Spike Lee

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It has been suggested that List of awards and nominations received by Spike Lee be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2012.
Spike Lee
Spike Lee (2012).jpg
Lee in 2012
Born Shelton Jackson Lee
(1957-03-20) March 20, 1957 (age 56)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Residence New York City, New York
Nationality American
Education Morehouse College
Alma mater New York University,
Tisch School of the Arts
Occupation Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Years active 1977–present
Home town Brooklyn, New York
Board member of 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
Spouse(s) Tonya Lewis (1993–present)
Children Satchel Lee (b. 1994), Jackson (b. 1997)
Awards List of awards and nominations received by Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.

Lee's movies have examined race relations, colorism in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has won numerous awards, including an Emmy Award. He has also received two Academy Award nominations.

Contents

Early life

Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Jacqueline Carroll (née Shelton), a teacher of arts and black literature, and William James Edward Lee III, a jazz musician and composer.[1][2] Lee also had three younger siblings Joie, David, and Cinqué, who all worked in many different positions in Lee's films. When he was a child, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York. During his childhood, his mother nicknamed him "Spike." In Brooklyn, he attended John Dewey High School.

Lee enrolled in Morehouse College, a historically black college, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a B.A. in Mass Communication from Morehouse. He did graduate work at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Television.[3]

Personal life

Lee and his wife, attorney Tonya Lewis, had their first child, daughter Satchel, in December 1994.[4] They also have a son, Jackson, born in 1997.[5] Spike Lee is a fan of the American baseball team the New York Yankees, basketball team the New York Knicks, and the English football team Arsenal.[6] One of the documentaries in ESPN's 30 for 30 series, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, focuses partly on Lee's interaction with Miller at Knicks games in Madison Square Garden.

Film career

Main article: Spike Lee filmography
Lee in 2007

Lee's thesis film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center's New Directors New Films Festival.

In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It. With a budget of $175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $7,000,000 at the U.S. box office.[7]

In mid-1990, Levi's began producing a series of TV commercials directed by Lee for their 501 button fly jeans.[8]

Marketing executives from Nike[dead link][9] offered Lee a job directing commercials for the company. They wanted to pair Lee's character, the Michael Jordan-loving Mars Blackmon, and Jordan in a marketing campaign for the Air Jordan line. Later, Lee was called on to comment on the controversy surrounding the inner-city rash of violence involving youths trying to steal Air Jordans from other kids.[10] He said that, rather than blaming manufacturers of apparel that gained popularity, "deal with the conditions that make a kid put so much importance on a pair of sneakers, a jacket and gold". Through the marketing wing of 40 Acres and a Mule, Lee has directed commercials for Converse, Jaguar, Taco Bell and Ben & Jerry's.

Controversies

Lee in September 2011

As Lee became more well known and his work and comments were followed more closely, he became embroiled in some controversies. After the 1990 release of Mo' Better Blues, Lee was accused of antisemitism by the Anti-Defamation League and several film critics. They criticized the characters of the club owners Josh and Moe Flatbush, described as "Shylocks". Lee denied the charge, explaining that he wrote those characters in order to depict how black artists struggled against exploitation. Lee said that Lew Wasserman, Sidney Sheinberg or Tom Pollock, the Jewish heads of MCA and Universal Studios, were unlikely to allow antisemitic content in a film they produced. He said he could not make an antisemitic film because Jews run Hollywood, and "that's a fact."[11]

In May 1999, the New York Post reported that Lee made an inflammatory comment about Charlton Heston, president of the National Rifle Association, while speaking to reporters at the Cannes Film Festival. Lee was quoted as saying the National Rifle Association should be disbanded and, of Heston, someone should "Shoot him with a .44 Bull Dog."[12][13] Lee said he intended it as a joke. He was responding to coverage about whether Hollywood was responsible for school shootings. Lee said, "The problem is guns," he said.[14] Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey condemned Lee as having "nothing to offer the debate on school violence except more violence and more hate."[14]

In 2002, after remarks made by Mississippi Senator Trent Lott regarding Senator Strom Thurmond's failed presidential bid, Lee said that Lott was a "card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan."[15]

In June 2003 Lee sought an injunction against Spike TV to prevent them from using his nickname.[16] Lee claimed that because of his fame, viewers would think he was associated with the new channel.[17][18]

Lee sparked controversy on a March 28, 2004, segment on ABC when he said that basketball player Larry Bird was overrated because of his race, saying, "The most overrated player of all time, I would say it'd be Larry Bird. Now, Larry Bird is one of the greatest players of all time, but listen to the white media, it's like this guy was like nobody ever played basketball before him—Larry Bird, Larry Bird, Larry Bird, Larry Bird, Larry Bird."[19][20]

In October 2005, Lee commented on the federal government's response to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina catastrophe. Responding to a CNN anchor's question as to whether the government intentionally ignored the plight of black Americans during the disaster, Lee replied, "It's not too far-fetched. I don't put anything past the United States government. I don't find it too far-fetched that they tried to displace all the black people out of New Orleans." On Real Time with Bill Maher, Lee cited the government's past atrocities including the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.[21]

At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Lee, who was then making Miracle at St. Anna, about an all-black U.S. division fighting in Italy during World War II, criticized director Clint Eastwood for not depicting black Marines in his own WWII film, Flags of Our Fathers. Citing historical accuracy, Eastwood responded that his film was specifically about the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima, pointing out that while black Marines did fight at Iwo Jima, the U.S. military was segregated during WWII, and none of the men who raised the flag were black. Eastwood also pointed out that his 1988 film Bird, about the Jazz musician Charlie Parker featured 90% black actors, and sarcastically said that Invictus, his then-upcoming film about post-apartheid South Africa, would not feature a white actor in the role of Nelson Mandela. He angrily said that Lee should "shut his face". Lee responded that Eastwood was acting like an "angry old man", and argued that despite making two Iwo Jima films back to back, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, "there was not one black soldier in both of those films".[22][23][24] He added that he and Eastwood were "not on a plantation."[25] In fact, black Marines are seen in scenes during which the mission is outlined, as well as during the initial landings, when a wounded black Marine is carried away. During the end credits, historical photographs taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima show black Marines. Although black Marines fought in the battle, they were restricted to auxiliary roles such as ammunition supply, and were not involved in the battle's major assaults, but took part in defensive actions.[26] Lee later claimed that the event was exaggerated by the media and that he and Eastwood had reconciled through mutual friend Steven Spielberg, culminating in his sending Eastwood a print of Miracle at St. Anna.[27]

During a lecture at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada on February 11, 2009,[28] Lee criticized how some in the black community wrongfully associate "intelligence with acting white, and ignorance with acting black", admonishing students and parents to maintain more positive attitudes in order to follow their dreams and achieve their goals.[29]

In March 2012, after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Spike Lee was one of many people who used Twitter to circulate a message which claimed to give the home address of the shooter. The address turned out to be incorrect, causing the occupants to leave home and stay at a hotel. Lee issued an apology, and reached an agreement which included compensation.[30][31]

Use of actors

Recurring actors

Lee has worked with several favorite actors in his feature films. Joie Lee (Lee's sister) and John Turturro leads the list with nine feature films each, more than any other actors Lee has worked with.

Actor She's Gotta Have It
(1986)		 School Daze
(1988)		 Do the Right Thing
(1989)		 Mo' Better Blues
(1990)		 Jungle Fever
(1991)		 Malcolm X
(1992)		 Crooklyn
(1994)		 Clockers
(1995)		 Girl 6
(1996)		 Get on the Bus
(1996)		 He Got Game
(1998)		 Summer of Sam
(1999)		 Bamboozled
(2000)		 25th Hour
(2002)		 She Hate Me
(2004)		 Inside Man
(2006)		 Miracle at St. Anna
(2008)		 Red Hook Summer
(2012)		 Oldboy
(2013)
Rick Aiello NoN NoN NoN NoN
Lemon Andersen NoN NoN NoN
De'Adre Aziza NoN NoN
Susan Batson NoN NoN NoN NoN
Richard Belzer NoN NoN
Halle Berry NoN NoN
Michael Badalucco NoN NoN NoN
Jim Brown NoN NoN
Thomas Jefferson Byrd NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Victor Colicchio NoN NoN
Joe Chrest NoN NoN
Ruby Dee NoN NoN
Ossie Davis NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Rosario Dawson NoN NoN
Kim Director NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Chiwetel Ejiofor NoN NoN
Giancarlo Esposito NoN NoN NoN NoN
Jennifer Esposito NoN NoN
Tyra Ferrell NoN NoN
Frances Foster NoN NoN NoN
Michael Genet NoN NoN
Hill Harper NoN NoN
Robin Harris NoN NoN
Zelda Harris NoN NoN
Michael Imperioli NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Samuel L. Jackson NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Tracy Camilla Johns NoN NoN NoN
David Patrick Kelly NoN NoN
Bill Lee NoN NoN
Cinqué Lee NoN NoN
Joie Lee NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
John Leguizamo NoN NoN
Brad Leland NoN NoN
Delroy Lindo NoN NoN NoN
Debi Mazar NoN NoN NoN
Lonette McKee NoN NoN NoN NoN
Coati Mundi NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Charlie Murphy NoN NoN
Elvis Nolasco NoN NoN
Bill Nunn NoN NoN NoN NoN
Paula Jai Parker NoN NoN NoN
Wendell Pierce NoN NoN
Christopher Plummer NoN NoN
Dania Ramirez NoN NoN
Theresa Randle NoN NoN NoN
James Ransone NoN NoN NoN
Monty Ross NoN NoN NoN
Mike Starr NoN NoN
Miguel Sandoval NoN NoN
John Savage NoN NoN
Joe Seneca NoN NoN NoN
Al Sharpton NoN NoN
Roger Guenveur Smith NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Keith Randolph Smith NoN NoN
Wesley Snipes NoN NoN
Mira Sorvino NoN NoN
Joseph Lyle Taylor NoN NoN NoN NoN
Leonard L. Thomas NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
John Turturro NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Nicholas Turturro NoN NoN NoN NoN
Frank Vincent NoN NoN
Denzel Washington NoN NoN NoN NoN
Isaiah Washington NoN NoN NoN NoN
Kerry Washington NoN NoN
Veronica Webb NoN NoN
Michole Briana White NoN NoN
Steve White NoN NoN NoN NoN NoN
Isiah Whitlock, Jr. NoN NoN NoN
Kristen Wilson NoN NoN
Actor She's Gotta Have It
(1986)		 School Daze
(1988)		 Do the Right Thing
(1989)		 Mo' Better Blues
(1990)		 Jungle Fever
(1991)		 Malcolm X
(1992)		 Crooklyn
(1994)		 Clockers
(1995)		 Girl 6
(1995)		 Get on the Bus
(1996)		 He Got Game
(1998)		 Summer of Sam
(1999)		 Bamboozled
(2000)		 25th Hour
(2002)		 She Hate Me
(2004)		 Inside Man
(2006)		 Miracle at St. Anna
(2008)		 Red Hook Summer
(2012)		 Oldboy
(2013)

Public figures as actors

Several well-known public figures have appeared in Lee's feature films portraying characters other than themselves. They include:

Awards, honors and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Spike Lee
Lee at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
  • 1989, Lee's film Do the Right Thing was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1989. Many people, including Hollywood's Kim Basinger believed that Do the Right Thing also deserved a Best Picture nomination. Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture that year. Lee said in an April 7, 2006 interview with New York magazine that the other film's success, which he thought was based on safe stereotypes, hurt him more than if his film had not been nominated for an award.[32]
  • On May 2, 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honored Spike Lee with the San Francisco Film Society's Directing Award. He received the 2008 Wexner Prize.[33]

References

  1. ^ "Spike Lee Biography (1956?-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
  2. ^ "7". Who Do You Think You Are?. Season 1. Episode 7. 2010-04-30. NBC.
  3. ^ "SHELTON "SPIKE" LEE '79". Morehouse College. 2012-04-09. Retrieved 2012-04-09. 
  4. ^ "Milestones". Time. December 19, 1994. 
  5. ^ 7:55:am (2009-10-27). "Black Celebrity Kids,babies,and their Parents » SPIKE LEE AND KIDS ATTEND MICHAEL JACKSON’S THIS IS IT PREMIERE". Blackcelebkids.Com. Retrieved 2012-08-28. 
  6. ^ "Arsenal Supporters Series: Spike Lee". Arsenal.theoffside.com. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
  7. ^ "She's Gotta Have It (1986)". Box Office Mojo. 1986-08-26. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 
  8. ^ Elliott, Stuart (July 22, 1991). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: Advertising; Levi and Spike Lee Return In 'Button Your Fly' Part 2". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "Kindred, Dave; "Mars points NBA to next Milky Way – advertising character Mars Blackmon"; findarticles.com; July 21, 1997". Findarticles.com. 1997-07-21. Retrieved 2011-06-13. [dead link]
  10. ^ http://chucksconnection.com/articles/ConverseArt08.html
  11. ^ James, Caryn (August 16, 1990). "Spike Lee's Jews and the Passage From Benign Cliche Into Bigotry". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2009. 
  12. ^ May 28, 1999 (1999-05-28). "Spike Lee Says Remark About Shooting Heston Was A Joke - Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2013-02-13. 
  13. ^ "Heston was always a man of his words - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2013-02-13. 
  14. ^ a b "Living foot to mouth". Salon.com. 1999-05-28. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 
  15. ^ Wolf, Buck (December 19, 2002). "Spike Lee Blasts Trent Lott". ABC News. 
  16. ^ Romano, Allison (2003-04-21). "TNN Hopes Mainly Men Will Watch "Spike TV"s". Retrieved 2007-08-31. 
  17. ^ Breaking... - 6/16/2003 - Broadcasting & Cable
  18. ^ "Spike sues over channel name". BBC News. June 4, 2003. Retrieved May 23, 2010. 
  19. ^ Daniel Sterman (April 13, 2004). "Double Standards". The Columbia Spectator. [dead link]
  20. ^ J. Colin Trisler (March 24, 2004). "Racial Double Standard. Spike Lee's comments unacceptable". The Daily Reveille. 
  21. ^ "Clip of Lee expressing his views of the Hurricane Katrina and Tuskegee matters on ''Real Time with Bill Maher''". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 
  22. ^ Marikar, Sheila (June 6, 2008). "Spike Strikes Back: Clint's 'an Angry Old Man". ABC News. 
  23. ^ "Eastwood hits back at Lee claims". BBC News Online. June 6, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 
  24. ^ Lyman, Eric J. (2008-05-21). "Lee calls out Eastwood, Coens over casting". The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily from Cannes (Cannes) (8): 3, 24. 
  25. ^ Wainwright, Martin (9 June 2008). "'We're not on a plantation, Clint'". The Guardian. 
  26. ^ "Rundles, Jim; "Black Marines Were Fighting on Iwo Jima" at Montford Point Marines". Mpma28.com. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 
  27. ^ "Access Exclusive: Spike Lee On Clint Eastwood: 'We're Cool'" OMG!/Yahoo! September 6, 2008[dead link]
  28. ^ "Black History Month. Spike Lee to Speak at Concordia University, in Montreal". Tolerance.ca. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 
  29. ^ De Paula, Bruno (March 3, 2009). "An Afternoon With Spike Lee". The Concordian. 
  30. ^ "Spike Lee apologizes for retweeting wrong Zimmerman address". CNN. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-03-29. 
  31. ^ Muskal, Michael (2012-03-29). "Trayvon Martin: Spike Lee settles with family forced to flee home". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-04-01. 
  32. ^ Hill, Logan (2008-04-07). "Q&A with Spike Lee on Making 'Do the Right Thing". New York. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 
  33. ^ ""Spike Lee to Receive the Wexner Prize"; Wexner Center for the Arts". Wexarts.org. Retrieved 2011-06-13. 

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