Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American filmmaker and actor. 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.
9
9
3
9
9
4
Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each wa...
More info9
9
5
9
9
6
Several Black men take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in...
More info
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years ...
More info9
9
7
Nearly 2 hours of the short films that made HIStory... Including never before released short films....
More info
On September 15, 1963, a bomb destroyed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young gi...
More info9
9
8
John Leguizamo's semi-falsified, one-man stand-up performance as...himself. This is his autobiograph...
More info
A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter pri...
More info9
9
9
Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on...
More info0
0
0
The house is rockin' and the laughs are rollin' as comedians Steve Harvey (The Steve Harvey Show), D...
More info
A documentarian decides to follow the career of New York actress Lisa Picard, believing she is on th...
More info
This documentary showcases basketball player Michael Jordan's awe-inspiring moves, providing behind-...
More info
Frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea, producer Pierre Delacroix pitches the worst id...
More info0
0
1
The story of how the radical Huey P. Newton developed the Black Panther Party based on his 10-point ...
More info0
0
2
Ten Minutes Older is a 2002 film project consisting of two compilation feature films entitled The Tr...
More info
Jim Brown: All-American is a 2002 documentary film directed by Spike Lee. The film takes a look at t...
More info0
0
3
0
0
4
Fired from his job, a former executive turns to impregnating wealthy lesbians for profit....
More info
The film follows three young men as they are drawn into lives of crime. Nick (Crowley) uses his entr...
More info0
0
5
This documentary follows the 2002 mayoral campaign in Newark, New Jersey, in which a City Councilman...
More info
0
0
6
When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective a...
More info0
0
7
0
0
8
Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black ...
More info0
0
9
A documentary following Kobe Bryant during one day of the 2008 NBA playoffs....
More info0
1
0
Reggie Miller single-handedly crushed the hearts of Knick fans multiple times. But it was the 1995 E...
More info0
1
1
Documentary about British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng....
More info0
1
2
0
1
3
Mike Tyson's one-man show is a fascinating journey into his storied life and career. MIKE TYSON: UN...
More info0
1
4
Katt Williams performs in an all-new stand-up special recorded in front of a live audience at the Ci...
More info
Rising comedy star Jerrod Carmichael takes to the stage of The Comedy Store in Hollywood, CA where h...
More info0
1
5
Dr. Hess Green becomes cursed by a mysterious ancient African artifact and is overwhelmed with a new...
More info0
1
6
0
1
7
0
1
8
Unbanned explores the dynamic life of AJ1 from its unlikely origins to its role in disrupting NBA ru...
More info
Directors Jonathan Alter, John Block and Steve McCarthy bring New York columnists Jimmy Breslin and ...
More info
Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman...
More info0
1
9
0
2
0
A filmed version of David Byrne's Broadway show, a unifying musical celebration that inspires audien...
More info
Four African-American Vietnam veterans return to Vietnam. They are in search of the remains of their...
More info0
2
1
An intimate look at the Oscar-nominated actor’s incomparable artistry, and the acting process which ...
More infoRecent movies
| # | Name | Character | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sidney (2022) | Self | - | - |
| 2 | Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist (2021) | Self | 8 | |
| 3 | David Byrne's American Utopia (2020) | Director / Writer | 7.5 | |
| 4 | Da 5 Bloods (2020) | Director / Writer | 7.3 | |
| 5 | Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1 (2018) | Self | - | - |
| 6 | Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists (2018) | Self | - | - |
| 7 | BlacKkKlansman (2018) Oscars winners 2019 | Director / Writer | 7.8 | |
| 8 | Pass Over (2018) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 9 | Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (2016) | Director / Writer | 8 | |
| 10 | Chi-Raq (2015) | Director / Writer | 7 | |
| 11 | Champs (2015) | Self | 1 | |
| 12 | Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2015) | Director / Writer | 5 | |
| 13 | Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife (2014) | Director / Writer | 7 | |
| 14 | Jerrod Carmichael: Love at the Store (2014) | Director / Writer | 7.3 | |
| 15 | Oldboy (2013) | Director / Writer | 7 | |
| 16 | Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (2013) | Director / Writer | 7 | |
| 17 | Bad 25 (2012) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 18 | A Man's Story (2011) | Self | - | - |
| 19 | Guest (2011) | Self | - | - |
| 20 | Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks (2010) | Self | 8.5 | |
| 21 | Kobe Doin' Work (2009) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 22 | Miracle at St. Anna (2008) | Director / Writer | 6.2 | |
| 23 | Inside Man (2006) | Director / Writer | 7.5 | |
| 24 | Street Fight (2005) | Self | - | - |
| 25 | All the Invisible Children (2005) | Director / Writer | 10 | |
| 26 | She Hate Me (2004) | Director / Writer | 5 | |
| 27 | Sucker Free City (2004) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 28 | Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) | Director / Writer | 6 | |
| 29 | Jim Brown: All-American (2002) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 30 | 25th Hour (2002) | Director / Writer | 7.7 | |
| 31 | 3 A.M. (2001) | Filmmaker | - | - |
| 32 | A Huey P. Newton Story (2001) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 33 | The Original Kings of Comedy (2000) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 34 | Lisa Picard Is Famous (2000) | Spike Lee | - | - |
| 35 | Michael Jordan to the Max (2000) | Self | - | - |
| 36 | Bamboozled (2000) | Director / Writer | 6 | |
| 37 | Summer of Sam (1999) | Director / Writer | 5 | |
| 38 | John Leguizamo: Freak (1998) | Director / Writer | - | - |
| 39 | He Got Game (1998) | Director / Writer | 7.5 | |
| 40 | HIStory on Film, Volume II (1997) | Director / Writer | 7 | |
| 41 | 4 Little Girls (1997) Oscars 1998 | Director / Writer | 9 | |
| 42 | Get on the Bus (1996) | Director / Writer | 8 | |
| 43 | When We Were Kings (1996) | Self | 8.3 | |
| 44 | Girl 6 (1996) | Director / Writer | 6 | |
| 45 | Clockers (1995) | Director / Writer | 9 | |
| 46 | Hoop Dreams (1994) | Self | 6.8 | |
| 47 | Crooklyn (1994) | Director / Writer | 9 | |
| 48 | Malcolm X (1992) | Director / Writer | 7.8 | |
| 49 | Jungle Fever (1991) | Director / Writer | 7 | |
| 50 | Mo' Better Blues (1990) | Director / Writer | 6.5 | |
| 51 | Do the Right Thing (1989) | Director / Writer | 7.5 | |
| 52 | Public Enemy: Fight the Power... Live! (1989) | - | - | - |
| 53 | School Daze (1988) | Director / Writer | 10 | |
| 54 | She's Gotta Have It (1986) | Director / Writer | 6.5 |

