How Does it Feel Not to Be Famous Anymore?

10/28/2013

Actor Richard Roundtree was a famous move star in the 1970s. Now, few people recognize him.

How Does it Feel Not to Be Famous Anymore?

Welcome to the VOA Learning English program This Is America.

This week Barbara Klein and Christopher Cruise tell about several American actors who were widely recognized years ago. But they now are not big stars or famous like they once were. We ask them how they dealt with these changes.

Imagine you are one of the most famous movie stars in the world. Millions of people pay to see your films, and everyone seems to know your name. Thirty years later, you are attending a comic book convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You sit alone, almost unrecognized, waiting for people to come and shake your hand.

Richard Roundtree played the part of police detective John Shaft in three movies in the early 1970s. The movies made him an internationally-recognized movie star. Since then, he has had a good career on television shows. But he has never been as famous as he was when he played John Shaft.

Richard Roundtree was so well-known for the part that he was chosen to play few other roles in the 1980s and 90s. That was because casting directors believed that movie goers could not see him as anyone other than John Shaft.

The actor told VOA the fame that came from the Shaft movies was not easy for his family. But he says he missed the recognition when it went away.