Biography for
Charles Burnett (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Mini Biography

Considered one of Americas greatest filmmakers, Charles Burnett was born in Mississippi in 1944, he grew up in Watts. He was one of the privileged blacks who had access to college education in those days; the 60s. He studied at UCLA's Film Department. He was first noticed in 1981 with Killer of Sheep which won a prize at Berlin. Burnett's film The Glass Shield, a tense rapid-fire police drama on the corruption and racism that plagues the Los Angeles Police Department, was shown in competition at Locarno.

Spouse

Trivia

Brother-in-law of filmmaker Joy Shannon

He and filmmaker Haile Gerima were classmates at UCLA's Film School; Gerima acknowledges him as a friend and mentor.

Personal Quotes

In cinema, we're [black people] the only ones whose language is considered realistic when it's demeaning. [from The 50 Most Influential Black Films by S. Torriano Berry with Venise T. Berry]

The best director is a good listener. He incorporates ideas from everyone he works with, steering with a steady but not rigidly controlling hand.

For me, anyone who finishes a film I take my hat off to. When an audience sees a finished film, it doesn't know the wars fought by the director to make his or her picture.