Spike Lee is an illustrious and formidable artist whose decades-spanning career includes dozens of films, television ventures, stage productions, and commercials. Since bursting onto the scene with his powerful debut feature, 1986's She's Gotta Have It, Lee's unique creative voice has only become more vital with time. Combining comedy, drama, stylistic storytelling, and social commentary, Lee's films shine a light on the black experience in America.
While known for dramatic films like Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Chi-raq, and BlacKkKlansman (for which he won his first Oscar), Lee is also an accomplished documentarian, noted for films such as 4 Little Girls and When the Levees Broke. Lee's latest film, 2020's Da 5 Bloods, proves the prolific filmmaker still has plenty to say.
Lee Was Born In Atlanta And Moved To Brooklyn As A Child
Lee was born into a creative family. The son of a literature professor and a jazz composer, Lee is the oldest of four siblings. Despite being born in Atlanta, Lee sees Brooklyn as his home. Lee's family relocated to the Burrough when he was still young.
Lee returned to Atlanta for college, where he graduated from the historic Morehouse College with a BA in Mass Communications. He also took film classes at Clark Atlanta University.
After Watching The Deer Hunter, Lee Decided He Wanted To Make Movies
Lee became enamored with movies by watching features from classic directors like Bernardo Bertolucci, Martin Scorsese, and Akira Kurosawa. However, it wasn't until Lee saw Michael Cimino's intense 1978 Vietnam War drama The Deer Hunter he knew he wanted to make movies.
John Wilson, Lee's longtime friend, told Vanity Fair that while driving home from the movie, Lee told Wilson, "I want to make movies." One of The Deer Hunter's actors, John Savage, would go on to star in Lee's film Do The Right Thing. Many critics also view Lee's Vietnam War drama 5 Da Bloods as a response to Cimino's movie.
He Studied Film At NYU's Tisch School Of The Arts
After his stint in Atlanta, Lee returned to New York. Back in the city, Lee studied filmmaking at New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts – eventually earning a Master's Degree. While at NYU, Lee attended a screening of Martin Scorsese's film After Hours.
Lee approached Scorsese after the screening, in hopes of asking him a few questions. As Lee shared with Variety, "He was very open. We talked. There were a lot of people there, but we had a moment."
His Master's Thesis Is The First Student Film Entered In The New Directors New Films Festival
Spike Lee made the student film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads while studying at NYU. Delving into life at a barbershop, the movie is the first student film to ever be included in Lincoln Center's New Directors New Films Festival.
Fellow NYU students and future directors Ang Lee and Ernest R. Dickerson worked on the film with Lee. Lee's father Bill composed the score.
Lee Is A Tenured Professor
In addition to being a renowned filmmaker, Lee is also an educator. After earning his Master's Degree, Lee taught filmmaking courses at Harvard before becoming a faculty member at his alma mater, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1993.
Lee now holds tenure at NYU. He is also the Tisch School's Artistic Director.
He Owns A Production Company Called 40 Acres And A Mule
Founded in 1979, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is named after the Reconstruction-era policy entitling freed black residents of Georgia 40 acres of land and access to surplus army mules. After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, incoming president Andrew Johnson revoked the policy and forced the people off the land they'd just been granted.
Most of Lee's films are produced through 40 Acres and a Mule, as well as television series. Lee also uses the company to fund projects for other black filmmakers.
In Addition To Films, The Company Produces Television Commercials
Thanks to the success of Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X, Lee expanded his production company to include clothing and television commercials. Lee has directed and produced videos for Levi's, Converse, Taco Bell, and Ben & Jerry's.
Lee's most famous commercial collaboration was with Michael Jordan on a Nike Air Jordan campaign. Nike asked Lee to revive his character from She's Gotta Have It, Mars Blackmon, for the sneaker campaign. Lee also uses40 Acres and a Mule as a vehicle for producing music videos.
Lee Sought An Injunction Against The Cable Channel Spike
After Viacom announced its cable television channel TNN was being renamed Spike, Spike Lee sued the company over rights to the name. Lee, worried watchers would associate the channel with him, wanted Viacom to pick a different name.
After filing an injunction against the name change, Lee and Viacom went to court over the matter. Eventually, Viacom agreed to change the name to Spike TV instead of Spike.
Lee Acts In Many Of His Films
In addition to working behind the scenes, Lee also puts himself in front of the camera. Lee has acted in quite a few of his movies, from School Daze to Jungle Fever to Clockers.
Lee plays Shorty alongside Denzel Washington's Malcolm X. He also reprises roles from earlier films in latter films as indicators of narrative continuity. He plays Mookie in both Do The Right Thing and Red Hook Summer.
He Wants To Make A Jackie Robinson Biopic
One of Spike Lee's unmet goals is to direct a biopic about baseball star Jackie Robinson. Lee's fascination with telling the story of the Brooklyn Dodgers player – and the first black man to join Major League Baseball in the modern era – goes back to the earliest days of his career.
Lee recently shared the script he wrote in 1996 on social media. His dream was to have Denzel Washington play Robinson, but it was never realized. Since then, Chadwick Boseman played Robinson in 2013's 42.