Spike Lee was born
Shelton Lee in 1957,
in Atlanta, Georgia.
At a very young age,
he moved from
pre-civil rights
Georgia, to
Brooklyn, New York.
Lee came from a
proud and
intelligent
background. 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 from
Morehouse, to go 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.
However, success did
not mean money, and
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. With
School Daze (1988)
in profit, 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 portrayed
a neighborhood
(Bed-Stuy, to be
exact) on a very hot
day, and the racial
tensions that
emerge. The movie
garnered an Oscar
nomination, for
Danny Aiello, for
supporting actor. It
also sparked a
debate on racial
relations and
exactly where Lee
was taking the film.
Lee went on to
produce the jazz
biopic Mo' Better
Blues (1990), which
is often considered
heavy handed, but
still good, and did
not seem to be as
controversial as his
previous efforts,
but 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
although it did not
quite arouse the
debate that similar
earlier films did,
such as Guess Who's
Coming to Dinner
(1967). 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.
It was well received
and well liked, if
for nothing else
than the fine
quality of acting
and directing the
film showed its
audience.
Bamboozled (2000),
proved so over the
top and too much for
Hollywood. The movie
made a near 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.
His personal life
has become somewhat
well known, too. He
had a relationship
with Halle Berry and
started a family
with Tonya Lewis
Lee, with whom he
has two children.
Lee is also known to
have an obsessive
love of the New York
Knicks.
With pointed
political messages,
insightful,
different and
intelligent films,
Spike Lee has become
a well known
political presence.
He looks likely to
have further success
in the film
business.
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