Biography
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.
Filmography
all 206
Movies 171
self 83
Director 64
Producer 38
TV Shows 35
In Freedom (2023)
You Resemble Me (2022)
Denzel Washington - Un modèle américain (2022)
Sidney (2022)
The Captain (2022)
A Daughter's Tribute to Her Father: Souleymane Cissé (2022)
Seen It All (2022)
They Call Me Magic (2022)
NYC Epicenters 9/11➔2021½ (2021)
A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (2021)
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist (2021)
This Is Pop (2021)
Son of the South (2021)
Pretend It's a City (2021)
Tales from the Hood 3 (2020)
David Byrne's American Utopia (2020)
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Dear... (2020)
3 Brothers - Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd (2020)
New York New York (2020)
Tamron Hall (2019)
American Skin (2019)
See You Yesterday (2019)
Desus & Mero (2019)
Land of the Free (2019)
Amazing Grace (2018)
Cherish (2018)
Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists (2018)
Basketball: A Love Story (2018)
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Tales from the Hood 2 (2018)
Time 2 Surrender (2018)
Nigerian Prince (2018)
Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1 (2018)
The Black 14 (2018)
Chris Rock: Tamborine (2018)
Pass Over (2018)
She's Gotta Have It (2017)
Plankton Salesmen (2017)
Rodney King (2017)
Be Truly Free (2017)
Birth of a Movement (2017)
Axé: Music of a People (2017)
2 Fists Up (2016)
Touched with Fire (2016)
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (2016)
Chi-Raq (2015)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015)
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter (2015)
French Cinema Mon Amour (2015)
Director Spike Lee's New York City (2015)
Champs (2015)
The Girl Is in Trouble (2015)
Ray Allen/AKA- Jesus Shuttlesworth (2015)
Cronies (2015)
Stop (2015)
Throw Like A Girl (2014)
Jerrod Carmichael: Love at the Store (2014)
Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife (2014)
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014)
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee (2014)
Amex Unstaged Pharrell Williams Live at the Apollo (2014)
Dirty Hands (2014)
Evolution of a Criminal (2014)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014)
We the People: From Crispus Attucks to President Barack Obama (2014)
I Can't Breathe (2014)
Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (2013)
Oldboy (2013)
Bad 25 (2012)
Red Hook Summer (2012)
You're Nobody 'til Somebody Kills You (2012)
Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ (2012)
One Night (2012)
Brooklyn Boheme (2012)
Pariah (2011)
A Man's Story (2011)
Doubles with Slight Pepper (2011)
Guest (2011)
On the Shoulders of Giants (2011)
If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010)
Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks (2010)
Who Do You Think You Are? (2010)
Saint John of Las Vegas (2010)
Passing Strange (2009)
PoliWood (2009)
Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later (2009)
Kobe Doin' Work (2009)
Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Genesis | Come Rain or Shine (2008)
40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight (2008)
Beyond Wiseguys: Italian Americans & the Movies (2008)
Pixote In Memoriam (2007)
Lights, Action, Music (2007)
Shark (2006)
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)
Inside Man (2006)
Jesus Children of America (2005)
All the Invisible Children (2005)
C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2005)
It's the Shoes (2005)
Life O' The Party: On the Road with Prince and the New Power Generation (2005)
Street Fight (2005)
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) (2005)
Miracle's Boys (2005)
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X' (2005)
Through the Fire (2005)
No Fighting in the War Room Or: 'Dr Strangelove' and the Nuclear Threat (2004)
Best Sellers or: Peter Sellers and 'Dr. Strangelove' (2004)
Sucker Free City (2004)
Five Directors On The Battle of Algiers (2004)
She Hate Me (2004)
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker (2003)
Real Time with Bill Maher (2003)
Good Fences (2003)
25th Hour (2002)
New York at the Movies (2002)
We Wuz Robbed: A Spike Lee Joint (2002)
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002)
Jim Brown: All-American (2002)
It's Black Entertainment (2002)
The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family' (2002)
Johnny Vaughan Tonight (2002)
Come Rain or Come Shine (2001)
The Concert for New York City (2001)
Home Invaders (2001)
3 A.M. (2001)
A Huey P. Newton Story (2001)
The Making of 'Bamboozled' (2001)
Bamboozled (2000)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Bernie Mac: Live from Charlotte (2000)
Lisa Picard Is Famous (2000)
Michael Jordan to the Max (2000)
Love & Basketball (2000)
Un matin partout dans le monde (2000)
The Early Show (1999)
The Best Man (1999)
Summer of Sam (1999)
Pavarotti & Friends 99 for Guatemala and Kosovo (1999)
I'll Make Me a World (1999)
John Leguizamo: Freak (1998)
Pavarotti & Friends - For the Children of Liberia (1998)
He Got Game (1998)
The View (1997)
4 Little Girls (1997)
HIStory on Film, Volume II (1997)
The Chris Rock Show (1997)
The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money (1996)
When We Were Kings (1996)
Get on the Bus (1996)
The Daily Show (1996)
The Universal Story (1996)
Girl 6 (1996)
Lumière and Company (1995)
Clockers (1995)
Tales from the Hood (1995)
New Jersey Drive (1995)
American Cinema (1995)
Below the Rim (1995)
Drop Squad (1994)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Inside the Actors Studio (1994)
Crooklyn (1994)
A Century of Cinema (1994)
American Cinema (1994)
Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993)
Farewell, Babylon! (1993)
The Last Party (1993)
Malcolm X (1992)
Prince and the N.P.G.: Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection (1992)
Ghostwriter (1992)
Our Hollywood Education (1992)
Sous les marches du palais (1991)
Jungle Fever (1991)
MTV's 10th Anniversary Special (1991)
Branford Marsalis: Steep (1991)
Suspect (1991)
Lonely in America (1990)
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
In Living Color (1990)
Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella (1990)
Decade (1989)
Making 'Do the Right Thing' (1989)
First Works (1989)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Public Enemy: Fight the Power... Live! (1989)
Yo! MTV Raps (1988)
School Daze (1988)
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Horn of Plenty (1986)
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)
Sarah (1981)
The Answer (1980)
Saturday Night Live (1975)
Great Performances (1971)
The Oscars (1953)
F*ck That Guy
Be A Part of It
Split Screen
Prince of Cats
Boner
Da Understudy
Gordon Hemingway & the Realm of Cthulhu
Do The Right Thing 25 Year Anniversary A Beats Music Experience
High and Low
Ratings
Gallery
Information
Known ForDirecting
GenderMale
Birthday1957-03-20 (67 years old)
Birth PlaceAtlanta, United States of America
FatherBill Lee
SiblingsJoie Lee, Cinqué Lee, David Lee
RelativesMalcolm D. Lee, Cliff Lee
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
ResidencesNew York City, United States of America
Also Known AsСпайк Ли, سبايك لي, 스파이크 리, スパイク・リー, สไปค์ ลี, 史派克·李, Σπάικ Λι
AwardsBAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Academy Honorary Award, Honorary César, Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay, George Polk Award, Primetime Emmy Award, NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
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