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Richard Roundtree

This handsome black lead made his name as the smooth title character in the classic action film "Shaft" (1971), which while not exactly a blaxploitation movie itself, spawned a generation of them. Richard Roundtree subsequently starred in two sequels--"Shaft's Big Score" (1972) and "Shaft in Africa" (1973)--as well as a CBS TV series, "Shaft" (1973-1974) before settling in as a second lead and occasional star of various projects. There were years during the 1980s when the "Shaft" stigma seemed to put an early end to Roundtree's career, but he bounced back in the 90s with numerous films and TV shows. He was tapped to lead an ensemble cast, playing the head of a center for troubled teens in the Fox drama series "413 Hope Street" (1997).