Isaac Hayes, the smooth musical innovator who won an Oscar® for that unforgettable theme to Shaft, and later become a popular character actor, most notably for his long run as Chef in the South Park series, died of a stroke in his Memphis, Tennessee home on August 10.  He was 65.

Hayes was born on August 20, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee.  With his mother passing in his infancy and abandonment from his father, he was raised by his grandparents and relocated to Memphis when he was six.

A self-taught musician, he began to play piano and saxophone and began performing in church when still a youth. He was still in his teens when he began jamming with local Memphis bands in the late '50s and he eventually found steady work when he was hired by the famed Stax record label as a session keyboardist. He would blossom as a songwriter and teaming with lyricist David Porter wrote some stone cold R&B classics for the likes of Carla Thomas ("B-A-B-Y") and Sam and Dave ("Soul Man," later covered to cult effect by the Blues Brothers).

His debut album Presenting Isaac Hayes was released to strong critical notices in 1967 and established him as a solo performer, but of course it was his Oscar® winning ditty Shaft (1971) that vaulted him into public view. Complete with an insistent bass line and that ripe baritone narrating the exploits of the detective ("they say this cat Shaft is a bad mother..."), the theme from Shaft was a hit of gigantic proportions and is still a club favorite to this day.

With his formidable physique, heavy voice and bald dome, Hayes really was a natural for film and television. He cut his teeth in front of the camera with a couple of middling blaxploitation items Tough Guys and Truck Turner (1974), but had a breakout role as the villainous Duke in John Carpenter's entertaining popcorn flick Escape From New York (1981). From there he became a staple on prime time television (The A-Team, The Hunter, Miami Vice, etc.) before surprising everyone with his self-deprecating performance in the Keenen Ivory Wayans' parody I'm Gonna Get You Sucka (1988). He followed that up with a few more comedies - Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993) and It Should Happen To You (1994).

Modern Audiences will always cherish his voice work in the edgy, politically incorrect animated series South Park, where for nine season (1997-2006) he played the much put upon Chef, doing an affable send-up of his intensely masculine image and doling out less then stellar opinions to the kids of the series. Sadly, his departure from the show was due to religious differences, but his contribution to the series should not be diminished because of this.

Before his untimely death, Hayes had finished the films Soul Men and Return To Sleepaway Camp, both scheduled for release later in the year. Hayes is survived by his widow Adjowa and three children from previous marriages.

by Michael T. Toole