(born 1957), U.S. film director, writer, producer, and actor. Born Shelton Jackson Lee in Atlanta, Ga., on March 20, 1957, Lee became one of the first African American filmmakers to succeed in Hollywood and to appeal to a mainstream audience. Lee grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. Intent on becoming a filmmaker, he then attended New York University's Institute of Film and Television. His thesis at the institute, ‘Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads'—which first demonstrated his off-center focus, won the student academy award. Lee generally depicted middle-class African American values and life-styles in provocative works that avoided stereotypes. His first commercial film was a low-budget comedy shot in black-and-white (with a dance sequence in color)—‘She's Gotta Have It' (1986)—that explored the black singles scene. He followed with the musical ‘School Daze' (1988) that examined the social complexity in an all-black school, the tragicomedy ‘Do the Right Thing' (1989) that depicted black anger and urban racial tension and violence, ‘Mo' Better Blues' (1990), a portrayal of the tribulations of a jazz musician, ‘Jungle Fever' (1991), a look at interracial romance, and ‘Malcolm X' (1992), a study of the life and historic impact of the legendary black leader. Many of the scores for his films were composed by his father, jazz musician Bill Lee. In addition, Lee created notable black-and-white commercials for Michael Jordan and Jesse Jackson as well as music videos for a variety of artists. In the early 1990s, he formed a low-budget production company named Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, an allusion to the freedman's unfulfilled Reconstruction dream. His other films included ‘Clockers' (1995), ‘Get on the Bus' (1996), ‘4 Little Girls' (1997), and ‘He Got Game' (1998). (See also African Americans.) |