John Shaft is a fictional character created by screenwriter Ernest Tidyman. He was portrayed by Richard Roundtree in the original 1971 film and in its four sequels, Shaft's Big Score! (1972), Shaft in Africa (1973), Shaft (2000) and Shaft (2019), with Samuel L. Jackson portraying his son, named John Shaft II, in Shaft (2000) and Shaft (2019), and Jessie Usher portraying the character's grandson (named John Shaft Jr.) in Shaft (2019). The blurb on the paperback on which the original film is based states Shaft is "Hotter than Bond, cooler than Bullitt."