Richard Roundtree, who broke ground with his signature role in the Shaft movie franchise, died October 24 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer with his family at his bedside. He was 81.
Roundtree’s career spanned five decades and included everything from his most popular blaxploitation role to a very early appearance on As the World Turns in 1956 to being a Season 2 main cast member on Ava DuVernay’s OWN series Cherish the Day last year.
He is best known for playing detective John Shaft in the 1971 action thriller and its sequels, Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973) as well as the short-lived 1973 Shaft TV series.
For his performance in the original film, Roundtree was nominated for a New Star of the Year Golden Globe and hailed as the first Black action hero. More importantly, the films made Shaft a cultural hero, a symbol of Black power onscreen, at the box office and beyond.
Roundtree’s career spanned five decades and included everything from his most popular blaxploitation role to a very early appearance on As the World Turns in 1956 to being a Season 2 main cast member on Ava DuVernay’s OWN series Cherish the Day last year.
He is best known for playing detective John Shaft in the 1971 action thriller and its sequels, Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973) as well as the short-lived 1973 Shaft TV series.
For his performance in the original film, Roundtree was nominated for a New Star of the Year Golden Globe and hailed as the first Black action hero. More importantly, the films made Shaft a cultural hero, a symbol of Black power onscreen, at the box office and beyond.
- 10/25/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Vinegar Syndrome’s annual “Halfway to Black Friday” sale is now live through Memorial Day Weekend, and as always, it’s a Huge celebration for fans of the label.
The “Halfway to Black Friday” sale is live through Monday at 11:59pm Est, and for starters, you can take advantage by saving 50% off nearly Everything in Vinegar’s shop.
The cornerstones of the celebration include Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls on 4K Uhd, exclusively restored by Vs and featuring a consummate selection of extras.
Ulli Lommel’s notorious horror classic, The Boogeyman makes its worldwide Uhd debut, freshly scanned and restored by Vs from its 35mm original negative and featuring a fresh slate of interviews along with a heaping helping of archival goodies.
Three weird and nasty Spanish rarities have been freshly scanned and restored by Vs and collected in Villages of the Damned: Three Horrors from Spain.
And Lamberto Bava...
The “Halfway to Black Friday” sale is live through Monday at 11:59pm Est, and for starters, you can take advantage by saving 50% off nearly Everything in Vinegar’s shop.
The cornerstones of the celebration include Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls on 4K Uhd, exclusively restored by Vs and featuring a consummate selection of extras.
Ulli Lommel’s notorious horror classic, The Boogeyman makes its worldwide Uhd debut, freshly scanned and restored by Vs from its 35mm original negative and featuring a fresh slate of interviews along with a heaping helping of archival goodies.
Three weird and nasty Spanish rarities have been freshly scanned and restored by Vs and collected in Villages of the Damned: Three Horrors from Spain.
And Lamberto Bava...
- 5/26/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
From trans lives to celebrations of drag, queer film pulled no punches as it hit screens in the 90s with a DIY bravura that transformed the movie industry
Queer film exploded like a glitter cannon in the 1990s, sending sparkling product raining down in every direction. Trans lives hit the screen in Orlando and Boys Don’t Cry, alongside dynamic bulletins from the Black queer experience. We had jubilant celebrations of drag with Paris Is Burning and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, provocations from New Queer Cinema in the shape of Poison, Swoon and Edward II; there were auteurist masterpieces and timeless coming-out stories. The Wachowski sisters, Lisa Cholodenko, François Ozon and Bruce Labruce all made their debuts; Pedro Almodóvar and Gus Van Sant went stratospheric. Benefiting from a surge in the fortunes of independent cinema, and a defined focus for anger brought about by Aids activism, queer...
Queer film exploded like a glitter cannon in the 1990s, sending sparkling product raining down in every direction. Trans lives hit the screen in Orlando and Boys Don’t Cry, alongside dynamic bulletins from the Black queer experience. We had jubilant celebrations of drag with Paris Is Burning and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, provocations from New Queer Cinema in the shape of Poison, Swoon and Edward II; there were auteurist masterpieces and timeless coming-out stories. The Wachowski sisters, Lisa Cholodenko, François Ozon and Bruce Labruce all made their debuts; Pedro Almodóvar and Gus Van Sant went stratospheric. Benefiting from a surge in the fortunes of independent cinema, and a defined focus for anger brought about by Aids activism, queer...
- 5/26/2023
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Click here to read the full article.
Gayle S. Maffeo, the three-time Emmy-nominated producer who worked on the first season of Roseanne and all eight seasons of another hit ABC sitcom, the Tim Allen-starring Home Improvement, has died. She was 81.
Maffeo died Friday at her home in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer, her daughter, Laura, announced.
Maffeo had produced specials starring Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny and George Burns in the 1960s and ’70s before she segued to sitcoms including Nell Carter’s Gimme a Break!, Dabney Coleman’s Buffalo Bill, Mary Tyler Moore’s Mary, Head of the Class and Open All Night.
She served as senior vp television for Matt Williams and David McFadzean’s Wind Dancer Productions, where she produced Roseanne in 1988-89, Home Improvement from 1991-99 and other shows such as Carol Burnett’s Carol & Company, Dan Aykroyd’s Soul Man, Thunder Alley and Buddies.
Gayle S. Maffeo, the three-time Emmy-nominated producer who worked on the first season of Roseanne and all eight seasons of another hit ABC sitcom, the Tim Allen-starring Home Improvement, has died. She was 81.
Maffeo died Friday at her home in Los Angeles after a brief battle with cancer, her daughter, Laura, announced.
Maffeo had produced specials starring Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny and George Burns in the 1960s and ’70s before she segued to sitcoms including Nell Carter’s Gimme a Break!, Dabney Coleman’s Buffalo Bill, Mary Tyler Moore’s Mary, Head of the Class and Open All Night.
She served as senior vp television for Matt Williams and David McFadzean’s Wind Dancer Productions, where she produced Roseanne in 1988-89, Home Improvement from 1991-99 and other shows such as Carol Burnett’s Carol & Company, Dan Aykroyd’s Soul Man, Thunder Alley and Buddies.
- 9/14/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Dave Chappelle gets his own chapter in comedian Jim Breuer’s autobiography “I’m Not High,” which I recently finished. The two infamously starred in the stoner comedy “Half Baked,” but they also almost headlined an ABC sitcom titled “Buddies,” which never made it much further than the pilot stages. But Breuer gives Chappelle lots of love.
I wonder if it’s returned in Chappelle’s new material.
That’s right. After being off the grid for years, leaving his Comedy Central sketch show in the lurch and “abandoning” his fanbase (albeit temporarily), Chappelle appears to be ready to return to the spotlight … and he started that comeback with a marathon six hours of combined standup at Los Angeles’ Laugh Factory over the weekend.
“You can’t keep a genius comic down,” says Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, “What else to say?”
Chappelle started...
Hollywoodnews.com: Dave Chappelle gets his own chapter in comedian Jim Breuer’s autobiography “I’m Not High,” which I recently finished. The two infamously starred in the stoner comedy “Half Baked,” but they also almost headlined an ABC sitcom titled “Buddies,” which never made it much further than the pilot stages. But Breuer gives Chappelle lots of love.
I wonder if it’s returned in Chappelle’s new material.
That’s right. After being off the grid for years, leaving his Comedy Central sketch show in the lurch and “abandoning” his fanbase (albeit temporarily), Chappelle appears to be ready to return to the spotlight … and he started that comeback with a marathon six hours of combined standup at Los Angeles’ Laugh Factory over the weekend.
“You can’t keep a genius comic down,” says Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, “What else to say?”
Chappelle started...
- 2/1/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
Jennifer Aniston's love life has been so scrutinized since she and Brad Pitt divorced that we're hesitant to believe any stories about it that don't come directly from John Mayer's Twitter feed.
When Aniston was recently snapped by the paparazzi out to dinner with her rumored new boyfriend, TV actor Christopher Gartin, we had some doubts... and it turns out we were right.
"Chris and Jennifer have been friends for many years," Aniston's rep told People . "She has had dinner with him dozens and dozens of times." Another source called their rumored romance "just silly."
Gartin has had minor roles on "Private Practice," "House," "CSI," and everyone's favorite summer vampfest, "True Blood." His most significant TV roles were on "Buddies" and "M.A.N.T.I.S." in the '90s - right around when Aniston skyrocketed to fame on "Friends." The two have been friends for ages, having been introduced by Jen's bestie Courteney Cox.
When Aniston was recently snapped by the paparazzi out to dinner with her rumored new boyfriend, TV actor Christopher Gartin, we had some doubts... and it turns out we were right.
"Chris and Jennifer have been friends for many years," Aniston's rep told People . "She has had dinner with him dozens and dozens of times." Another source called their rumored romance "just silly."
Gartin has had minor roles on "Private Practice," "House," "CSI," and everyone's favorite summer vampfest, "True Blood." His most significant TV roles were on "Buddies" and "M.A.N.T.I.S." in the '90s - right around when Aniston skyrocketed to fame on "Friends." The two have been friends for ages, having been introduced by Jen's bestie Courteney Cox.
- 7/8/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
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