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IMDbPro

Spike Lee

  • Director
  • Producer
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000469
Spike Lee
From 'She's Gotta Have It' to 'Da 5 Bloods,' IMDb dives deep into films of Spike Lee.
Play clip2:03
A Guide to Spike Lee Joints
31 Videos
99+ Photos
Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After graduating from Morehouse, Lee attended 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. 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, and earned $7 million at the box office, which launched his career and allowed him to found his own production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. His next movie was School Daze (1988), which was set at a historically black school, 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. With his School Daze (1988) profits, Lee went on to make his landmark film, Do the Right Thing (1989), a movie based specifically his own neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The movie portrayed the racial tensions that emerge in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood on one very hot day. The movie garnered Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, for Danny Aiello for supporting actor, and sparked a debate on racial relations. Lee went on to produce and direct the jazz biopic Mo' Better Blues (1990), the first of many Spike Lee films to feature Denzel Washington, including the biography of Malcolm X (1992), in which Washington portrayed the civil rights leader. The movie was a success, and garnered an Oscar nomination for Washington. The pair would work together again on He Got Game (1998), an excursion into the collegiate world showing the darker side of college athletic recruiting, as well as the 2006 film Inside Man (2006). Spike Lee's role as a documentarian has expanded over the years, highlighted by his participation in Lumière and Company (1995), the Oscar-nominated 4 Little Girls (1997), to his Peabody Award-winning biographical adaptation of Black Panther leader in A Huey P. Newton Story (2001), through his 2005 Emmy Award-winning examination of post-Katrina New Orleans in When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) and its follow-up five years later If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010). Through his production company 40 Acres and A Mule Filmworks, Lee continues to create and direct both independent films and projects for major studios, as well as working on story development, creating an internship program for aspiring filmmakers, releasing music, and community outreach and support. He is married to Tonya Lewis Lee, and they have two sons, Satchel and Jackson.
BornMarch 20, 1957
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornMarch 20, 1957
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000469
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Won 1 Oscar
    • 94 wins & 184 nominations total

Photos420

Spike Lee and Wesley Snipes in Jungle Fever (1991)
Spike Lee in Jungle Fever (1991)
Spike Lee and Veronica Webb in Jungle Fever (1991)
Spike Lee and Ara Paiaya in Maximum Impact (2008)
Spike Lee and Ara Paiaya in Maximum Impact (2008)
Spike Lee and Fran Lebowitz in Pretend It's a City (2021)
Spike Lee in Dear... (2020)
Spike Lee in 20 Feet from Stardom (2013)
Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, and Anthony Barboza in Do the Right Thing (1989)
Spike Lee, The Kid Mero, and Desus Nice in Lowkey, Stay Down (2019)
Spike Lee in Do the Right Thing (1989)
Spike Lee, John Turturro, and Richard Edson in Do the Right Thing (1989)

Known for:

Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, John Turturro, Ruby Dee, Giancarlo Esposito, and Bill Nunn in Do the Right Thing (1989)
Do the Right Thing
8.0
  • Director
  • 1989
Denzel Washington in Malcolm X (1992)
Malcolm X
7.7
  • Director
  • 1992
Spike Lee, Tommy Redmond Hicks, Tracy Camilla Johns, and John Canada Terrell in She's Gotta Have It (1986)
She's Gotta Have It
6.8
  • Director
  • 1986
Jungle Fever (1991)
Jungle Fever
6.6
  • Director
  • 1991

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Director

  • Boner
    • Director
    • Pre-production
  • Da Understudy
    • Director
    • Pre-production
  • Prince of Cats
    • Director
    • Pre-production
  • Capital One: NCAA - Halftime at Home (2023)
    Capital One: NCAA - Halftime at Home
    • Director
    • Video
    • 2023
  • Nike: Seen It All (2022)
    Nike: Seen It All
    • Director
    • Video
    • 2022
  • NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½ (2021)
    NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½
    • Director
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2021
  • David Byrne's American Utopia (2020)
    David Byrne's American Utopia
    • Director
    • 2020
  • Michael Jackson: They Don't Care About Us (2020 Version) (2020)
    Michael Jackson: They Don't Care About Us (2020 Version)
    • Director
    • Music Video
    • 2020
  • Da 5 Bloods (2020)
    Da 5 Bloods
    • Director
    • 2020
  • 3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd (2020)
    3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2020
  • New York New York (2020)
    New York New York
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2020
  • She's Gotta Have It (2017)
    She's Gotta Have It
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 2017–2019
  • Michael B. Jordan in Coach: Words Matter (2019)
    Coach: Words Matter
    • Director
    • Video
    • 2019
  • Impact (2019)
    Impact
    • Director
    • Short
    • 2019
  • The Killers: Land of the Free (2019)
    The Killers: Land of the Free
    • Director
    • Music Video
    • 2019
  • John David Washington in BlacKkKlansman (2018)
    BlacKkKlansman
    • Director
    • 2018
  • Spike Lee, Blake DeLong, Danya Taymor, Jon Michael Hill, Antoinette Nwandu, Julian Parker, and Ryan Hallahan in Pass Over (2018)
    Pass Over
    • Director
    • 2018
  • Roger Guenveur Smith in Rodney King (2017)
    Rodney King
    • Director
    • TV Special
    • 2017

Producer

  • Untitled Budd Schulberg Project
    • executive producer
    • In Production
  • Da Understudy
    • executive producer
    • Pre-production
  • Leaving Yellowstone (2023)
    Leaving Yellowstone
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2023
  • The Captain (2022)
    The Captain
    • executive producer
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • Dian Bachar, Gerry Bednob, Robin Jarrett, Adam LaVorgna, Tony Luke Jr., Kenneth McGregor, Jerod Mixon, Brian O'Halloran, Chris Owen, Rakim, Carlos Ramirez, Bobby J. Brown, Robert L. Mickles, Brian J. Bentz, Michael Ryan Redding, Cheryl Spadt, Lee Farrell, Patrick Woodruff, Morgan West, Jessica Czop, Victoria Gates, Montana Marks, Aleksandra Svetlichnaya, Johnny Christos, Valerie Renee Heckel, Karine Dashney, Wesley Green, Matthew Cantor, Alexis Aponte, Natalie White, Dolores Hillgrube, Jack Davis, Alessandra Merlo, Nicolas Serra, and Kera Blair in Off-Time (2022)
    Off-Time
    • associate producer
    • 2022
  • Mariah Aaliyah Pharms, Stephen Laroy Thomas, Bruce Lemon, and Richard Nevels in Hallelujah (2022)
    Hallelujah
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2022
  • NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½ (2021)
    NYC Epicenters 9/11-2021½
    • producer
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2021
  • You Resemble Me (2021)
    You Resemble Me
    • executive producer
    • 2021
  • Tales from the Hood 3 (2020)
    Tales from the Hood 3
    • executive producer
    • Video
    • 2020
  • David Byrne's American Utopia (2020)
    David Byrne's American Utopia
    • executive producer
    • producer
    • 2020
  • Cedric the Entertainer, Lucas Till, Lucy Hale, and Lex Scott Davis in Son of the South (2020)
    Son of the South
    • executive producer
    • 2020
  • Da 5 Bloods (2020)
    Da 5 Bloods
    • producer (p.g.a.)
    • 2020
  • White Wedding (2019)
    White Wedding
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2019
  • American Skin (2019)
    American Skin
    • producer
    • 2019
  • She's Gotta Have It (2017)
    She's Gotta Have It
    • executive producer
    • TV Series
    • 2017–2019
  • Eden Duncan-Smith and Dante Crichlow in See You Yesterday (2019)
    See You Yesterday
    • producer
    • 2019
  • Cherish (2018)
    Cherish
    • executive producer
    • Short
    • 2018

Writer

  • Boner
    • Writer
    • Pre-production
  • Da 5 Bloods (2020)
    Da 5 Bloods
    • written by
    • 2020
  • 3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd (2020)
    3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd
    • Writer
    • Short
    • 2020
  • She's Gotta Have It (2017)
    She's Gotta Have It
    • created by
    • written by
    • based upon the film by (creator)
    • TV Series
    • 2017–2019
  • Michael B. Jordan in Coach: Words Matter (2019)
    Coach: Words Matter
    • Writer
    • Video
    • 2019
  • John David Washington in BlacKkKlansman (2018)
    BlacKkKlansman
    • written by
    • 2018
  • Chi-Raq (2015)
    Chi-Raq
    • written by
    • 2015
  • NBA 2K16 (2015)
    NBA 2K16
    • Writer
    • Video Game
    • 2015
  • Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014)
    Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
    • screenplay
    • 2014
  • Kelly Rowland: The Game (2014)
    Kelly Rowland: The Game
    • story by
    • Music Video
    • 2014
  • Red Hook Summer (2012)
    Red Hook Summer
    • screenplay
    • 2012
  • Anthony Mackie in She Hate Me (2004)
    She Hate Me
    • screenplay
    • 2004
  • We Wuz Robbed (2002)
    We Wuz Robbed
    • writer
    • Short
    • 2002
  • Promo Poster
    Bamboozled
    • written by
    • 2000
  • Summer of Sam (1999)
    Summer of Sam
    • screenplay
    • writer
    • 1999
  • Denzel Washington in He Got Game (1998)
    He Got Game
    • written by
    • 1998
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos31

A Guide to Spike Lee Joints
Clip 2:03
A Guide to Spike Lee Joints
Spike Lee: Four Decades of 'Wake Up!'
Clip 3:05
Spike Lee: Four Decades of 'Wake Up!'
Spike Lee: Movie Moments
Clip 2:20
Spike Lee: Movie Moments
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
Clip 2:02
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
Best of the IMDberet Answers From Cannes Stars
Interview 1:55
Best of the IMDberet Answers From Cannes Stars
Spike Lee, John David Washington and Laura Harrier Dissect 'BlacKkKlansman'
Interview 3:05
Spike Lee, John David Washington and Laura Harrier Dissect 'BlacKkKlansman'
Spike Lee on 'Michael Jackson's Journey From Motown to Off the Wall'
Interview 2:39
Spike Lee on 'Michael Jackson's Journey From Motown to Off the Wall'
Spike Lee on Academy Changing Its Rules to Include More Diversity
Interview 3:02
Spike Lee on Academy Changing Its Rules to Include More Diversity
Cronies
Interview 2:19
Cronies
90-Second Trailer
Trailer 1:31
90-Second Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:31
Official Trailer
Kobe Doin' Work
Trailer 1:15
Kobe Doin' Work

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Smug Films Greg DeLiso
  • Alternative names
    • Shelton J. Lee
  • Height
    • 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
  • Born
    • March 20, 1957
    • Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  • Spouse
    • Tonya Lewis LeeOctober 2, 1993 - present (2 children)
  • Children
      Satchel Lee
  • Parents
      Bill Lee
  • Relatives
      Malcolm D. Lee(Cousin)
  • Other works
    Profiles of John Thompson (1995) and Albert Belle (1996)
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 3 Print Biographies
    • 1 Portrayal
    • 18 Interviews
    • 39 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 7 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    His favorite movie is The Deer Hunter (1978). It is the movie that inspired him to be a director.
  • Quotes
    I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable.
  • Trademarks
      Frequently casts himself
  • Salary
    • Malcolm X
      (1992)
      $3,000,000

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