Isaac Hayes

Born: 20 August 1942
Where: Covington, Tennessee

A major figure in American soul music, Isaac has enjoyed a long and memorable career as an actor and film composer; his score for the movie Shaft made him the first African-American to win an Academy Award for music.

Isaac developed an interest in music early in life, joining the church choir at the age of five. By the time he was a teenager, he had learnt to play the piano, organ, and saxophone.

After moving to Memphis, Isaac began performing with a variety of local R&B groups, and in 1962, cut his first record for a local label. Two years later he'd worked his way up to playing keyboards with the house band at Stax Records, where he soon began writing songs with David Porter.

Together they co-wrote a string of hits including Soul Man and When Something is Wrong With My Baby.

Having established himself as a songwriter, Isaac ssoon recorded his first solo album, Presenting Isaac Hayes. But it was his second effort, Hot Buttered Soul, that established him a talented musician.

A year later he was asked to write the music and lyrics for Shaft, a ground-breaking detective movie starring Richard Roundtree. The resulting theme won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Song, catapulting Isaac in to the spotlight.

It wasn't long before he was asked to perform in front of the cameras, cast in the lead in several 'blaxploitation' movies, including Truck Turner and These Tough Guys.

By the end of the 70s, Isaac took a step back from the spotlight before appearing in John Carpenter's Escape From New York. In the mid-'80s, he returned to acting, appearing in the blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!, Mel Brooks Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored.

Hayes' acting career got an unexpected boost in 1997, when he was asked to provide the voice of Chef on the animated television series South Park. He then landed a number of higher-profile film roles, including Blues Brothers 2000, Reindeer Games, and the 2000 remake of Shaft.