth of $2 million, which he made from a career that lasted over five decades. To give credence to this amount, one has to look at some of the successful works he appeared in.
His breakout film, Shaft, grossed $13 million while being shot on a budget of $500,000. In fact, the success of the movie is said to have saved MGM from bankruptcy. Also, IMDB states that he was paid $200,000 for the 1981 historical drama Inchon.
Roundtree is Not Married
At the time of filing this report, the actor is not married, and we know this because he has been divorced from his last wife, Karen M. Cernia, since 1998. Prior, the New Rochelle native had been married a total of two times.
First, he got married to a woman named Mary Jane Grant on November 27, 1963. During the marriage, they welcomed two children. The couple parted ways ten years later when they divorced in December 1973.
Following the failure of his first marriage, the Desperate Housewives actor moved on to his second wife, whom we have mentioned. Roundtree and Cernia got married in September 1980. They welcomed three additional children, making him the father of five children made up of four females, Nicole, Tayler, Morgans, and Kelli, and a son named John James Roundtree.
See Also: 30 Black British Actors That Are Super Talented
The 54-year-old is Still Acting
Regarding where Richard is, we can confidently say he is alive and still pursuing an acting career. His most recent credits are Moving On and Cherish the Day. For both works, Richard played a main role and once again held the attention of fans with a stellar performance. He played the romantic character of a man who reunites with his ex-wife, acted by Jane Fonda. The actor also revealed that he enjoyed playing the role, as it bears a little resemblance to his true life.
