Melvin Van Peebles
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!.
Known for
Homicide: Life on the Street
Bennett Jackson
Girlfriends
Kenneth Daly
Living Single
Dream On
Norman Green
The Shining
Richard Hallorann
Watermelon Man
Sign Painter (uncredited)
Armed
Grandpa V.
Love Kills
Able
Last Action Hero
Self
American Swing
Self
Hard Luck
Hospital Prophet
Jaws: The Revenge
Mr. Witherspoon
BaadAsssss Cinema
Self
Gang in Blue
Andre Speier
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
Self
Boomerang
Editor
Peeples
Grandpa Peeples
Midnight Blue, Vol. 3: Celebrities Edition
Self (archive footage)
Posse
Papa Joe
Sonny Spoon
Panther
Old Jail Bird
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Bucket
Calm at Sunset
Mr. Bucket
René Vautier, le rebelle
Self
Sex: The Revolution
The Sophisticated Gents
Walter 'Moon' Porter
Fist of the North Star
Asher
Terminal Velocity
Noble
Farewell, Babylon!
Self
The Hebrew Hammer
Sweetback
Wattstax
Self
O.C. and Stiggs
Wino Bob
Unstoppable
Self
Riot
Vernon
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweetback
Blackout
George
Salty Dog Blues
Self (Interviewee)
True Identity
Taxi Driver
America
Man Interviewed
Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong (voice)
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Self (voice)
The Black List: Volume Two
Self
Sweet Black Film: The Birth of the Black Hero in Hollywood
Self
Directors on Directing
Self
Taking Care of Terrific
Hawk
Redemption Road
Elmo
Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking
Self
Identity Crisis
The Inspector
SMUT
Elmoore
Sunlight
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)
Classified X
Self
Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat by the Door
Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
Melvin Van Peebles
The Real Deal: What It Is
Self