Rusty Cundieff facts for kids

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

About Rusty Cundieff

Rusty Cundieff was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents are Christina and John A. Cundieff. He went to Loyola University to study journalism. Later, he studied the philosophy of religion at the University of Southern California (USC). While at USC, he joined Alpha Phi Alpha, which is a fraternity (a social club for men) that has a long history with African American students.

Rusty Cundieff is married to Trina Davis Cundieff. They have two children together, named Simone Christina and Thelonious Jon Davis.

Rusty's Film and TV Career

After finishing college at USC in 1982, Rusty Cundieff started doing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles. He was also looking for acting jobs. His first big acting role was in 1985. He played Theo Carver on the TV show Days of Our Lives for a whole year.

In 1988, he acted in Spike Lee's movie School Daze. He played a character called Big Brother Chucky. Working with Spike Lee made Rusty want to try writing and directing movies too. So, when he was 29, he wrote, directed, and starred in a movie called Fear of a Black Hat (1993). This movie was a comedy that made fun of rap music. People really liked it.

He also directed and helped write a horror movie called Tales from the Hood in 1995. This movie was an anthology, which means it was a collection of several short horror stories. He later directed two more movies in this series: Tales from the Hood 2 in 2018 and Tales from the Hood 3 in 2020. Rusty said he had wanted to make these sequels for 20 years. He felt that the success of another horror movie, Get Out, helped open the door for his Tales from the Hood sequels to be made.

In the mid-1990s, Rusty Cundieff was also a reporter for Michael Moore's funny TV show called TV Nation.

In 2013, he received a Razzie Award for Worst Director. This award is given to movies or people who are considered the "worst" in Hollywood. He got it for directing a part of a comedy movie called Movie 43.

Key Works

Rusty Cundieff has worked on many interesting projects as an actor and a director.

• As an Actor:
  • Days of Our Lives (1985) - A TV show where he played Theo Carver.
  • School Daze (1988) - A movie directed by Spike Lee.
  • Fear of a Black Hat (1993) - He also wrote and directed this movie.
  • Tales from the Hood (1995) - He also wrote and directed this horror movie.
  • Chappelle's Show (2003) - A popular comedy TV show.

• As a Director:
  • Fear of a Black Hat (1993) - His well-known comedy film.
  • Tales from the Hood (1995) - A horror anthology movie.
  • Sprung (1997) - Another movie he directed.
  • Chappelle's Show (2003-2006) - He directed many episodes of this show.
  • Tales from the Hood 2 (2018) and Tales from the Hood 3 (2020) - Sequels to his horror film.
  • Creepshow (2021) - He directed episodes for this horror TV series.
  • 57 Seconds (2023) - A recent movie he directed.

See also

In Spanish: Rusty Cundieff para niños