Spike Lee filmography
Spike Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor, noted for his films that deal with controversial social and political issues. Lee's films are typically referred to as "Spike Lee Joints" 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 showcased 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. Lee has starred or acted in many of his own films, including the role of Mars Blackmon, which he reprised for a series of Nike commercials that also starred Michael Jordan.[3]
In addition to his feature-film credits, Lee has directed a number of music videos by artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Anita Baker and Eminem. He has also directed music videos 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
Feature films
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 | Prince of Cats[5] | Yes | TBA | No | |
Executive producer
|
Producer
|
Short films
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 | ||
Documentary
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 | |||
2 Fists Up[6] | Yes | No | ||||
Acting roles
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | She's Gotta Have It | Mars Blackmon | |
1988 | School Daze | Half-Pint | |
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 | |
2001 | 3 A.M. | Filmmaker | |
2012 | Red Hook Summer | Mookie | |
Television
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
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 |
Stage show
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
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
Video games
Year | Title | Credited as | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Executive Producer |
Writer | ||
2015 | NBA 2K16 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Collaborations
References
- General
- "Spike Lee > Filmography". Allmovie. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
- "Spike Lee – Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- Specific
- "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.
- Desta, Yohana (November 14, 2019). "Spike Lee's Next Joint Is a Hip-Hop Romeo and Juliet Prince of Cats, Spike Lee's Next Joint Is a Hip-Hop Romeo and Juliet". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
- Nemcik, Marc (May 31, 2016). "Watch: Spike Lee's ESPN Documentary 2 Fists Up, On Protests at University of Missouri". Filmmaker. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
- "Revolution – Arrested Development - Music Video". MTV. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- Kreps, Daniel. "Spike Lee Updates Michael Jackson's 'They Don't Care About Us' Video With Protest Footage". Rolling Stone. rollingstone.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.