Ji-Tu Cumbuka is an American veteran stage and screen actor.

Career Biography

Born in Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 to a Baptist minister who believed acting was "the devil's work", he left home and moved to New York. After several difficult years he enlisted in the Army where he played football and ran track. Ji-Tu made All-Army in both sports. He was offered many college scholarships, but chose to attend Texas Southern

Texas Southern University

Texas Southern University is a historically black university located in Houston, Texas, United States....

.

Early career

After Texas Southern he moved to California to pursue his acting career and continued his education at Columbia College in New York City, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and a Masters Degree in Cinematography. After three years of attending acting classes and acting in community plays and workshops he landed a role in the movie Up Tight!

Up Tight!

Up Tight! is a 1968 American drama film directed by Jules Dassin. It was intended as an updated version of John Ford's 1935 film, The Informer, but the setting was transposed from Dublin, Ireland to Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The soundtrack was performed by Booker T...

directed by Jules Dassin

Jules Dassin

Julius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...

.

Film and Television credits

Cumbuka has appeared in films such as Harlem Nights

Harlem Nights

Harlem Nights is a 1989 comedy-drama crime film starring Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. The film also featured Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx, Della Reese and Murphy's brother Charlie Murphy...

, Brewster's Millions

Brewster's Millions

Brewster's Millions is a novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902, originally under the pseudonym of Richard Greaves. It was adapted into a play in 1906, which opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre, and the novel or play has been made into a film nine times .-Plot introduction:The novel's...

, Out of Bounds, Mandingo and Bound for Glory, as well as minor appearances in 30 other films. He appeared as former NBA guard Oscar Robertson

Oscar Robertson

Oscar Palmer Robertson , nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks...

 in the bio-drama pic Maurie

Maurie

Maurie is a 1973 American semi-biographical feature film directed by Daniel Mann. Distributed by National General Pictures, the film covers the lives and relationship of two NBA Hall of fame basketball players, the forward Jack Twyman, and his teammate the forward Maurice Stokes.-Plot summary:The...

about the life and care of late former quadraplegic NBA forward Maurice Stokes

Maurice Stokes

Maurice Stokes was an American professional basketball player in the 1950s, whose career was cut short by a debilitating injury...

. In television, Cumbuka appeared in television productions such as Roots

Roots (TV miniseries)

Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...

, Knots Landing

Knots Landing

Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...

, The A-Team

The A-Team

The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...

, The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...

, Walker Texas Ranger, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...

, and co-starred with Robert Conrad

Robert Conrad

Robert Conrad is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the 1965 CBS television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West, and his portrayal of World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep...

 in the 1970s spy series A Man Called Sloane

A Man Called Sloane

A Man Called Sloane was an American secret agent adventure television series that aired on NBC during the 1979-1980 television season. It was a Woodruff Production in association with QM Productions, and became the final series produced by Quinn Martin's company to debut .The series starred Robert...

. In all, Ji-Tu has made appearances in over 100 films and television series.

External links

• Ji-Tu Cumbaka bio and filmography at VH1.com/movies