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Spike Lee
Born · March 20, 1957 (67 years old)
Known For: Directing
Place of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Bio
Spike Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American filmmaker and actor. He was born Shelton Lee in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. His father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a school teacher. His mother dubbed him Spike, due to his tough nature. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After graduating, he went to the Tisch School of Arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980), a reworking of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915) -- a ten-minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45-minute film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which won a student academy award. Lee's next film, "The Messenger," in 1984, was somewhat biographical. In 1986, Spike Lee made the film, She's Gotta Have It (1986), a comedy about sexual relationships. The movie was made for 175,000 dollars, and made seven million. Since then, Lee has become a well-known, intelligent, and talented film maker. His next movie was School Daze (1988), which was set in a historically black school and focused mostly on the conflict between the school and the Fraternities, of which he was a strong critic, portraying them as materialistic, irresponsible, and uncaring. Lee went on to do his landmark film, Do the Right Thing (1989), a movie specifically about his own town in Brooklyn, New York. The movie garnered an Oscar nomination, for Danny Aiello, for supporting actor. It also sparked a debate on racial relations. Lee went on to produce the jazz biopic Mo' Better Blues (1990) which showed his talent for directing and acting, and was the first of many Spike Lee films to feature Denzel Washington. His next film, Jungle Fever (1991), was about interracial dating. Lee's handling of the subject proved yet again highly controversial. Lee's next film was the self-titled biography of Malcolm X (1992), which had Denzel Washington portraying the civil rights leader. The movie was a success, and resulted in an Oscar nomination for Washington. His next films were the comparatively light, Crooklyn (1994), and the intense crime drama, Clockers (1995). In 1996, Lee directed two movies: the badly received comedy, Girl 6 (1996), and the politically pointed, Get on the Bus (1996), about a group of men going to the Million Man March. His next film, He Got Game (1998), proved to be another excursion into the collegiate world as he shows the darker side of recruiting college athletes. The movie, in limited release, yet again featured Denzel Washington. In 2000 came Bamboozled which made a mockery out of television and the way African-Americans are perceived by white America and the way African-Americans perceive themselves. The movie, however, was a resounding critical success. Lee also has produced films like New Jersey Drive (1995), Tales from the Hood (1995), and Drop Squad (1994). He also has produced and or directed movies about Huey P. Newton, Jim Brown, and has commented in many documentaries about varied subjects. Lee is an obsessive New York Knicks fan. He and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, have two children.
Denzel Washington : Un modèle américain
Self
7.6
2022
Sidney
Self
7.7
2022
A Daughter's Tribute to Her Father: Souleymane Cissé
Self
0.0
2022
Seen It All
Mars Blackmon
0.0
2022
Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn
Self (archive footage)
6.4
2020
Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists
Self
7.2
2018
Plankton Salesmen
Self (archive footage)
0.0
2017
Be Truly Free
Narrator (voice)
0.0
2017
Birth of a Movement
Self
6.4
2017
Axé: Music of a People
Self (archive footage)
7.9
2017
French Cinema Mon Amour
Self
0.5
2015
Champs
Self
6.5
2015
Bad 25
Self
7.3
2012
Red Hook Summer
Mr. Mookie
5.5
2012
Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’
Self
2.0
2012
Brooklyn Boheme
Self
6.8
2012
A Man's Story
Self
6.9
2011
Guest
Self
6.0
2011
Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks
Self
7.7
2010
PoliWood
Self
6.5
2009
Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later
Self
7.0
2009
40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight
Self
0.0
2008
Pixote In Memoriam
Self
7.0
2007
Life O' The Party: On the Road with Prince and the New Power Generation
Self
0.0
2005
Street Fight
Self
7.1
2005
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)
6.0
2005
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
Self
5.0
2005
Best Sellers or: Peter Sellers and 'Dr. Strangelove'
Self
5.8
2004
No Fighting in the War Room Or: 'Dr Strangelove' and the Nuclear Threat
Self
5.0
2004
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
Self
7.3
2003
New York at the Movies
Self
10.0
2002
It's Black Entertainment
Self
8.0
2002
3 A.M.
Filmmaker
5.5
2001
The Making of 'Bamboozled'
Self
1.0
2001
Lisa Picard Is Famous
Spike Lee
5.7
2000
Michael Jordan to the Max
Self
7.3
2000
Summer of Sam
John Jeffries
6.5
1999
4 Little Girls
Interviewer (voice) (uncredited)
7.2
1997
The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money
Self
5.7
1996
When We Were Kings
Self
7.7
1996
Girl 6
Jimmy
5.0
1996
Clockers
Chucky
6.7
1995
Crooklyn
Snuffy
6.7
1994
Seven Songs for Malcolm X
0.0
1993
The Last Party
Self
4.2
1993
Malcolm X
Shorty
7.5
1992
Sous les marches du palais
Self
0.0
1991
Jungle Fever
Cyrus
6.4
1991
MTV's 10th Anniversary Special
Self
0.0
1991
Lonely in America
Spike Lee
4.6
1990
Mo' Better Blues
Giant
6.5
1990
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
Self
6.7
1989
First Works
Self
0.0
1989
Do the Right Thing
Mookie
7.8
1989
School Daze
Darrell 'Half-Pint' Dunlap
5.9
1988
She's Gotta Have It
Mars Blackmon
6.6
1986
Do The Right Thing 25 Year Anniversary A Beats Music Experience
Spike Lee
0.0
Be A Part of It
Self
0.0
Number 4
Self
0.0
Samuel L. Jackson: Did I Stutter?
self
9.0
2023
They Call Me Magic
Self · (4 episodes)
7.1
2022
A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks
Self
6.8
2021
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
Self
8.3
2021
This Is Pop
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
5.7
2021
Variety Studio: Directors on Directors
Self · (3 episodes)
0.0
2021
Pretend It's a City
Self · (7 episodes)
7.4
2021
Dear...
Self · (1 episode)
5.0
2020
Tamron Hall
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
5.1
2019
Desus & Mero
Self - Illustrious Guest · (1 episode)
5.1
2019
Basketball: A Love Story
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
7.0
2018
Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1
Self
6.8
2018
She's Gotta Have It
Drum Major · (1 episode)
6.5
2017
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall
Self
7.0
2016
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (1 episode)
6.6
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · (1 episode)
5.7
2015
Director Spike Lee's New York City
Self
0.0
2015
Ray Allen/AKA- Jesus Shuttlesworth
0.0
2015
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Self
1.5
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · (2 episodes)
5.8
2014
We the People: From Crispus Attucks to President Barack Obama
0.0
2014
On the Shoulders of Giants
6.3
2011
Four Days in October
Self (archive footage)
6.5
2010
Who Do You Think You Are?
Self · (1 episode)
6.6
2010
Kobe Doin' Work
Self
6.5
2009
Beyond Wiseguys: Italian Americans & the Movies
7.0
2008
Lights, Action, Music
Self
7.0
2007
It's the Shoes
Self · (1 episode)
0.0
2005
Through the Fire
6.9
2005
Five Directors On The Battle of Algiers
Self
10.0
2004
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self · (2 episodes)
6.0
2003
The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family'
Self
10.0
2002
Johnny Vaughan Tonight
Self · (1 episode)
5.0
2002
The Early Show
Self · (1 episode)
5.7
1999
The View
Self · (3 episodes)
4.4
1997
The Chris Rock Show
(1 episode)
4.4
1997
The Daily Show
Self · (3 episodes)
6.4
1996
The Universal Story
Self (archive footage)
7.7
1996
Below the Rim
8.0
1995
Hoop Dreams
Self
7.6
1994
Inside the Actors Studio
Self · (1 episode)
7.4
1994
A Century of Cinema
Self
8.0
1994
Farewell, Babylon!
Self
0.0
1993
Ghostwriter
Special Agent Pete (archive footage) · (1 episode)
6.8
1992
Ghostwriter
Special Agent Pete · (56 episodes)
6.8
1992
Our Hollywood Education
Self
0.0
1992
Branford Marsalis: Steep
Self
0.0
1991
In Living Color
(1 episode)
7.5
1990
Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella
Self
10.0
1990
Decade
Self
7.0
1989
Public Enemy: Fight the Power... Live!
0.0
1989
Megadoc
Self
0.0
Yo! MTV Raps
Self · (1 episode)
7.5
1988
Saturday Night Live
Mars Blackmon · (1 episode)
6.9
1975
Saturday Night Live
Self (uncredited) · (1 episode)
6.9
1975
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self · (1 episode)
6.3
1973
Great Performances
Self · (1 episode)
5.2
1971
The Oscars
Self · (1 episode)
7.0
1953