March 20, 1957 Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee, film director, producer, and writer, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Lee earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communications from Morehouse College in 1979 and in 1983 earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in film and television from New York University’s Tisch School of Arts. His thesis film, “Joe’s Bed-Sty Barbershop: We Cut Heads,” won a Student Academy Award for Best Drama and was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center’s New Directors New Film Festival. Lee’s first feature film, “She’s Gotta Have It” (1986), was made on a budget of $175,000 and earned $7 million at the box office. Other Lee films include “Do the Right Thing” (1989), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990), “Malcolm X”(1992), “4 Little Girls” (1997), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary, “25th Hour” (2003), and “Miracle at St. Anna” (2008).
