Rusty Cundieff

Rusty Cundieff is an American filmmaker, writer and actor who began in stand-up comedy while in high school. He studied at Loyola University in New Orleans and then at the University of Southern California, finishing in 1982. He performed stand-up in Los Angeles while hunting for acting work, and his first major role came in 1985 with a year as Theo Carver on Days of Our Lives. In Spike Lee's School Daze he took the part of Big Brother Chucky, and the experience led him to pursue writing and directing alongside acting. At 29 he was writer, director and star of the well-received rap parody Fear of a Black Hat (1993), then directed and co-wrote the horror anthology Tales from the Hood (1995). He also directed the sequels Tales from the Hood 2 (2018) and Tales from the Hood 3 (2020). In 2013 he shared a Razzie Award for worst director for a segment of Movie 43.