Richard Roundtree
The actor, 80, who’s often been called the first Black action hero for his portrayal of the title character in the 1971 classic Shaft, was shocked to learn in 1993 that he had breast cancer after finding a lump in his chest. He was successfully treated with a mastectomy but waited until 1998, when he was in remission, to go public with the news—which he did at a celebrity golf benefit for breast cancer services. “I just got up and told everybody that I was a breast cancer survivor,” he told ABC News in 2007. “The room was totally silent. I think it dawned on people that men can be affected by this too.”
More recently, Roundtree told Extra, “Coming out of the closet about my breast cancer episode, that was an eye-opener for me because I really got to experience the fact that men are so cavalier about their health issues and want to sweep it under the rug. So I came out about it and the response was incredible.” Roundtree, who reprised his role as John Shaft in 2019’s Shaft, continues to raise awareness about male breast cancer.
