Born: March 20, 1957, Atlanta, GA

Education: Morehouse College, B.A., 1979; New York University, M.F.A., 1983

Noted independent filmmaker, Lee came of age during the civil rights–Black Power era in Brooklyn, New York. Like his grandfather and father, he finished Morehouse College and was knowledgeable in African American history and culture. During the 1980s hip-hop and rap music rage, he began producing black genre films.

Lee's subjects include drugs and sex among blacks as well as racial freedom and violent conflict. She's Gotta Have It (1986) depicts a woman who is sexually adventurous, dates three men, and rationalizes her behavior as independence. School Daze (1988) shows rivalry between Greek and non-Greek students, reflecting skin-tone and hair-texture divisions, at a southern black college. Do the Right Thing (1989) traces rising tensions between an Italian pizzeria and poor blacks that explode in rioting, a black fatality, and the pizzeria's destruction. Malcolm X (1992), perhaps his best film, cost $34 million. Denzel Washington, who plays Malcolm, was an Academy Award nominee. By the end of 1994 Malcolm X had earned $48 million. Four Little Girls (1998) presents their church bomb deaths, premiered on Home Box Office, and received an Academy nomination. The owner of 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Lee also produces musical videos, television specials, and commercials.