N2Entertainment.net was deeply saddened to learn that the talented and strikingly gorgeous Vonetta McGee died from cardiac arrest on July 9 in her hometown of Berkeley, California.

Though McGee, 65, starred in numerous TV shows such as "Cagney & Lacey," "L.A. Law" and "Bustin' Loose," her fans--and I count myself as one of her biggest--may best remember the actress for her roles in several 1970's movies.

McGee starred alongside Fred Williamson in "Hammer" and with William Marshall in "Blacula. Other movies included: Richard Roundtree's "Shaft in Africa," "Detroit 9000" with Scatman Crothers, opposite Max Julien in "Thomasine & Bushrod" and "The Eiger Sanction" starring and directed by Clint Eastwood.

Like Williamson, McGee despised the word "blaxploitation" which was the label placed on most action style African-American movies during the 1970s.

"Vonetta McGee wanted like all of us--Jim Brown, Billy Dee Williams, Pam Grier and Richard Roundtree--to be able to freely show our talents," Williamson explained recently to N2Entertainment.net. "As soon as the word "blaxploitation" was placed on our projects, it limited what we could do. It diminished our marketability. Vonetta McGee wanted people to know that she could portray something other than a maid or a prostitute which were the only types of roles that many black women had to choose from then."

Although McGee attended San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University) with aspirations to study pre-law, she gravitated towards theatre while there and eventually left to pursue acting. She landed her first role in the 1968 spaghetti western, "The Great Silence" and "Faustina." In 1969, Sidney Poitier cast McGee in the movie, "The Lost Man." It was her first American starring role. After that she was hooked on acting and never looked back.

McGee married actor Carl Lumbly ("Alias" "How Stella Got Her Groove Back.") The couple starred in an episode of "Cagney & Lacey" where McGee played his wife. McGee and Lumbly had been married since 1986.

In addition to Lumbly, McGee is survived by their son, Brandon Lumbly; her mother, Alma McGee; three brothers, Donald, Richard and Ronald; and a sister, also named Alma McGee.

Editor's note: Some information used in this release obtained from publicity press releases.