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Package: @imdb/name
Pattern: /name/[nconst]
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SSR Data
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"nameText": {
"text": "Spike Lee"
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"month": 3,
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"bio": {
"plainText": "Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After graduating from Morehouse, Lee attended the Tisch School of Arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980), a reworking of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915), a ten-minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45-minute film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983) which won a student Academy Award. In 1986, Spike Lee made the film, She's Gotta Have It (1986), a comedy about sexual relationships. The movie was made for $175,000, and earned $7 million at the box office, which launched his career and allowed him to found his own production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. His next movie was School Daze (1988), which was set at a historically black school, focused mostly on the conflict between the school and the Fraternities, of which he was a strong critic, portraying them as materialistic, irresponsible, and uncaring. With his School Daze (1988) profits, Lee went on to make his landmark film, Do the Right Thing (1989), a movie based specifically his own neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The movie portrayed the racial tensions that emerge in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood on one very hot day. The movie garnered Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, for Danny Aiello for supporting actor, and sparked a debate on racial relations. Lee went on to produce and direct the jazz biopic Mo' Better Blues (1990), the first of many Spike Lee films to feature Denzel Washington, including the biography of Malcolm X (1992), in which Washington portrayed the civil rights leader. The movie was a success, and garnered an Oscar nomination for Washington. The pair would work together again on He Got Game (1998), an excursion into the collegiate world showing the darker side of college athletic recruiting, as well as the 2006 film Inside Man (2006). Spike Lee's role as a documentarian has expanded over the years, highlighted by his participation in LumiĆØre and Company (1995), the Oscar-nominated 4 Little Girls (1997), to his Peabody Award-winning biographical adaptation of Black Panther leader in A Huey P. Newton Story (2001), through his 2005 Emmy Award-winning examination of post-Katrina New Orleans in When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) and its follow-up five years later If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010). Through his production company 40 Acres and A Mule Filmworks, Lee continues to create and direct both independent films and projects for major studios, as well as working on story development, creating an internship program for aspiring filmmakers, releasing music, and community outreach and support. He is married to Tonya Lewis Lee, and they have two sons, Satchel and Jackson."
},
"bioHtml": "Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a\nschoolteacher. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After\ngraduating from Morehouse, Lee attended the Tisch School of Arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0208687/\">The Answer (1980)</a>, a reworking of <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/name/nm0000428/\">D.W. Griffith</a>'s <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0004972/\">The Birth of a Nation (1915)</a>, a ten-minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45-minute film <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0085758/\">Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)</a> which won a student Academy Award.\nIn 1986, Spike Lee made the film, <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0091939/\">She's Gotta Have It (1986)</a>, a comedy about sexual relationships. The movie was made for $175,000, and earned $7 million at the box office, which launched his career and allowed him to found his own production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. His next movie was <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0096054/\">School Daze (1988)</a>, which was set at a historically black school, focused mostly on the conflict between the school and the Fraternities, of which he was a strong critic, portraying them as materialistic, irresponsible, and uncaring. With his <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0096054/\">School Daze (1988)</a> profits, Lee went on to make his landmark film, <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0097216/\">Do the Right Thing (1989)</a>, a movie based specifically his own neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The movie portrayed the racial tensions that emerge in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood on one very hot day. The movie garnered Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, for <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/name/nm0000732/\">Danny Aiello</a> for supporting actor, and\nsparked a debate on racial relations.\nLee went on to produce and direct the jazz biopic <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0100168/\">Mo' Better Blues (1990)</a>, the first of many Spike Lee films to feature <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/name/nm0000243/\">Denzel Washington</a>, including the biography of <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0104797/\">Malcolm X (1992)</a>, in which Washington portrayed the civil rights leader. The movie was a success, and garnered an Oscar nomination for Washington. The pair would work together again on <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0124718/\">He Got Game (1998)</a>, an excursion into the collegiate world showing the darker side of college athletic recruiting, as well as the 2006 film <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0454848/\">Inside Man (2006)</a>.\nSpike Lee's role as a documentarian has expanded over the years, highlighted by his participation in <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0113718/\">LumiĆØre and Company (1995)</a>,\nthe Oscar-nominated <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0118540/\">4 Little Girls (1997)</a>, to his Peabody Award-winning biographical adaptation of Black Panther leader in <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0278490/\">A Huey P. Newton Story (2001)</a>, through his 2005 Emmy Award-winning examination of post-Katrina New Orleans in <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt0783612/\">When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)</a> and its follow-up five years later <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/title/tt1587373/\">If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010)</a>.\nThrough his production company 40 Acres and A Mule Filmworks, Lee continues to create and direct both independent films and projects for\nmajor studios, as well as working on story development, creating an internship program for aspiring filmmakers, releasing music, and community outreach and support.\nHe is married to <a class=\"ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity\" href=\"/name/nm1416174/\">Tonya Lewis Lee</a>, and they have two sons, Satchel and Jackson.",
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