Spike Lee’s first Oscar nomination was for Best Original Screenplay for Do the Right Thing in 1989. He received an honorary award in 2016 and finally won his first Academy Award in 2018 for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman. Lee’s production company is named after a promise made to freed slaves.
Spike Lee directed his first feature film, She’s Gotta Have It, in 1986, but despite a storied career, it wasn’t until 2018 that he earned his first Academy Award nomination as a director. His first Oscar nomination of any kind came for his much-heralded 1989 film Do the Right Thing, but that for Best Original Screenplay; controversially, it was not nominated in the Best Director or Best Picture categories. Lee was then nominated in the Best Documentary category for 1997’s Little Girls 4. After that, he was a complete Oscar dropout until 2016, when Lee received an honorary award. Finally, in 2018, Spike Lee directed BlacKkKlansman, which earned him his first-ever Best Director and Best Picture nominations, though both awards ultimately eluded him. It also marked Lee’s first Academy Award win, for Best Adapted Screenplay. He shared the honor with fellow writers Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott.
Spike Lee, Hollywood iconoclast:
At the 91st Academy Awards in February 2019, Lee lost in the Best Director category to Alfonso Cuarón for Roma. Best Picture went to Green Book.
Some of Spike Lee’s other critically acclaimed films include Malcolm X, 25th Hour and He Got Game.
Lee named his production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks after an unfulfilled promise made to many freed slaves after the American Civil War.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
