Ji-Tu Cumbuka

Ji-Tu Cumbuka was an American actor, born in Alabama in 1940, who studied at Texas Southern University and at Columbia College in New York City, where he earned a bachelor's degree in theater and a master's in cinematography. He landed a role in Jules Dassin's 1968 film Uptight, and was best remembered as Torque in the spy series A Man Called Sloane, which also starred Robert Conrad and Dan O'Herlihy. His television work included Roots, Daniel Boone, Knots Landing, The A-Team, Sanford and Son and Matlock, and his films ranged from Change of Habit (1969) and Blacula (1972) to Mandingo (1975), Bound for Glory (1976), Brewster's Millions (1985), Volunteers (1985), Out of Bounds (1986) and Moving (1988). He played Oscar Robertson in Maurie (1973), wrote, produced and acted in the gospel musical Help Somebody, and in 2011 published an autobiography, A Giant to Remember: The Black Actor in Hollywood.