Shaft's Big Score (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) (1972)

IDENTITY, REAL OR REEL Being a movie star isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Take the case of Richard Roundtree, who catapulted to worldwide fame in the title role of MGM’s ‘‘Shaft,’’ and returns this summer in the same role for a new adventure in ‘‘Shaft’s Big Score!”’ With the advent of Roundtree’s success have come certain side effects to which the handsome young actor has to address himself constantly. “One thing which really bugs me,’’ says Richard, ‘‘is the fact that so many people want me to be the character | play, not what | really am. At the risk of sounding trite, | am not John Shaft, the man who tangles with the mob, bumps heads with Harlem gangsters and makes love to beautiful women by the dozen. “Richard Roundtree is a separate human being. Admittedly, he has a few similarities with the film character. But basically he is a totally separate person. Yet people constantly expect me to be him. | don’t mind being him when the camera rolls and even all the time I’m on the set. But when | walk away from the lights and cameras | leave him behind. “‘Another thing which bothers me is the fact that people expect me to be here, there and literally everywhere just because they want it that way, as though their particular gig was the most important one in the whole world. And many times these affairs they want me to attend and/or sponsor are for their own gain. “‘For example, | was asked to do a benefit for something which was really worthwhile, but | had to work the next day. Much, much earlier I’d said that I’d do it only if | didn’t have to hack a really heavy work schedule the following day on the set. “Well, as it turned out, | had to get up at five o’clock to be on the set and so | told them | wouldn’t be able to make it. But they said they’d already made up the programs and sold tickets and everything, so | agreed to drop by for a few minutes. “So | went. And it turned out to be the biggest rip-off I’d ever seen. They rented this very fancy place to hold the affair in and the guests had to pay an astronomical price to get in. The people who came were dissatisfied with what went down and | doubt if the people for whom the ‘benefit’ was given ever saw any of the money. That whole personal appearance thing can get pretty funky, man.” Another thing which can make stardom a bit of a drag is lack of privacy, something which Roundtree has become acutely aware of since his near overnight rise to fame following his signing by director Gordon Parks for the title role in ‘‘Shaft.”’ “I’ve found | have an ever growing need for more private hours,”’ John Shaft, private detective extraordinary, sights in on one of his gangland foes in MGM’s “Shaft’s Big Score!” MAT NO. 1A says the actor. ‘‘I’m constantly surrounded by people, either on the movie set or in the streets or at various functions.” “Actually, it isn’t really the people themselves which present the problem. It’s their constant level of seemingly kinetic energy; their never ceasing chatter and pointless conversation, often in an attempt to impress what they regard as a ‘movie star.’ | don’t think most of them really hear themselves at all. They’re just talking to fill time. “All this has pushed me to search for a home away from the city out in the countryside. A place where | can shut my door and be quiet. Where | can hear my own thoughts and really concentrate on one or two people or voices at a time in a sane atmosphere. “Of course, | realize that all this sudden fame and public exposure, especially since | came from near obscurity, is bound to settle itself in my brain in time. But | still believe that being a successful film personality isn’t all tinsel and autographs. It takes a little getting used to. And viewed from the inside, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”’ EMERGENCY KIT, JUST IN CASE A lot of actors may have entered the acting profession after years of study and starvation, but for Richard Roundtree, who created the title role of a private detective named ‘‘Shaft,’’ and now stars for MGM again in ‘‘Shaft’s Big Score!’’ that’s only half true. He did a lot of starving, but not as an actor. During the lean years between college at Southern Illinois University and his near overnight success in ‘‘Shaft,’’ Roundtree held the less than glamorous job of salesman at a men’s clothing store called Barney’s in New York City and on a good day he made as much as 12 or 14 dollars. And it wasn’t the glitter of footlights nor the flattering glow of the television tube which eventually drew the handsome six-footer to acting. Instead, it was the unromantically monetary fact relayed by a friend to the effect that Richard could make a quick $40 an hour as a model instead of 13 bucks a day pushing clothes. “It wasn’t just the chores of being a clothing salesman that turned me off,’”’ says Richard. ‘‘It’s just that | found myself assimilating the whole routine mode of living, or rather existing. Commuting to the city. Suits cut just the right way. “That was when this friend of mine started telling me about modeling and how you could make $40 an hour. Well, | listened and went out and had some pictures shot and put a portfolio together. “T tried it for a while and at first | wasn’t doing too well. Then | auditioned for the Ebony Fashion Fair, a national fashion tour sponsored annually by the Johnson Publishing company (Ebony, Jet and Black Stars). | was hired and toured 79 American cities in 90 days. “During that tour | noticed that things began to happen to me on stage. | got the same kind of feeling I’d known as a football player in high school and college. It was like carrying the ball and getting praise for it, but | was now relating to people as | had never done before in athletic situations. “People were responding to me as an individual, which was an even heavier trip than team recognition.” When the Ebony Fashion Fair reached Los Angeles, Richard was introduced to Bill Cosby, who, in turn, introduced him to other show business people. When Richard expressed interest in an acting career, they suggested he return to New York and prepare himself if he was serious about becoming an actor. “That angered me at first,’’ admits Richard. ‘‘l really thought | was ready and you couldn’t have told me | wasn’t. | was going to be a superstar right then and there. But that turned out to be the best advice I’d received.” Private Eye John Shaft, played by Richard Roundtree (I.), pursues his gangland enemies to the death —right into a graveyard — in MGM’s ‘“‘Shaft’s Big Score!” MAT NO. 2D So Roundtree returned to New York and, through the efforts of a personal friend, Bill Cherry, who has since become Richard’s personal manager, entered Robert Hooks’ Negro Ensemble Theatre. Several bit parts followed in off-Broadway productions. The last of these was a $60 a week assignment in a Philadelphia production of ‘‘The Great White Hope.”’ The run of that play, of course, was interrupted by Roundtree’s signing for the lead role in ‘“‘Shaft’’ as the inimitable Harlem private eye who bluffs, hustles and fights his way through countless encounters with police as well as gangsters. Needless to say, there are no more starving days in sight. Still, as a reminder of times past, Richard keeps an emergency kit consisting of a tape measure and a subscription to Gentleman’s Quarterly on hand, just in case.