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 ''Fear of a Black Hat'' is a 1993 American mockumentary film on the evolution and state of American hip hop music. Written and directed by Rusty Cundieff in his directorial debut, the film stars Cundieff, Larry B. Scott and Mark Christopher La ...

'' (1993), ''

Tales from the Hood ''Tales from the Hood'' is a 1995 American black horror anthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff (who also wrote the film with Darin Scott) and starring Corbin Bernsen, Rosalind Cash, Rusty Cundieff, David Alan Grier, Anthony Griffith, Wings H ...

'' (1995), and ''

Chappelle's Show ''Chappelle's Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show and starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan, and Michele Armour were ...

'' (2003–2006).

Biography

Cundieff was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

to Christina and John A. Cundieff. He studied journalism at

Loyola University Loyola University is one of several Jesuit Universities named for St. Ignatius of Loyola. Loyola University may refer to: Democratic Republic of the Congo *Loyola University of Congo, Kinshasa, Congo Spain * Loyola University Andalusia, Sevilla ...

in New Orleans and the philosophy of religion at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. While at USC, Cundieff became a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

, 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 aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

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

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

's ''

School Daze ''School Daze'' is a 1988 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee and starring Lee along with Laurence Fishburne (credited as Larry Fishburne), Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell. Released on February 12, 19 ...

''. 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 ''

''. He directed and co-wrote the 1995 horror anthology ''

''. 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 black horror anthology film written and directed by Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott, executive-produced by Spike Lee, and starring Tony Todd, London Brown, Cooper Huckabee, Patrick Emmanuel Abellard, Sa ...

'', projects that he said he had been trying to make for 20 years, but that the success of ''

Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb ...

'' had opened the door for. Cundieff was also a correspondent on

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

's comic TV magazine show ''

TV Nation ''TV Nation'' is a satirical news magazine television series written, co-produced, directed and hosted by Michael Moore that was co-funded and originally broadcast by NBC in the United States and BBC2 in the United Kingdom. The show blended humor ...

'' in the mid-1990s. In 2013, along with 12 others he received a

Razzie Award for Worst Director The Razzie Award for Worst Director is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst director of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film(s) for which they wer ...

for directing a segment in the anthology comedy film ''

Movie 43 ''Movie 43'' is a 2013 American anthology comedy film conceived by producer Charles B. Wessler. Featuring fourteen different storylines, each by a different director, including Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Cundieff, James ...

''.

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 Film directors from Pennsylvania 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 American comedy film directors American horror film directors