Spike Lee
Directing
🎂 1957-03-20
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.
Cast credits(120)
Self
2015
Self
1996
Self
2014
Self
1997
Self
1971
Self - Guest
2019
Self
2015
Self (archive footage)
2018
Mars Blackmon
1975
Self (uncredited)
1975
Self
2003
Self
2010
Self
2022
Self
1953
Self - Illustrious Guest
2019
1990
Self
1988
Special Agent Pete (archive footage)
1992
Special Agent Pete
1992
Self
2021
1997
Self
2002
Drum Major
2017
Self
1973
Self
2020
Self
1999
Self
2021
Self
1994
Shorty
1992
Mookie
1989
Self (archive footage)
2021
Chucky
1995
Cyrus
1991
Self
2025
Self
2022
Snuffy
1994
Giant
1990
John Jeffries
1999
Self
2021
Mars Blackmon
1986
Self
2005
Self
2002
Self
1996
Self
1994
Darrell 'Half-Pint' Dunlap
1988
Jimmy
1996
self
2023
Interviewer (voice) (uncredited)
1997
Self (archive footage)
2025
Self
2022
Spike Lee
2000
Filmmaker
2001
Mr. Mookie
2012
Self
2012
Self
1989
Self
2015
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self
2001
Self
2012
Self
2016
Self
2009
Himself
1994
Self
2002
Self
1996
Self
1993
Self
2004
Self
2014
Self
1989
Self
2004
Self
2011
Self
2002
Self
2018
Self
1994
Self
2010
Self
2018
Self
2022
Self
2005
Spike Lee
1990
Self
2012
Self
2017
Self
2000
Self
2004
Self (archive footage)
2010
Self
2007
2011
Self
2009
Self
2003
Self (archive footage)
1996
2005
Self
2015
Self (archive footage)
2020
Self
2005
2008
Self
2021
2014
Self
1989
Self
Self
2009
Self
1990
Self
2011
1993
Self
1991
Self
1993
Self
2005
Self
2008
Self
1991
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self
2007
Self
1991
Self
1995
2015
2005
Narrator (voice)
2017
Self
2024
Spike Lee
1989
Self
2015
Mars Blackmon
2022
Self
1992
Production (79)
Producer
2006
Producer
2010
Executive Producer
2022
Producer
2018
Producer
1992
Producer
2000
Producer
2021
Producer
1989
Executive Producer
Producer
2020
Producer
2002
Producer
1998
Executive Producer
2025
Producer
1995
Producer
2015
Producer
1991
Executive Producer
2011
Producer
1994
Producer
1990
Producer
1999
Producer
2019
Producer
1999
Producer
2004
Producer
2008
Producer
1986
Executive Producer
2018
Executive Producer
1995
Executive Producer
2021
Producer
2000
Producer
1988
Executive Producer
1995
Executive Producer
1996
Producer
1996
Executive Producer
2016
Executive Producer
2020
Producer
1997
Producer
2005
Producer
2018
Producer
2001
Co-Executive Producer
2001
Producer
2012
Executive Producer
2020
Executive Producer
2010
Executive Producer
2003
Producer
2000
Executive Producer
2013
Producer
2002
Executive Producer
2015
Producer
2018
Executive Producer
2018
Producer
2015
Executive Producer
1994
Executive Producer
2014
Executive Producer
Executive Producer
2022
Producer
2014
Executive Producer
2024
Executive Producer
2014
Producer
2009
Producer
2002
Producer
2017
Executive Producer
2015
Executive Producer
2025
Executive Producer
2023
Executive Producer
2001
Producer
Executive Producer
2024
Executive Producer
2012
Producer
Producer
Executive Producer
2025
Producer
2016
Executive Producer
2018
Executive Producer
2018
Producer
1983
Executive Producer
2018
Executive Producer
2025
Executive Producer
2025
Executive Producer
2011
Directing (79)
Director
2006
Director
2010
Director
2006
Director
2017
Director
2005
Director
2006
Director
2018
Director
1992
Director
2013
Director
2021
Director
1989
Director
Director
2020
Director
2002
Director
1998
Director
2025
Director
1995
Director
2015
Director
1991
Director
1994
Director
1990
Director
2014
Director
1999
Director
2004
Director
2008
Director
1986
Director
1995
Director
2001
Director
2000
Director
1988
Director
1996
Director
1996
Director
2004
Director
1997
Director
2005
Director
2012
Director
2020
Director
2000
Director
2013
Director
2002
Director
2001
Director
2012
Director
2016
Director
1997
Director
2018
Director
2015
Director
2020
Director
Director
2009
Director
2014
Director
2009
Director
2002
Director
1998
Director
2017
Director
2000
Director
2005
Director
2009
Director
2001
Director
1999
Director
2014
Director
Director
1992
Director
Director
2016
Director
2001
Director
1998
Director
1986
Director
2015
Director
1980
Director
2014
Director
2017
Director
1983
Director
2000
Director
1990
Director
2019
Director
2014
Director
2022
Director
2020
Director
1981
