Thalmus Rasulala
Birthday: Born in 1939-11-15 in Miami, Florida, USA
Deathday: 1991-10-09
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Thalmus Rasulala (November 15, 1939 – October 9, 1991) was an African American actor who was an original cast member of ABC's soap opera One Life to Live from its inception in 1968 until he left the show in 1970. Born as Jack Crowder in Miami, Florida, he appeared in many films and made guest appearances in TV shows. Notable roles include Lt. Jack Neal in One Life to Live, Roy in Bucktown, Blake Tarr in Friday Foster, Bill Thomas in What's Happening!!, and Omoro Kinte (Kunta Kinte's father) in Roots. He also appeared in The Twilight Zone, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Good Times, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Sophisticated Gents. His last acting role was as General Afir in Mom and Dad Save the World with Teri Garr and Jeffrey Jones. He died shortly after completing his scenes, and the film, released after his death, is accordingly dedicated to his memory. He died on October 9, 1991, from heart failure in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 51. Description above from the Wikipedia article Thalmus Rasulala, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
TV Credits
Good Times
Character:
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons. The series is set in Chicago. The first two seasons were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In the fall of 1975, the show moved to Metr...
The Rookies
Character:
The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department....
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Character: Capt. Donald Varley
Follow the intergalactic adventures of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal crew aboard the all-new USS Enterprise NCC-1701D, as they explore new worlds....
T. J. Hooker
Character: Aaron Kramer / Lt. Craig Arkin
Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recuits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals....
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Character: Police Sergeant
Kraft Suspense Theatre is an American anthology series that was telecast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall specials once monthly. Como's production company, Roncom Films, also produced Kraft Suspense Theatre. Writer, editor, critic and radio playwright Anthony Boucher served as consultant on the series. Later syndicated under the title Crisis, it was one of the few suspense series te...
What's Happening!!
Character:
What's Happening!! is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979. The show premiered as a summer series. With good ratings and reviews, and after the failure of several other shows on the network, What's Happening!! returned in November 1976 as a weekly series. It remained a regular show until 1979; ratings were modest. What's Happening!! was loosely based on the motion picture Cooley High, also written by Eric Monte....
Simon & Simon
Character:
Simon & Simon is an American detective television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981 to January 21, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two brothers who run a private detective agency together....
All in the Family
Character: Mr. Byrd (as Jack Crowder)
Archie Bunker, a working class bigot, constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day....
The Jeffersons
Character:
Sitcom following a successful African-American couple, George and Louise “Weezyö Jefferson as they “move on up” from working-class Queens to a ritzy Manhattan apartment. A spin-off of All in the Family....
Mannix
Character:
Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors. Mannix was the last series produced by Desilu Productions....
Sanford and Son
Character:
The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son....
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Character:
Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show stars Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance, after encountering one another in a train station....
Kojak
Character: Chief of Detectives
A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City....
Medical Center
Character:
Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976. It was produced by MGM Television....
Cagney & Lacey
Character:
Mary Beth Lacey and Chris Cagney are teamed up as NYPD police detectives. Their opposing personalities (one is tough and the other sensitive) mesh to make this one of the great crime-fighting duos of all time....
Cannon
Character:
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976. The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes....
Stingray
Character:
Ray is an enigmatic adventurer with no traceable past who travels from place to place fighting crime and helping people in trouble. He refuses to be paid for his services; however, those seeking his assistance must promise him a favor....
The Twilight Zone
Character: Technician
A series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and/or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist....
Blue Thunder
Character:
Blue Thunder is a 1984 ABC television series based on the movie of the same title featuring the Blue Thunder helicopter. The series uses the converted Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter and large portions of stock footage from the 1983 film. A ground unit named "Rolling Thunder" backed up the helicopter in the television series. This was a large support van with a desert camouflage off-road vehicle stored inside. The television series cast includes James Farentino, Dana Carvey, and former profess...
The Fitzpatricks
Character:
The Fitzpatricks is an American drama series which ran on CBS during the 1977–78 season. The series aired from September 5th, 1977 to January 10th, 1978. This show lasted only thirteen episodes, and was cancelled in 1978....
The Sophisticated Gents
Character: Kenneth 'Snake' Dobson
The 25-year reunion of members of a black athletic-social club brings together nine of its members for the first time to honor their old coach but is marred by a murder investigation involving one of the gents....
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Character: Technician
Kraft Suspense Theatre is an American anthology series that was telecast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall specials once monthly. Como's production company, Roncom Films, also produced Kraft Suspense Theatre. Writer, editor, critic and radio playwright Anthony Boucher served as consultant on the series. Later syndicated under the title Crisis, it was one of the few suspense series te...
The Fitzpatricks
Character: Huston
The Fitzpatricks is an American drama series which ran on CBS during the 1977–78 season. The series aired from September 5th, 1977 to January 10th, 1978. This show lasted only thirteen episodes, and was cancelled in 1978....
Saturday Night Live
Character: Father Merrin (segment "Exorcist II")
A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest....
The Incredible Hulk
Character: Dep. Chief Harry Simon
During an experiment gone bad, radiation turns a scientist into a raging green behemoth whenever he becomes agitated. Unable to control his transformations, David Banner searches for a cure as he crosses the country, fugitive-style, with a dogged tabloid reporter on his trail....
Roots
Character: Omoro
The epic tale of celebrated Pulitzer-prize winning author Alex Haley's ancestors as portrayed in the acclaimed twelve hour mini-series Roots, was first told in his 1976 bestseller Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The docu-drama covers a period of history that begins in mid-1700s Gambia, West Africa and concludes during post-Civil War United States, over 100 years later. This 1977 miniseries eventually won 9 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe award, and a Peabody award, and still stands as the mos...
Melba
Character:
Melba is an American television sitcom which aired on CBS from January 28, 1986 until September 13, 1986. The series was a vehicle for singer/actress Melba Moore....
Movie Credits
New Jack City
Character: Police Commissioner
A gangster, Nino, is in the Cash Money Brothers, making a million dollars every week selling crack. A cop, Scotty, discovers that the only way to infiltrate the gang is to become a dealer himself....
The Out-of-Towners
Character: Police Officer
George & Gwen Kellerman make a trip to New York, where George is going to start a new job, it turns out to be a trip to hell....
Blacula
Character: Gordon Thomas
An 18th century African prince is turned into a vampire while visiting Transylvania. Two centuries later, he rises from his coffin attacking various residents of Los Angeles and meets Tina, a woman who he believes is the reincarnation of his deceased wife....
Mom and Dad Save the World
Character: General Afir
Emperor Spengo sees Marge Nelson and using a giant magnet, kidnaps her and her husband Dick, hoping to make Marge his before blowing up the Earth. The Emperor and other inhabitants of his planet are somewhat less than bright, and Dick begins reliving episodes of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in order to rescue Marge, save the Earth, and restore the rightful emperor to the throne....
Judgement
Character: Judge Jackson
A juvenile court judge goes out of her way to try to aid a young man whom she believes has innocently gotten involved with a gang....
The Boss' Wife
Character: Barney
Daniel Stern stars as a stockbroker trying to climb the corporate ladder. There's only one thing stopping him...his boss' beautiful and flirtatious wife! THE BOSS' WIFE is a full-bodied, high-spirited, bedroom comedy about lust, love and lechery....
Friday Foster
Character: Blake Tarr
Friday Foster, a magazine photographer, goes to Los Angeles International airport to photograph the arrival of Blake Tarr, the richest black man in America. Three men attempt to assassinate Tarr. Foster photographs the melee and is plunged into a web of conspiracy involving the murder of her childhood friend, a US senator, and a shadowy plan called "Black Widow"....
Lambada
Character: Wesley Wilson
Kevin Laird is a Beverly Hills school teacher by day and a mystery man by night. Using his lambada dance moves to first earn the kid's respect and acceptance, Kevin then teaches them academics. But when a jealous student exposes Kevin's double life, his two worlds collide, threatening his job and reputation....
Bucktown
Character: Roy
Duke Johnson visits a small Southern town, intent on burying his brother. After the funeral, he learns that he must stay for 60 days, for the estate to be processed. A few locals convince Duke to reopen his late brother's nightclub, and soon the local redneck policemen are intimidating Duke with threats of violence. Duke refuses to pay the bribes they demand, so then he and his lady friend Aretha are threatened and attacked by the crooked cops. Rather than take them on himself, Duke calls on his...
Mr. Ricco
Character: Frankie Steele
Accused murderer Frankie Steele walks free, thanks to the efforts of San Francisco defense lawyer Joe Ricco. Then a pair of cop killings strikes the city. All signs point to the newly released Steele as the perpetrator. Has Ricco sprung a killer? Dean Martin keeps his affable ease but abandons his hipster Matt Helm-series swagger to portray Ricco in his final leading-role film, a whodunit mystery set in the city that also was the gritty center of action for the era’s Bullitt and Dirty Harry. Con...
Above the Law
Character: Deputy Supt. Crowder
Nico Toscani is an Italian immigrant, American patriot, ex-CIA agent, aikido specialist and unorthodox Chicago policeman. He is as committed to his job as he is to his personalized brand of justice—expert and thorough bone-crushing....
Cool Breeze
Character: Sidney Lord Jones
A paroled crook masterminds a $3 million jewelry theft to fund a bank for businessmen....
Born American
Character: The Admiral
A trio of American students vacationing in Finland cross the border into the USSR and are soon imprisoned following a skirmish with Soviet soldiers....
Cornbread, Earl and Me
Character: Charlie
The unintentional shooting by police of a star basketball player has profound personal, political and community repercussions in this acclaimed adaptation of the novel Hog Butcher by Ronald Fair. This was one of the more thoughtful urban dramas produced at the height of the "blaxploitation" craze. Also released under the title Hit the Open Man, it features the screen debut of Laurence Fishburne, who was barely a teenager at the time....
Willie Dynamite
Character: Robert Daniels
Willie Dynamite is a pimp who operates in New York City. Willie was a big success as a pimp, but now, just as fast as he rose to the top, he has hit bottom. A former prostitute who has become a social worker tries to get Willie to clean up his life while it is still possible....
Blind Vengeance
Character: Rev. Abel Mace
A man seeks revenge on the white supremacists acquitted in the murder of his son...
The Last Hard Men
Character: Weed
In 1909 Arizona, retired lawman Sam Burgade's life is thrown upside-down when his old enemy Provo and six other convicts escape a chain-gang in the Yuma Territorial Prison and come gunning for Burgade....
Bulletproof
Character: Billy Dunbar
A group of dangerous terrorists succeeds to get hold of a tank of the army and all its crew....
Last Hours Before Morning
Character: Justice Sullivan
An ex-cop, now a private detective, investigating a gambler's murder finds that there may be a connection between that crime and the jewel robbery at a beautiful movie star's home....
For Us, the Living: The Story of Medgar Evers
Character:
This film is the true story of Medgar Evers, a successful insurance agent who moves to Jackson, Mississippi to direct the regional headquarters of the NAACP. Fighting segregation and racist politics, Evers becomes a leader in the black community....
The Defiant Ones
Character: Fred
Monroe and 'Joker' Johnson are two prisoners who despise each other. But after their prison transport crashes, they manage to escape chained to each other....
The President's Mistress
Character: Lt. Gordon
A government courier is caught in a deadly cover-up after discovering that his murdered sister was not only the mistress of a U.S. president, but also a Soviet spy....
Adiós Amigo
Character: Noah
Two incompetent Western outlaws engineer several failed crimes, including a botched stagecoach holdup. Fred Williamson, a tough-guy perennial in blaxploitation movies, does a rare comedy turn as a blundering patsy to Richard Pryor's slick con man....
Killer on Board
Character: Dr. Alvarez
The passengers on a cruise ship are seized by panic when a deadly virus begins killing off passengers and crew....
The Package
Character: Secret Service Commander
Experienced Green Beret sergeant Johnny Gallagher is escorting a prisoner, Airborne Ranger Thomas Boyette, back to the US, but Boyette escapes and Gallagher must risk life and limb to catch him....
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Character: Ned (age 42)
In February, 1962, as the civil rights movement reaches Bayonne, Louisiana, a New York journalist arrives to interview Jane Pittman, who has just turned 110. She tells him her story dating back to her earliest memories before slavery ended. In between the chapters of her life, the present-day struggles of Blacks in Bayonne, urged on by Jimmy, are dramatized....
The Bait
Character: Eddie Nugent
Tracy Fleming is a widowed police officer, with a young son, who has risen to the role of plainclothes operative. After six women have been raped and killed, Fleming agrees to go undercover in an effort to make herself a target for the killer. The climax places her in a life-and-death struggle with the killer....
The Jerk, Too
Character: Crossroads
Navin Johnson heads to Los Angeles to attend the wedding of his pen pal, Marie. On the way, he runs across a gang of hobos whose leader, Diesel, takes him to Las Vegas after learning of his skills at poker....
The Trial of the Moke
Character: William Chamberlain
Henry Flipper is the first black West Point graduate. Assigned to serve at Fort Davis in Texas, Flipper becomes the object of a conspiracy by his fellow cadets to rid the base of its only black graduate....
Fun with Dick and Jane
Character: Food Stamp Man
When an upwardly mobile couple find themselves unemployed and in debt, they turn to armed robbery in desperation....