George Arthur "Rusty" Cundieff (born December 13, 1960) is an American film and television director, actor, and writer known for his work on '' Fear of a Black Hat'' (1993), '' Tales from the Hood'' (1995), and '' Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006).

Biography

Cundieff was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Christina and John A. Cundieff. He studied journalism at Loyola University in New Orleans and the philosophy of religion at the University of Southern California. While at USC, Cundieff became a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

, a historically African American fraternity. He is married to Trina Davis Cundieff, with whom he has two children: Simone Christina and Thelonious Jon Davis.

Film career

After graduating from USC in 1982, Cundieff performed stand-up comedy in Los Angeles while looking for opportunities to act. His first major role was a year-long run as Theo Carver on ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' in 1985. In 1988, he played Big Brother Chucky in Spike Lee's ''

School Daze ''School Daze'' is a 1988 American musical comedy-drama film, written and directed by Spike Lee, and starring Laurence Fishburne (credited as Larry Fishburne), Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell. Based in part on Spike Lee's experiences a ...

''. Cundieff was inspired by his experience working with Lee on the film to pursue writing and directing in addition to acting, and at age 29 he wrote, directed, and starred in the well-received 1993 rap parody '' Fear of a Black Hat''. He directed and co-wrote the 1995 horror anthology '' Tales from the Hood''. He directed sequels in 2018 and 2020, ''

Tales from the Hood 2 Tales may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Tales'' (album), a 1995 album by Marcus Miller * ''Tales'' (film), a 2014 Iranian film * ''Tales'' (TV series), an American television series * ''Tales'' (video game), a 2016 point-and-click adventure ...

'' and ''

Tales from the Hood 3 ''Tales from the Hood 3'' is a 2020 American horror-comedy anthology film written and directed by Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott and executive-produced by Spike Lee. The film is the sequel to Cundieff and Scott's 2018 horror anthology '' Tales ...

'', projects that he said he had been trying to make for 20 years, but that the success of '' Get Out'' had opened the door for. Cundieff was also a correspondent on

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

's comic TV magazine show '' TV Nation'' in the mid-1990s. In 2013, along with 12 others he received a Razzie Award for Worst Director for directing a segment in the anthology comedy film '' Movie 43''.

Filmography

Actor

Director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cundieff, Rusty 1960 births Living people Male actors from Pittsburgh American male film actors African-American film directors African-American television directors American film directors American television directors Television producers from Pennsylvania University of Southern California alumni Writers from Pittsburgh African-American male actors American male television actors 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people