Spike Lee

From Free net encyclopedia

Shelton Jackson Lee (born March 20, 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia), better known as Spike Lee, is a groundbreaking and controversial film director, producer, writer, and actor noted for his many films dealing with social and political issues. He is also a distinguished documentarian and teaches film at New York University.

1 Biography
2 Racism
3 Comments about Charlton Heston
4 Trivia
5 Selected filmography (as director)
6 External links

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Biography

Born in Atlanta, Lee moved with his family to Brooklyn when he was a small child. In Brooklyn he attended John Dewey High School. Lee enrolled at Morehouse College where he received his B.A. in Mass Communications and, in 1982, a Master of Fine Arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

At their best, Lee's films are penetrating and energetic portraits of people and places, interweaving psychology and context, time and place. Lee's movies have examined diverse and complex issues, ranging from race relations, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and political issues. Many of his films include a distinctive use of music. Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee, is a jazz bassist and responsible for the music in some of Spike's films, including Mo' Better Blues starring Denzel Washington.

Lee's films have garnered considerable critical acclaim. Film critic Roger Ebert has described Spike Lee as one of the greatest filmmakers in America today. Lee's film Do the Right Thing was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1989. His documentary 4 Little Girls was nominated for the Best Feature Documentary Academy Award in 1997.

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Racism

Lee has never shied away from controversial statements and actions involving American race relations. In 1992, Lee encouraged young black students to skip school and flock to theatres to see his movie Malcolm X. Ten years later, after headline-grabbing remarks made by Mississippi Senator Trent Lott regarding Senator Strom Thurmond's failed Presidential bid, Lee charged that Lott was a "card-carrying member of the [Ku Klux] Klan" on ABC's "Good Morning America" — a charge which proved false. In addition, Lee claims that NASCAR is a racist institution and has implicated country music to some degree by association.

Spike Lee has been criticized for depicting Italian-Americans in a sterotypical manner in some of his films, most notably "Do The Right Thing." He has also been criticized for his oft-apparent anti-Semitisim, and was once quoted as saying, "There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic."

More recently, Spike Lee commented on the federal government's heavily criticized response to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina catastrophe. Responding to a CNN anchor's question as to whether or not 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."

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Comments about Charlton Heston

In 1998, at the screening of his new movie 'Summer Of Sam' at the Cannes Film Festival, Mr.Lee was asked what he would do to combat violence in the USA. Lee replied that the National Rifle Association should be disbanded and Charlton Heston shot with a .44 Bulldog. [1]

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Trivia

Spike started a new era of African-American cinema in 1986 with the movie "She's Gotta Have It". He also helped launch the careers of Wesley Snipes (Mo' Better Blues), Martin Lawrence (Do The Right Thing), Academy Award nominated actor Laurence Fishburne (School Daze) and Academy Award winners Halle Berry (Jungle Fever) and Denzel Washington (Mo' Better Blues).

Always credits his films as "A Spike Lee Joint".

Spike is the son of famous composer Bill Lee. Bill Lee has been the composer for at least 5 of Spike's films.

In Paris, France, in 2003, Lee received an honorary Cesar Award for Lifetime Achievement in the film industry.

He is a big fan and admirer of fellow New York City film director Martin Scorsese. Lee was particularly appalled at how Scorsese's classic Raging Bull was passed over for the Best Picture Oscar for Ordinary People.

Lee's classmate in Tisch School of the Arts was Oscar-winning director Ang Lee. The Taiwanese director was the assistant director for Spike Lee's thesis film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.

In 2003 Lee sued the Spike TV television network claiming that they were capitalizing on his fame by using his name for their network. The claim was settled out of court.

Lee also appeared in the documentary Hoop Dreams, giving a lecture to young African-American students getting a college sponsorship for their basketball talents.

His production company is 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, named after the "40 acres and a mule," that was promised to the freed African American slaves in 1865.

Lee is also famous for directing a series of Nike commercials featuring Michael Jordan, which helped establish Jordan as a highly successful commercial pitchman. In several of the commercials, Lee also played his alter ego of Mars Blackmon, a character he created for his first major film, She's Gotta Have It.

Lee received death threats, allegedly from the Nation of Islam, over his 1992 biopic Malcolm X. The threats prompted Lee to remove scenes in which the NOI is depicted as plotting the murder of Malcolm X.

He is a well-known and highly visible fan of the NBA's New York Knicks, a team he has supported since childhood. Lee has courtside seats, and had several famous verbal run-ins with ex-Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller. On April 5, 2005 after Miller's last game at the Knicks home court Madison Square Garden, Miller and Lee hugged each other.

Lee's sports interests are not limited to basketball. In 2005, he became a season ticketholder for Inter Milan. Lee is also shown at Yankee Stadium with a Yankee hat on. [2] He has also publicly stated an affection for Arsenal Football Club in London and has a close relationship with its captain Thierry Henry. [3]Spike is also a fan of the USC Trojans
Was voted the 48th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.