Before Michael Jordan and Julius Erving, there was Elgin Baylor. Before Venus and Serena Williams, there was Althea Gibson. And before Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Foxx, there was Richard Roundtree, the Shaft star who blazed a trail for an entire generation of black action movie stars who followed in his wake. His influence can be felt not only in several of Jackson’s and Foxx’s signature roles but in some of Quentin Tarantino’s most adrenaline-charged movies as well.

Roundtree, who died this week in Los Angeles at the age of 81, was born in New Rochelle, New York, on July 9, 1942. His path to acting fame was anything but straightforward. A talented high school athlete, Roundtree was awarded a football scholarship by Southern Illinois University but soon thereafter gave up what might have been a promising sports career so that he could try his hand at modeling. After landing a few premium photo shoots, Roundtree — acting on the advice of a few pivotal figures he encountered at that point in his life, such as Bill Cosby — decided to pursue a career in movies and television. After gaining acceptance into the Negro Ensemble Company and performing several supporting parts for the stage, his first major acting credits came from his portrayal of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, in a theatrical production of The Great White Hope in 1967. Roundtree only barely missed out on major renown at this point; a Broadway adaptation of The Great White Hope, produced a year later but starring James Earl Jones instead of Roundtree, would help catapult Jones to stardom.