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 , 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]
| Year | Title | Credited as | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | |||
| 1983 | |||||
| 1986 | She's Gotta Have It | ||||
| 1988 | School Daze | ||||
| 1989 | Do the Right Thing | ||||
| 1990 | Mo' Better Blues | ||||
| 1991 | Jungle Fever | ||||
| 1992 | Malcolm X | ||||
| 1994 | Crooklyn | ||||
| 1995 | Clockers | ||||
| 1996 | Girl 6 | ||||
| Get on the Bus | |||||
| 1998 | He Got Game | ||||
| 1999 | Summer of Sam | ||||
| 2000 | Bamboozled | ||||
| 2002 | 25th Hour | ||||
| 2004 | She Hate Me | ||||
| 2006 | Inside Man | ||||
| 2008 | Miracle at St. Anna | ||||
| 2012 | Red Hook Summer | ||||
| 2013 | Oldboy | ||||
| 2014 | Da Sweet Blood of Jesus | ||||
| 2015 | Chi-Raq | ||||
| 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | ||||
| 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | ||||
| TBA | High and Low | ||||
Executive producer
Producer
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | |||
| 1979 | Last Hustle in Brooklyn | ||||
| 1980 | The Answer | ||||
| 1981 | Sarah | ||||
| 1995 | Lumière and Company | Segment | |||
| 2001 | Come Rain or Come Shine | ||||
| 2002 | "We Wuz Robbed" | Segment of Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet | |||
| 2005 | "Jesus Children of America" | Segment of All the Invisible Children | |||
| 2017 | Brave: Visions for Moncler | ||||
| 2020 | New York, New York | ||||
| 3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd | |||||
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | |||||
| 1997 | 4 Little Girls | |||||
| 2000 | The Original Kings of Comedy | |||||
| 2012 | Bad 25 | |||||
| 2016 | Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall | |||||
| 2020 | David Byrne's American Utopia | |||||
| 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 |
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Writer | ||||
| 2004 | Sucker Free City | Television film | ||||
| 2005 | Miracle's Boys | Episodes: "New Charlie" and "Bond of Brothers" | ||||
| 2006 | Shark | Pilot | ||||
| 2007 | M.O.N.Y. | Unaired pilot | ||||
| 2011 | Da Brick | Unaired pilot | ||||
| 2014 | Katt Williams Priceless: Afterlife | Stand-up special | ||||
| Jerrod Carmichael Love at the Store | ||||||
| 2017–2019 | She's Gotta Have It | Creator | ||||
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | |||
| 1990 | ||||
| 1999 | Pavarotti and Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo | |||
| 2002 | ||||
| 2006 | When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | |||
| 2009 | Kobe Doin' Work | |||
| 2010 | If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise | |||
| 2021 | NYC Epicenters 9/11→2021½ | |||
| 2022 | The Captain | |||
| Year | Title | Credited as | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | ||||
| 1998 | Freak | ||||
| 2001 | A Huey P. Newton Story | ||||
| 2008 | Passing Strange | ||||
| 2013 | Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth | ||||
| 2017 | Rodney King | ||||
| 2018 | Pass Over | ||||
| 2020 | American Utopia | ||||
| 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 |
| Year | Title | Credited as | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=65 | Director | width=65 | Executive Producer | width=65 | Writer |
| 2015 | NBA 2K16 | ||||