Dwyane Wade's wife Gabrielle Union pays tribute to Richard Roundtree as the 'Shaft' actor passes away at 81

Dwyane Wade's wife, Gabrielle Union, shared a tribute to actor Richard Roundtree, who passed away today at the age of 81. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor died in his Los Angeles home due to pancreatic cancer.

Union got to work with Richard Roundtree on the drama series Being Mary Jane, which originally aired from July 2013 to April 2019.

She paid tribute to her former co-star through a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. In her post, she said this:

"Working with Richard Roundtree was a dream. Getting to hang with him & our Being Mary Jane family was always a good a** time with the best stories and laughs. He was ALWAYS the coolest man in the room with the BEST vibes & ppl would literally run over to come see him. He was simply the best & we all loved him. #RichardRoundtree"

Later on, the actress also shared her post on Twitter through her Instagram stories. She also added a brief caption to her IG story that said:

"Richard was a sweet sweet man and a GOOD man. He will be so missed"

Dwyane Wade's wife Gabrielle Union shared her post about late actor Richard Roundtree on her Instagram stories

Richard Roundtree was born on July 9, 1942, and began his acting career in the 1960s. He was most famous for his role as the private detective John Shaft in the 1971 movie "Shaft." He has had plenty of roles in both movies and television.

In Being Mary Jane, the TV show where he starred alongside Dwyane Wade's wife Gabrielle Union, Roundtree played the role of Paul Patterson Sr. He appeared in 33 episodes.

Roundtree was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993. He received treatment for his breast cancer.

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Looking at Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union's relationship over the years

According to People.com, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union met in 2007. Prior to meeting each other, both Wade and Union were married to different people.

The NBA superstar was married to Siohvaughn Funches and Union was married to ex-NFL player Chris Howard. Wade had his children Zaya and Zaire with Funchess.

The two went public with their relationship in 2010 but they started officially dating a year prior. In early 2013, they spent some time apart. According to a quote by Union on People.com, the reason that she and the Miami Heat star split briefly was due to their busy schedules.

However, by the end of 2013, the two were back together and even announced that they were engaged by December. They officially tied the knot in 2014 and have been together since then.