Spike Lee filmography
Spike Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor, known for films that deal with controversial social and political issues. Each of Lee's films is typically referred to as "A Spike Lee Joint" and the closing credits always end with the phrases "By Any Means Necessary," "Ya Dig," and "Sho Nuff."[1]
Lee received a Master of Fine Arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, which culminated in his thesis film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, the first student film to be shown in Lincoln Center's New Directors/New Films Festival.[2] Lee's first feature film, She's Gotta Have It, was released three years later in 1986. Lee directed, produced, wrote, and acted in his first three feature films: She's Gotta Have It, School Daze, and Do the Right Thing, and has since starred or acted in others. He reprised the role of Mars Blackmon from She's Gotta Have It for a series of Nike commercials that also starred Michael Jordan.[3]
Lee has directed music videos by artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Anita Baker and Eminem, and for songs featured in films he has directed, including "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy, which was featured heavily in the 1989 film Do the Right Thing.[4]
Filmography[edit]
Feature films[edit]
| Year | Title | Credited as | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | |||
| 1983 | Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1986 | She's Gotta Have It | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1988 | School Daze | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1989 | Do the Right Thing | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1991 | Jungle Fever | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1994 | Crooklyn | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1995 | Clockers | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1996 | Girl 6 | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Get on the Bus | Yes | Executive | No | ||
| 1998 | He Got Game | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1999 | Summer of Sam | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2000 | Bamboozled | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | 25th Hour | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2004 | She Hate Me | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2006 | Inside Man | Yes | No | No | |
| 2008 | Miracle at St. Anna | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2012 | Red Hook Summer | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | Oldboy | Yes | No | No | |
| 2014 | Da Sweet Blood of Jesus | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2015 | Chi-Raq | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| TBA | High and Low | Yes | No | Yes | |
Executive producer
- Drop Squad (1994)
- New Jersey Drive (1995)
- Tales from the Hood (1995)
- Afrocentricity (2000)
- Good Fences (2003)
- Pariah (2011)
- Evolution of a Criminal (2014)
- Manos sucias (2014)
- Cronies (2015)
- The Girl Is in Trouble (2015)
- Tales from the Hood 2 (2018)
- Son of the South (2020)
- Tales from the Hood 3 (2020)
- You Resemble Me (2021)
Producer
- The Best Man (1999)
- Love & Basketball (2000)
- 3 A.M. (2001)
- Dream Street (2005)
- Saint John of Las Vegas (2009)
- You're Nobody 'til Somebody Kills You (2011)
- See You Yesterday (2019)
- Amazing Grace (2019)
Short films[edit]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||
| 1979 | Last Hustle in Brooklyn | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1980 | The Answer | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1981 | Sarah | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1995 | Lumière and Company | Yes | No | No | Segment |
| 2001 | Come Rain or Come Shine | Yes | No | No | |
| 2002 | "We Wuz Robbed" | Yes | No | Yes | Segment of Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet |
| 2005 | "Jesus Children of America" | Yes | No | Yes | Segment of All the Invisible Children |
| 2017 | Brave: Visions for Moncler | Yes | No | No | |
| 2020 | New York, New York | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Documentaries[edit]
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | |||||
| 1997 | 4 Little Girls | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2000 | The Original Kings of Comedy | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2012 | Bad 25 | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2016 | Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall | Yes | Yes | |||
| 2020 | David Byrne's American Utopia | Yes | Yes | |||
Acting roles[edit]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | She's Gotta Have It | Mars Blackmon | |
| 1988 | School Daze | Darrell "Half-Pint" Dunlap | |
| 1989 | Do the Right Thing | Mookie | |
| 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | Giant | |
| Lonely in America | Himself | ||
| 1991 | Jungle Fever | Cyrus | |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | Shorty | |
| 1994 | Crooklyn | Snuffy | |
| Drop Squad | Himself | ||
| 1995 | Lumière and Company | Short film | |
| Clockers | Chucky | ||
| 1996 | Girl 6 | Jimmy | |
| 1999 | Summer of Sam | John Jeffries | |
| 2000 | Lisa Picard Is Famous | Himself | |
| 2006 | Inside Man | Civilian | Uncredited |
| 2012 | Red Hook Summer | Mookie | Uncredited |
Television[edit]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | |||
| 2004 | Sucker Free City | Yes | Yes | No | Television film |
| 2005 | Miracle's Boys | Yes | No | No | Episodes: "New Charlie" and "Bond of Brothers" |
| 2006 | Shark | Yes | No | No | Pilot |
| 2007 | M.O.N.Y. | Yes | No | No | Unaired pilot |
| 2011 | Da Brick | Yes | Yes | No | Unaired pilot |
| 2014 | Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife | Yes | Executive | No | Stand-up special |
| Jerrod Carmichael: Love at the Store | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2017–2019 | She's Gotta Have It | Yes | Executive | Yes | Creator |
Documentary[edit]
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | |||
| 1990 | Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella | Yes | No | |
| 1999 | Pavarotti and Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo | Yes | No | |
| 2002 | Jim Brown: All-American | Yes | Yes | |
| 2006 | When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | Yes | Yes | |
| 2009 | Kobe Doin' Work | Yes | Yes | |
| 2010 | If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise | Yes | Yes | |
| 2021 | NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½ | Yes | Yes | |
| 2022 | The Captain | No | Yes | |
Stage show[edit]
| Year | Title | Credited as | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | ||||
| 1998 | Freak | Yes | No | ||
| 2001 | A Huey P. Newton Story | Yes | No | ||
| 2008 | Passing Strange | Yes | No | ||
| 2013 | Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2017 | Rodney King | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2018 | Pass Over | Yes | No | ||
| 2020 | American Utopia | Yes | Yes | ||
Acting roles[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Saturday Night Live | Mars Blackmon | Episode: "Malcolm-Jamal Warner/Run-DMC" |
| 1992 | Ghostwriter | Special Agent Pete | Episode: "Into the Comics: Part 1" |
| 2017–2019 | She's Gotta Have It | Joe the Bartender / Drum Major | 2 episodes |
Music videos[edit]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2013) |
Video games[edit]
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Executive Producer |
Writer | ||
| 2015 | NBA 2K16 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Spike Lee Biography – Yahoo! Movies". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
- ^ "Spike Lee – Profile, Latest News and Related Articles". E!. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ Curtis, Bryan (2008-06-01). "Bro Knows Football". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ Black, Johnny (August 2002). "The Greatest Songs Ever! Fight the Power". Blender. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ "Revolution – Arrested Development - Music Video". MTV. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (29 August 2020). "Spike Lee Updates Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us" Video With Protest Footage". Rolling Stone. rollingstone.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
Bibliography[edit]
- "Spike Lee > Filmography". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- "Spike Lee – Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-02-09.