Spike Lee

Season 7, Episode 701

Original Airdate: January 21, 2001

Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957. Although born in Atlanta, Georgia, Lee grew up in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York. A star athlete, his dream as a child was to become a professional baseball player.

During the summer of 1977 while on a break from Atlanta's Morehouse College, Lee picked up a Super-8 camera and started shooting life in and around Brooklyn. The result was his first film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. The film received critical acclaim and when he returned that fall to Morehouse, he took up filmmaking.

He next attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree in film production. His senior feature, 1982's Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, was the first student effort ever showcased in Lincoln Center's “New Directors, New Films” series, and also garnered the Student Award from the AMPAS.

With no interest from the Hollywood studios, Lee turned to the independent film world for his next project, the 1986 comedy She's Gotta Have It. The film cost $175,000 to produce but earned $8 million at the box office. It also took the Prix de Jeunesse Award at Cannes.

However, his breakout film came in 1989 with Do the Right Thing. The film centered on the racial tensions on a hot summer day in Brooklyn and featured an all-star cast. It earned Lee an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and Golden Globe nominations for screenplay and directing. Since then, Lee has been regarded as one of today's most influential filmmakers because of his outspoken and provocative portrayal of African-American life.

He consistently challenges mainstream attitudes on race, class and gender by not giving final conclusions but by creating further discussion about the issues raised in his films. These include School Daze (1988), Mo Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1990), Malcolm X (1991), Crooklyn (1994) and Clockers (1995).

In 1997, his documentary 4 Little Girls was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary. Recent films include Summer of Sam (1999), Bamboozled (2000) and The Original Kings of Comedy (2000). Lee also is a member of the Advisory Board for The Independent Film Channel.