Spike Lee Biography (1956?-)

Original name, Shelton Jackson Lee; born March 20, 1956 (some sources cite 1957), in Atlanta, GA; son of William James Edward III (a jazz musician and composer) and Jacqueline (a teacher of arts and black literature; maiden name, Shelton) Lee; brother of Chris Lee (a merchandiser for Spike's Joint), David Lee (a documentary photographer), Joie Lee (an actress and writer; also knownas Joy Lee), and Cinque Lee (an actor and writer); married Tanya Lynette Lewis (a legal professional), October 2, 1993; children: Satchel (daughter), Jackson Lewis. Addresses: Office: Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, 124 DeKalb, Suite 2, Brooklyn, NY 11217; 8899 Beverly Blvd., Suite 812, Los Angeles, CA 90048.; Agent: William Morris Agency, 151 South El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.; Publicist: Jackie Bazan, Bazan Entertainment, 330 West 38thSt., Suite 1005, New York, NY 10018.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Director, producer, actor, writer
Birth Details: March 20, 1956?; Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Director
Last Hustle in Brooklyn, 1977
(And producer, assistant camera operator, and editor) Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, First Run Pictures, 1980
The Answer, 1980
Sarah, 1981
(As Shelton J. Lee; and producer and editor) She's Gotta Have It,Island Pictures, 1986
(And producer; with Monty Ross and Loretha C. Jones) School Daze,Columbia, 1987
(And producer; with Ross) Do the Right Thing, Universal, 1989
(And producer) Mo' Better Blues, Universal, 1990
(And producer; with Ross) Jungle Fever, Universal, 1991
(And producer; with Marvin Worth) Malcolm X, Warner Bros., 1992
(And producer) Crooklyn (also known as Crooklyn, NY), Universal, 1994
(And executive producer) Drop Squad, Gramercy, 1994
(And producer) Clockers, Universal, 1995
Lumiere and Company (also known as Lumiere et compangnie and Lumiere y compania), Fox Lorber, 1995
(And executive producer) Get on the Bus, Columbia, 1996
(And producer) Girl 6, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996
(And producer) He Got Game, Buena Vista, 1998
(And producer) Summer of Sam (also known as The Son of Sam), Buena Vista, 1999
(And producer) The Original Kings of Comedy, Paramount, 2000
(And producer) Bamboozled, New Line Cinema, 2000
(And producer) "We Wuz Robbed," Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (also known as Ten Minutes Older), JVC Entertainment/Matador Pictures/Odyssey Films, 2002
(And producer) The 25th Hour, Buena Vista/Walt Disney, 2002
(And producer) Rent, Miramax/DreamWorks, 2002
Film Work
Other
Executive producer, New Jersey Drive, Gramercy, 1995
Executive producer, Tales from the Hood, Savoy Pictures, 1995
Producer, The Best Man, MCA/Universal, 1999
(With Sam Kitt) Producer, Love & Basketball, New Line Cinema,2000
Executive producer, Home Invaders, Castle Hill, 2000
Also affiliated with the unreleased film The Messenger.
Film Appearances
Mars Blackmon, She's Gotta Have It, Island Pictures, 1986
Half Pint, School Daze, Columbia, 1987
Mookie, Do the Right Thing, Universal, 1989
Lonely in America, Academy Entertainment, 1990
Giant, Mo' Better Blues, Universal, 1990
Cyrus, Jungle Fever, Universal, 1991
Shorty, Malcolm X, Warner Bros., 1992
Our Hollywood Education, 1992
Himself, Seven Songs for Malcolm X (documentary), Jane Balfour Films, 1993
Himself, The Last Party (documentary; also known as Youth for Truth), Triton Pictures, 1993
Himself as film director, Hoop Dreams (documentary), Fine Line, 1993
World Beat, 1993
Snuffy, Crooklyn (also known as Crooklyn, NY), Universal, 1994
Appeared in "Gospel Park" commercial, Drop Squad, Gramercy, 1994
Chucky, Clockers, Universal, 1995
"Sarah Moon" segment, Lumiere and Company (also known as Lumiere et compangnie and Lumiere y compania), Fox Lorber, 1995
Jimmy, Girl 6, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996
Narrator, When We Were Kings, Gramercy, 1996
Reporter John Jeffries, Summer of Sam (also known as The Son ofSam), Buena Vista, 1999
Michael Jordan to the Max, Giant Screen Sports, 2000
Famous (also known as Lisa Picard Is Famous), First Look Pictures Releasing, 2001
The Making and Meaning of "We Are Family" (also known as We AreFamily), 2002
Television Appearances
Specials
R.A.C.E. (also known as Racism), NBC, 1989
Decade (also known as MTV's Decade), MTV, 1989
The Debbie Allen Special, ABC, 1989

Himself, Making "Do the Right Thing," 1989
Host, "Spike and Co.: Do It A Cappella" (also known as "A Cappella Do-Wop"), Great Performances, PBS, 1990
The New Hollywood, NBC, 1990
Racism: Points of View, MTV, 1991
The Labor Day Show, PBS, 1991
Entertainers '91: The Top 20 of the Year, ABC, 1991
A Comedy Salute to Michael Jordan (also known as Los Angeles and Chicago Salute to Michael Jordan), NBC, 1991
Host, MTV's 10th Anniversary Special, ABC, 1991
Rock the Vote, Fox, 1992
Comic Relief V, HBO, 1992
Abbey Lincoln, You Gotta Pay the Band, PBS, 1993
The Faltering Dream, The Discovery Channel, 1993
Hollywood Stars: A Century of Cinema, The Disney Channel, 1995
Music in Movies '96, ABC, 1996
Interviewer, "Spike Lee Presents Albert Belle," Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, HBO, 1996
(Uncredited) Voice of interviewer, 4 Little Girls (documentary), HBO, 1997
Movies in Time Special: Summer of Sam, History Channel, 1999
I'll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts, PBS, 1999
Delroy Lindo on Spike Lee, Independent Film Channel, 1999
It's Black Entertainment, Showtime, 2000
Canned Ham: The Original Kings of Comedy, Comedy Central, 2000
The Making of "Bamboozled," 2001
(Uncredited; in archive footage) Himself, Who Is Alan Smithee?, AMC, 2002
New York at the Movies, Arts and Entertainment, 2002
Awards Presentations
The 20th Annual NAACP Image Awards, NBC, 1988
The 22nd Annual NAACP Image Awards, NBC, 1990
Presenter, The 64th Annual Academy Awards Presentation, ABC, 1992
The Great Ones: The National Sports Awards, NBC, 1993
The Essence Awards, Fox, 1994
The 10th Essence Awards, Fox, 1997
Presenter, Essence Awards 2000, Fox, 2000
Presenter, The 2000 Trumpet Awards, TBS, 2000
The 10th Annual IFP Gotham Awards, Bravo, 2000
Episodic
"In Search of the Dream," A & E Premieres, Arts and Entertainment, 1990
Yo! MTV Raps, MTV, 1990
Special Agent Pete, "Into the Comics: Part 1," Ghostwriter, PBS, c. 1992
American Cinema, PBS, 1995
The Chris Rock Show, HBO, 1999
"The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money," Arena, ABC (Australia), 2000
Also appeared in episodes of The Arsenio Hall Show, Inside theActors Studio, Bravo, Firstworks, The Movie Channel, Dialogue with Black Filmmakers, Black Entertainment Television, ABC in Concert, ABC, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox, The Directors, Encore, and Teen Summit.
Television Director
Movies
A Huey P. Newton Story, PBS, 2001
Television Work
Specials
Segment producer, Coca-Cola Pop Music Backstage Pass to Summer, Fox, 1991
Segment producer and director, "John Thompson," Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, HBO, 1995
Segment producer and director, "Spike Lee Presents Albert Belle," RealSports with Bryant Gumbel, HBO, 1996
Segment producer and director, "Curt Flood Story," Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, HBO, 1997
Producer and director, 4 Little Girls (documentary), HBO, 1997
Director, John Leguizamo: Freak (also known as Freak), HBO,1998
Director, Pavarotti and Friends, PBS, 1998
Director, Pavarotti & Friends 99 for Guatemala and Kosovo, PBS, 1999
Co-executive producer, 3 A.M., Showtime, 2001
Segment director, The Concert for New York City, VH1, 2001
Producer and director, Jim Brown: All American, HBO, 2002
Stage Work
Producer, Folks Remembers a Missing Page, off-Broadway production,1991
RECORDINGS
Videos
Film-Fest DVD: Issue 2--Cannes, Broadcast DVD, 1999
The Directors: Spike Lee (also known as AFI's The Directors: Spike Lee), WinStar Home Entertainment, 2000
Music Videos
Directed music videos for musicians, including Anita Baker's "No One in the World" (and appeared in it as Mars Blackmon), Fishbone, Michael Jackson, and Prince.
WRITINGS
Screenplays
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, First Run Pictures, 1980
The Answer, 1980
She's Gotta Have It, Island Pictures, 1986
School Daze, Columbia, 1987
(And song, "Don't Shoot Me") Do the Right Thing, Universal, 1989
(And song, "Pop Top 40") Mo' Better Blues, Universal, 1990
Jungle Fever, Universal, 1991
Malcolm X, Warner Bros., 1992
Crooklyn (also known as Crooklyn, NY), Universal, 1994
Clockers, Universal, 1995
He Got Game, Buena Vista, 1998
Summer of Sam (also known as Son of Sam), Buena Vista, 1999
Bamboozled, New Line Cinema, 2000
Television Specials
"John Thompson," Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, HBO, 1995
Books
Spike Lee's Gotta Have It: Inside Guerilla Filmmaking, Simon &Schuster (New York City), 1987
Uplift the Race: The Construction of "School Daze," Simon & Schuster, 1988
Do the Right Thing: A Spike Lee Joint, Fireside (New York City), 1989
(With Ralph Wiley) By Any Means Necessary: The Trials and Tribulationsof the Making of "Malcolm X," Hyperion (New York City), 1992
(With Ralph Wiley) Best Seat in the House: A Basketball Memoir, Crown (New York City), 1997

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd edition, Gale, 1998
Hardy, James Earl, Spike Lee, introduction by Coretta Scott King,Chelsea House (New York City), 1996
Lee, David, Five for Five: The Films of Spike Lee (photographs), 1991
Notable Black American Men, Gale, 1998

Periodicals

Advertising Age, June 1, 1998, p. 20
American Film, July/August, 1989, p. 22
American Historical Review, April, 1993, p. 440
Black Talent News, October, 2000, pp. 16-17
Cineaste, spring, 2001, p. 4
Commentary, August, 1991, p. 50
Ebony, October, 1989, p. 140; November, 1991, p. 82; May, 1994, p.28
Empire, Issue 46, 1993, pp. 77-80; August, 1997, p. 11
Entertainment Weekly, November 27, 1992, p. 26; May 22, 1998, p. 46
Essence, August, 1990, p. 54
Film Comment, July/August, 1989, p. 12; January/February, 1997, pp. 42-47
Film Quarterly, winter, 1993, p. 18
Interview, November, 1992, p. 100
Jet, October 6, 1997, p. 65; October 5, 1998, p. 33
Newsweek, April 22, 1996, p. 75; June 28, 1999, p. 75; October 2,2000, p. 75
New York Times, August 9, 1987; June 25, 1989
Playboy, July, 1991, pp. 51-68
Premiere, August, 1989, p. 78; April, 1990, p. 152; November, 1992, p. 88; October, 1995; October, 1999, pp. 74-77
Rolling Stone, July 11, 1991, p. 63

Other

The Directors: Spike Lee (video; also known as AFI's The Directors: Spike Lee), WinStar Home Entertainment, 2000

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