Spike Lee

Celebrity

  • Birth Name: Shelton Jackson Lee
  • Birth Place: Atlanta, GA
  • Date of Birth / Zodiac Sign: 03/20/1957, Pisces
  • Profession: Director; producer; screenwriter; actor
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Spike Lee Fast Facts:
  • His 10-minute student movie for grad school was called The Answer, about a black screenwriter hired to pen a remake of Birth of a Nation.
  • Has directed numerous TV commercials for companies such as Nike, AT&T and Levi's, and music videos for Public Enemy, Michael Jackson and Anita Baker.
  • Due to the mounting production cost of his 1992 biopic Malcolm X, solicited financial assistance from Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan and others so that the film could be completed.
  • Numerous honors include Sports Emmys for programs that aired on HBO—one on Mike Tyson, the other on former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson.
  • First movie to reach No. 1 at the box office was He Got Game (1998).
  • Won the 2006 George Polk Award for documentary journalism for his HBO series When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts; a follow-up film, If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, was released in 2010. 
  • Has published several books on filming techniques.
  • Most of his movies are referred to in the credits as "A Spike Lee Joint."
  • Spike Lee Relationships:
  • Cinque Lee - Brother
  • Jackson Lewis Lee - Son
  • Joie Lee - Sister
  • Arnold Lee - Half Brother
  • Chris Lee - Brother
  • William James Edwards Lee III - Father
  • Malcolm D. Lee - Cousin
  • David Lee - Brother
  • Satchel Lee - Daughter
  • Susan Kaplan - Stepmother
  • Tonya Lewis Lee - Wife
  • Jacquelyn Shelton Lee - Mother
  • Spike Lee Awards:
  • 1998 Emmy: Outstanding Non-Fiction Special - Nominee
  • 1990 Golden Globe: Best Screenplay - Motion Picture - Nominee
  • 1990 Golden Globe: Best Director - Motion Picture - Nominee
  • 1997 Oscar: Best Documentary (Feature) - Nominee
  • 1989 Oscar: Best Writing (Original Screenplay) - Nominee
  • 2007 Emmy: Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming - Winner
  • 2007 Emmy: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking - Winner
  • College:
  • Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA (BA in Communications, 1979); New York University, New York, NY (MFA in Filmmaking, 1982)
spike lee, tonya lewis Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com
spike lee, tonya lewis lee, red carpet Johnny Nunez/WireImage.com
Mark Cuban, Magic Johnson, Spike Lee  Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
sean combs, spike lee Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com
Spike Lee, Terrence Howard, John Singleton Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.com
Whitney Houston Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
more Spike Lee photos (13 total photos)
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