Vondie Curtis Hall

Actor, screenwriter, and film and television director Vondie Curtis Hall was born on September 30, 1950, in Detroit, Michigan, to Angeline and Curtis Hall. He attended The Juilliard School, in New York City, and Richmond College, The American College in London, England.

Curtis Hall has starred in numerous Broadway productions, including The Wiz, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Dutchman, The Fabulous Miss Marie, It’s So Nice To Be Civilized, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, Dreamgirls, and Stardust. His film credits as actor include Shakedown, Coming to America, Mystery Train, Die Hard 2, One Good Cop, Passion Fish, Sugar Hill, Crooklyn, Clear and Present Danger, Drop Squad, William Shakespeare’s Romeo Juliet, Eve’s Bayou, Don King: Only in America, Turn It Up, Freedom Song, Ali: An American Hero, Talk to Me, Honeydripper, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Black Nativity, Harriet, and The Night House. His TV credits as actor include China Beach, The Trials of Rosie O’Neill, Nightmare Cafe, Civil Wars, I’ll Fly Away, Fallen Angels, L.A. Law, South Central, ER, The Sopranos, Fastlane, 1-800-Missing, Soul Food, LAX, Law & Order, Medium, Fear Itself, Criminal Minds, Lens on Talent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, A Gifted Man, NYC 22, Chasing Life, Rosewood, Spark, and Evil. Curtis Hall received a 1994 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as a patient on ER.

Curtis Hall was a member of the main cast of the series Cop Rock, Chicago Hope, Marvel’s Daredevil, and For the People. Curtis Hall’s 1997 writing and directorial debut, Gridlock’d, received the National Board of Review Award for Excellence in Filmmaking. In 2001, he directed the film Glitter, scored by Terence Blanchard. Curtis Hall’s 2004 telefilm Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Curtis Hall wrote and directed the film Waist Deep in 2006 and directed the telefilms Abducted: The Carlina White Story in 2012, Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart in 2016, and Faith Under Fire: The Antoinette Tuff Story in 2018. He also directed episodes of ER, Firefly, MDs, The Shield, Sleeper Cell, Boston Legal, Gossip Girl, and The Starter Wife, co-hosted Daedal Doors, and performed on PBS’ The Improvisational Theater.

Curtis Hall has served as an arts professor at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Curtis Hall and his wife, Kasi Lemmons, live in New York City. They have three children: Che, Hunter, and Zora.

Vondie Curtis Hall was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 8, 2022.