Actors - Spike Lee

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	Actors - Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson Lee (born March 20, 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia), better known as Spike Lee, is a 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.

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.

Trivia

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 once worked on the crew of 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, one of the strongest football (soccer) clubs in Italy and Europe. Lee is also shown at Yankee Stadium with a Yankee hat on. He has also publicly stated an affection for Arsenal Football Club in London and has a close relationship with its captain Thierry Henry.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Spike Lee ]

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