Actors - Melvin Van Peebles

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	Actors - Melvin Van Peebles

Melvin Van Peebles (born August 21, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor, director, screenwriter and composer, and the father of actor and director Mario Van Peebles.

Van Peebles also sacrificed his own job so other people of color could keep theirs, helping break some of the color barriers in the film trade unions.

Prior to entering Hollywood, Van Peebles directed the French film Story of a Three Day Pass (La Permission). His first Hollywood film was the 1970 comedy Watermelon Man
, with writer Herman Raucher. The movie told the story of a casually racist but well meaning white man who wakes up black and finds himself alienated from his friends, family, and job.

Van Peebles followed this by writing and directing the independent feature Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
which is credited with starting the blaxploitation genre. His son Mario's 2004 film BAADASSSSS!
tells the story behind his father's film. Since the success of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, he has directed only a small number of other films.

Melvin Van Peebles speaks English, French and Dutch. He was educated at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Van Peebles was recently the subject of a documentary entitled How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) (2005).

Filmography

As director

Pickup Men for Herrick (short, 1957) also writer and composer
Sunlight (short, 1957) also writer, composer and producer
Cinq cent balles (short, 1963) also writer and composer
The Story of a Three-Day Pass (also known as La Permission
, 1967) also writer, from his novel La Permission, and composer
Watermelon Man
(1970) also composer
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
(1971) also actor, writer, composer, co-producer and editor
Don't Play Us Cheap (1973) also writer, from his book Harlem Party
and stage musical Don't Play Us Cheap, and composer
Identity Crisis (1989) also actor, producer and editor
Vroom Vroom Vroooom (segment from Tales of Erotica, also known as Erotic Tales, 1996) also writer, composer, producer and editor
Gang in Blue (1996) co-director, actor and producer
Le Conte du ventre plein (also known as Bellyful, 2000) also writer, composer and delegate producer

Other Credits

Just an Old Sweet Song (also known as Down Home, Robert Ellis Miller, 1976) made for television; screenwriter and theme song
Greased Lightning
(Michael Schultz, 1977) screenwriter
The Sophisticated Gents (Harry Falk, 1981) made for television; actor, screenwriter, song “Greased Lightning” and producer
The Day They Came to Arrest the Book (Gilbert Moses, 1987) made for television; screenwriter
O.C. and Stiggs (Robert Altman, 1987) actor
Jaws: The Revenge
(Joseph Sargent, 1987) actor
Sonny Spoon (1988) television series; actor
Posse (Mario Van Peebles, 1993) actor
Panther (Mario Van Peebles, 1995) based on his novel Panther, screenwriter, actor and producer
The Shining (Mick Garris, 1997) television movie; actor
Melvin Van Peebles' Classified X (Mark Daniels, 1998) documentary; screenwriter, actor and executive producer)
The Hebrew Hammer
(Jonathan Kesselman, 2003) actor

Discography

Watermelon Man OST (year unknown)
Brer Soul (1969)
Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death (1970)
Sweet Sweetback's Baadassssss Song OST (1971)
Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death Broadway Cast (1972)
Don't Play Us Cheap OST (1973)
As Serious As A Heart-Attack (1974)
What the…You Mean I Can't Sing? (1974)
X-Rated by an All-White Jury (year unknown)
Ghetto Gothic (1995)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Melvin Van Peebles ]

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