Lee, Spike (1957-…), is an African American motion-picture director. He emerged in the 1980’s as the most prominent figure in a new generation of Black filmmakers. Many of Lee’s films explore controversial issues within the urban Black community and deal with relations among ethnic groups. Lee also writes and acts in many of the films he directs. BlacKkKlansman (2018), directed and co-written by Lee, won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.
Lee’s film School Daze (1988) is a musical about conflicts between light- and dark-skinned Black college students. Do the Right Thing (1989) focuses on an Italian American pizza parlor in a Black neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City. Jungle Fever (1991) is about a romance between a Black man and a white Italian American woman, and drug problems in the Black community. Malcolm X (1992) is a biography of the African American leader, who was assassinated in 1965. Crooklyn (1994) is a nostalgic look back at Lee’s childhood in New York City. Clockers (1995) explores violence and drug dealing in a poor Black community.
Lee’s other movies include She’s Gotta Have It (1986), his first; Mo’ Better Blues (1990); Get on the Bus (1996); He Got Game (1998); Summer of Sam (1999); 25th Hour (2002); She Hate Me (2004); Inside Man (2006); Miracle at St. Anna (2008); Red Hook Summer (2012); a 2013 remake of the 2003 South Korean film Oldboy; Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014); Chi-Raq (2015), and Da 5 Bloods (2020).
Lee also directed Four Little Girls (1997), a documentary about the deaths of four Black girls in a church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. He made two television documentaries about Hurricane Katrina—When the Levees Broke (2006) and If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise (2010). Lee directed the TV documentary Kobe Doin’ Work (2009), about the basketball star Kobe Bryant. He also directed two TV documentaries about the pop music star Michael Jackson—BAD 25 (2012) and Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall (2016). In 2012 and 2013, Lee directed the Broadway show Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth, starring the former American boxer Mike Tyson. In addition, Lee has produced and performed in television commercials and has directed music videos.
Lee was born on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in New York City. His full name is Shelton Jackson Lee.
