Spike Lee

Birthday: 20 March 1957, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Birth Name: Shelton Jackson Lee

Height: 165 cm

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 et compagnie (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. Hide

You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do Show more You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do. With She's Gotta Have It (1986), I don't think I got any revelation; it was just good to hear the women whom I interviewed confirm what I thought already. Hide

Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors, but I still think there is a lot o Show more Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors, but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is coonery and buffoonery. I know it's making a lot of money and breaking records, but we can do better. ... I am a huge basketball fan, and when I watch the games on TNT, I see these two ads for these two shows (Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2009) and House of Payne (2006)), and I am scratching my head. We got a black president, and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep 'n' Eat?". Hide

You just have to be on good terms with the actors and talk stuff out beforehand. A perfect example i Show more You just have to be on good terms with the actors and talk stuff out beforehand. A perfect example is She Hate Me - I had many different discussions with many different women, and also with [the actor] Anthony Mackie, so they knew. And this was before they even agreed to do the film. But actors want to know - 'Here, it says they make love. What type of acts are we talking about? What's going to be seen?' I have no problem with that. At the same time, I still want to allow myself some flexibility. But shooting a sex scene is very mechanical - 'Will you move this way? That way? Raise your leg?' And for the most part the crew isn't allowed to be there - I close the set, make it as comfortable as possible. Hide

[on the Academy Awards] What film won Best Picture in 1989? Driving Miss motherfucking Daisy! That's Show more [on the Academy Awards] What film won Best Picture in 1989? Driving Miss motherfucking Daisy! That's why [Oscars] don't matter. Because, 20 years later, who's watching Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Hide

I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have Show more 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. Hide

[on how independent filmmaking changed since he started] That might as well have been a million year Show more [on how independent filmmaking changed since he started] That might as well have been a million years ago. Filmmakers like Jim [Jim Jarmusch] and I, the only reason we went to film school was because of the equipment. We didn't care about the MFA. You went to film school to get the equipment. Now students look at the cost of going to schools and say, "I could use that money to buy my own camera and lighting kit." It's a new world. [2015] Hide

Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, e Show more Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, especially if you are an entertainer, you get a white trophy woman. I didn't make that up. Hide

For me, a large part of Jungle Fever (1991) is about sexual mythology: the mythology of a white woma Show more For me, a large part of Jungle Fever (1991) is about sexual mythology: the mythology of a white woman being on a pedestal, the universal standard of beauty, and the mythology about the black man as sexual stud with a ten-foot dick. Buying into the mythology is not a strong foundation for a relationship. Hide

[Speaking out after the death of comedian Richard Pryor]: "He was an innovator and a trailblazer. It Show more [Speaking out after the death of comedian Richard Pryor]: "He was an innovator and a trailblazer. It's a great loss". Hide

"I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common Show more "I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator." -- at the New York premiere of his media satire "Bamboozled". Hide

Black people can't be racist. Racism is an institution. Black people can't be racist. Racism is an institution.

But actresses are asked to compromise themselves, not just from the director but the producer too - Show more But actresses are asked to compromise themselves, not just from the director but the producer too - 'Are you going to show your tits or your ass?' They say that shit all the time. It is men making decisions. And of course they would rather have heads explode on screen than show a penis. Hide

You gotta make your own way. You gotta find a way. You gotta get it done. It's hard. It's tough. Tha Show more You gotta make your own way. You gotta find a way. You gotta get it done. It's hard. It's tough. That's what I tell my students every day in class.I've been very fortunate. Some people might call me a hardhead, but I'm not going to let other people dictate to me who I should be or the stories I should tell. That doesn't register with me. Hide

Wim Wenders had better watch out 'cause I'm waiting for his ass. Somewhere deep in my closet I have Show more Wim Wenders had better watch out 'cause I'm waiting for his ass. Somewhere deep in my closet I have a Louisville Slugger bat with Wenders' name on it. Hide

What's the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters? Mine are real. What's the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters? Mine are real.

Agents aren't going to get you anywhere if you aren't established. Agents aren't going to get you anywhere if you aren't established.

Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. Straight up and down, fi Show more Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. Straight up and down, film work is hard shit. Hide

[on why other companies passed on Chi-Raq (2015) before Amazon Studios] They never give you a reason Show more [on why other companies passed on Chi-Raq (2015) before Amazon Studios] They never give you a reason; they just say, "It's not for us." My co-writer Kevin Willmott and I wrote the script and went to Sundance and everybody was saying no, no, no, no, no. Amazon said yes. I tell my students, "All it takes is one yes. You get a bunch of motherf-ing nos, but all it takes is one yes." [2015] Hide

Racism is when you have laws set up, systematically put in the way to keep people from advancing, to Show more Racism is when you have laws set up, systematically put in the way to keep people from advancing, to stop the advancement of a people. Black people have never had the power to enforce racism, and so this is something that white America is going to have to work out themselves. If they decide they want to stop it, curtail it, or to do the right thing then it will be done, but not until then. Hide

"Before, I used to think that everything was based on race. Now class matters just as much. If you a Show more "Before, I used to think that everything was based on race. Now class matters just as much. If you are a poor person: black, white, Latino, whatever, the Bush Administration does not have your best interests at heart. If the Government thought poor people mattered, the response [to Katrina's disaster] would have been much quicker." (March 2006) Hide

It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody. It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody.

[on why he became a filmmaker] I had just finished my sophomore year, so I came back to New York try Show more [on why he became a filmmaker] I had just finished my sophomore year, so I came back to New York trying to find a summer job. Couldn't find one, so with a super-8 camera that I had gotten, I just spent the whole summer shooting stuff around New York City. That summer happened to the summer of 'the blackout' and that summer was also the first summer of disco, and there were always block-parties around everywhere, and people would just plug up their tables to the streetlights. That was the first summer that 'the hustle' came out, so I made a film called 'Last Hustle Brooklyn', which I inter-cut with the looting from the blackout and the block-party stuff. That's when I really decided I wanted to become a filmmaker. Hide

Create a list » User Lists Related lists from IMDb users The BEST / MY FAVORITE Directors Show more Create a list » User Lists Related lists from IMDb users The BEST / MY FAVORITE Directors of All Time List! IN ORDER!! a list of 25 people created 25 Jul 2011 Greatest American Dirctors a list of 25 people created 24 Jan 2012 Best Director since 1970 (my personal choice) a list of 46 people created 25 Feb 2012 Some of the Most Creative People in Film a list of 25 people created 01 May 2013 Celebrities I hate a list of 41 people created 26 May 2014 See all related lists » Hide

[re Old Boy (2013)] Rage doesn't have to fester for years, but revenge? That stuff takes time. It's Show more [re Old Boy (2013)] Rage doesn't have to fester for years, but revenge? That stuff takes time. It's the oldest staple of films, in stories. It goes back to the Bible. Hide

Spike Lee's FILMOGRAPHY

All as Actor (127) as Director (19) as Creator (9)

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus

He Got Game

Mo Better Blues

Do The Right Thing

She's Gotta Have It - Season 1

School Daze

Chi-Raq

Jungle Fever

Summer of Sam