Vondie Curtis-Hall is an American actor, screenwriter, film director, and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

. As an actor, he is known for his role as Dr. Dennis Hancock on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

medical drama '' Chicago Hope'' created by

David E. Kelley David Edward Kelley (born April 4, 1956) is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney, known as the creator of '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', '' Picket Fences'', ''Chicago Hope'', ''The Practice'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Publi ...

and as

Ben Urich Benjamin "Ben" Urich is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character usually appears in comic books featuring Daredevil and Spider-Man. Urich is a chain-smoking, tough-as-nails investigative jo ...

in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

TV series ''

Marvel's Daredevil ''Marvel's Daredevil'' is an American television series created by Drew Goddard for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics character Daredevil. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), acknowledging the continuity of ...

''. He wrote, directed and starred in the cult film ''

Gridlock'd ''Gridlock'd'' is a 1997 American black comedy crime film written and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall and starring Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Lucy Liu, and Thandiwe Newton. It was the directorial debut of Curtis-Hall, who also has a small role in t ...

''.

Early life

Curtis-Hall was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, the son of Angeline, a nurse, and Curtis Hall, a construction company owner. Designer

Kevan Hall Kevan Hall is an American fashion designer best known for his couture red carpet designs and his role as the design and creative director of Halston. Personal life Kevan was born in Detroit, Michigan, the youngest of three children; his brother ...

is the brother of Vondie. They also have a sister, Sherrie. All of them attended Presentation Our Lady of Victory grade school in Detroit where they were taught by the

Oblate Sisters of Providence The Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) is a Roman Catholic women's religious institute, founded by Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP, and Rev. James Nicholas Joubert, SS in 1828 in Baltimore, Maryland for the education of girls of African de ...

, the only all black order of nuns in the United States.

Career

Initially a stage actor, Curtis-Hall was a member of the original cast of the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

''. He originated the role of Marty, James "Thunder" Early's original manager. Curtis-Hall has appeared in numerous films including ''

One Good Cop ''One Good Cop'' is a 1991 American crime drama film written and directed by Heywood Gould and starring Michael Keaton, Rene Russo, Anthony LaPaglia and Benjamin Bratt. Keaton portrays New York City Police Department Detective Artie Lewis, ...

'', ''

Passion Fish ''Passion Fish'' is a 1992 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles. The film stars Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, Vondie Curtis-Hall, David Strathairn, Leo Burmester, and Angela Bassett. It tells the story of a soap opera star, ...

'', '' Sugar Hill'', ''

Coming To America ''Coming to America'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the lead role. The film also co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Hea ...

'', '' Crooklyn'', ''

Drop Squad ''Drop Squad'' (sometimes spelled as ''DROP Squad'' or ''D.R.O.P. Squad'') is a 1994 American drama film directed by David C. Johnson and executive produced by Spike Lee via his production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. The plot depicts a t ...

'', ''

Eve's Bayou ''Eve's Bayou'' is a 1997 American Southern Gothic drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this film. Samuel L. Jackson served as a producer, and starred in the film with Lisa Nicole Carson, Jurnee Smo ...

'', '' Turn It Up'' and ''

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

''. His credits as a director include the films ''

'', ''

Glitter Glitter is an assortment of small, reflective particles that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Glitter particles reflect light at different angles, causing the surface to sparkle or shimmer. Glitter is similar to confetti, sparkle ...

'', '' Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story'', ''

Waist Deep ''Waist Deep'' is a 2006 American action drama film directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall and starring Tyrese Gibson and Meagan Good. Plot Ex-con Otis Samuel Sr. or "O2" on account of his ability to vanish from a crime scene like oxygen, has done his ...

'', as well as episodes of television shows ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...

'', '' Firefly'', '' Chicago Hope'', and ''MDs''. In 2000, Vondie Curtis-Hall and Danny Glover (who portrayed Marty in the film adaptation of ''

'') both appeared in the

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

made-for-television movie ''

Freedom Song Freedom songs were songs which were sung by participants in the civil rights movement. They are also called "civil rights anthems" or, in the case of songs which are more hymn-like, they are called "civil rights hymns." Freedom songs were an impo ...

''. In 2019 Curtis-Hall appeared in the film ''Harriet'', where, according to one reviewer, "Vondie Curtis-Hall gives one of the finest performances of his long career as Reverend Green." He has had recurring roles on TV series such as ''

Soul Food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

'', ''

I'll Fly Away "I'll Fly Away" is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled ''Wonderful Message''.Richard Matteson, Jr.''The Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book'' Mel Bay Publications, 2006 ...

'', and '' ER''. His one-time role as a suicide patient on ''ER'' earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series; later in that series he appeared in a recurring role as Roger McGrath. His most prominent television role as an actor to date is as supporting character Dennis Hancock on the medical drama ''Chicago Hope''. Curtis-Hall portrayed

in the Netflix series '' Daredevil''.Netflix’s “Daredevil”
/ref> He also appeared in an episode of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

''.

Personal life

He is married to actress/director

Kasi Lemmons Kasi Lemmons (; born Karen Lemmons, February 24, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), followed by '' Talk to Me'' (2007), ''Black Nativity'' (2013), '' Harriet ...

, and they have a son and three daughters. He is also a full-time arts professor at

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the ar ...

Filmography

Actor

Director

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis-Hall, Vondie African-American male actors African-American film directors African-American television directors American male stage actors American male television actors American television directors American male film actors Living people Male actors from Detroit Film directors from Michigan 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Year of birth missing (living people)