Melvin Van Peebles

Melvin Van Peebles

Birthday: 1932-08-21

Deathday: 2021-09-21

Place of birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Also known as:

imdb_id: nm0887708

Biography:

Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. His feature film debut, The Story of a Three-Day Pass (1967), was based on his own French-language novel La Permission and was shot in France, as it was difficult for a black American director to get work at the time. The film won an award at the San Francisco International Film Festival which gained him the interest of Hollywood studios, leading to his American feature debut Watermelon Man, in 1970. Eschewing further overtures from Hollywood, he used the successes he had so far to bankroll his work as an independent filmmaker. In 1971, he released his best-known work, creating and starring in the film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which led to the creation of the blaxploitation genre. although critic Roger Ebert did not consider this example of Van Peebles' work to be an exploitation film. He followed this up with the musical, Don't Play Us Cheap, based on his own stage play, and continued to make films, write novels and stage plays in English and in French through the next several decades; his final films include the French-language film Le Conte du ventre plein (2000) and the absurdist film Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha (2008). His son, filmmaker and actor Mario Van Peebles, appeared in several of his works and portrayed him in the 2003 biographical film Baadasssss!.

Played in movies:

René Vautier, le rebelle

Score: 10.0

Sweet Black Film: The Birth of the Black Hero in Hollywood

Score: 8.0

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Score: 7.6

Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong

Score: 7.0

How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)

Score: 7.0

Wattstax

Score: 7.0

Making 'Do the Right Thing'

Score: 6.7

Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha

Score: 6.5

Last Action Hero

Score: 6.5

Watermelon Man

Score: 6.4

Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking

Score: 6.2

Panther

Score: 6.2

BaadAsssss Cinema

Score: 6.1

The Black List: Volume Two

Score: 6.0

Boomerang

Score: 5.6

Blackout

Score: 5.6

Calm at Sunset

Score: 5.6

Peeples

Score: 5.6

Hard Luck

Score: 5.6

Riot

Score: 5.5

True Identity

Score: 5.5

The Hebrew Hammer

Score: 5.4

Posse

Score: 5.3

Terminal Velocity

Score: 5.3

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

Score: 5.2

Redemption Road

Score: 5.0

American Swing

Score: 5.0

Gang in Blue

Score: 5.0

Classified X

Score: 4.5

O.C. and Stiggs

Score: 4.5

Armed

Score: 4.4

Fist of the North Star

Score: 4.3

Jaws: The Revenge

Score: 4.1

America

Score: 3.2

Love Kills

Score: 2.0

Identity Crisis

Score: 1.3

Farewell, Babylon!

Score: 0.0

Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat by the Door

Score: 0.0

Sunlight

Score: 0.0

Salty Dog Blues

Score: 0.0

The Real Deal: What It Is

Score: 0.0

Midnight Blue, Vol. 3: Celebrities Edition

Score: 0.0

Unstoppable

Score: 0.0

SMUT

Score: 0.0

Directors on Directing

Score: 0.0

Taking Care of Terrific

Score: 0.0

Played in tv shows:

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Score: 8.6

Living Single

Score: 8.4

Homicide: Life on the Street

Score: 8.1

Girlfriends

Score: 7.3

The Sophisticated Gents

Score: 7.0

Sex: The Revolution

Score: 7.0

Dream On

Score: 6.9

The Shining

Score: 6.3

Sonny Spoon

Score: 5.5