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!.
56 acting credits · 16 directing credits
Acting · 56
Homicide: Life on the Street
1993
Girlfriends
2000
Living Single
1993
Dream On
1990
American Swing
2009
The Shining
1997
Last Action Hero
1993
Hollywood Black
2024
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Jaws: The Revenge
1987
Boomerang
1992
The Sophisticated Gents
1981
Fist of the North Star
1995
Posse
1993
Sex: The Revolution
2008
Terminal Velocity
1994
Hard Luck
2006
Wattstax
1973
Panther
1995
Sonny Spoon
1988
BaadAsssss Cinema
2002
Watermelon Man
1970
True Identity
1991
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
2011
Armed
2018
O.C. and Stiggs
1987
Blackout
2007
Riot
1997
Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking
2021
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
1971
The Hebrew Hammer
2003
Gang in Blue
1996
Redemption Road
2011
The Black List: Volume Two
2009
Peeples
2013
Calm at Sunset
1996
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
1989
America
1986
Midnight Blue, Vol. 3: Celebrities Edition
2006
Identity Crisis
1989
Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong
1992
Love Kills
1999
Sweet Black Film: The Birth of the Black Hero in Hollywood
2022
Taking Care of Terrific
1988
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)
2005
Directors on Directing
2009
SMUT
2006
Farewell, Babylon!
1993
Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
2008
Sunlight
1957
Salty Dog Blues
2012
Unstoppable
2005
René Vautier, le rebelle
2000
Classified X
1998
Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat by the Door
2011
The Real Deal: What It Is
2003
Directing · 16
The Outer Limits
1995
Watermelon Man
1970
The Story of a Three-Day Pass
1968
Tales of Erotica
1996
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
1971
Gang in Blue
1996
Identity Crisis
1989
Don't Play Us Cheap
1973
Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
2008
Sunlight
1957
Bellyful
2000
Three Pick-Up Men for Herrick
1957
Vrooom Vrooom Vroooom
1995
500 Francs
1961
The Real Deal: What It Is
2003
976-STUD
1989