[1][2] He is best remembered as "Torque" in the short-lived TV series A Man Called Sloane together with Robert Conrad and Dan O'Herlihy.

After attending Texas Southern, he moved to California to pursue his acting career, and went to Columbia College in New York City, earning a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and a master's degree in cinematography.

[6] Cumbuka appeared in such television productions as the Roots miniseries, Daniel Boone, Young Dan'l Boone, Knots Landing, The A-Team, The Dukes of Hazzard, Murder She Wrote, Walker, Texas Ranger, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Amen,[7] 227,[7] Sanford and Son, Hunter, In the Heat of the Night, and Matlock.

He was a main cast member of the hit spy TV series A Man Called Sloane with Robert Conrad and Dan O'Herlihy.

Cumbuka wrote, produce, and acted in the gospel musical play Help Somebody, co-starring with Kene Holliday, Hall Williams, Ali Woodson, and Glynn Turman.