Melvin Van Peebles
Acting • Born 1932-08-21 – Died 2021-09-21
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!.
Filmography
55 credits
Identity Crisis
Movie • 1989
The Inspector
Taking Care of Terrific
Movie • 1988
Hawk
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Movie • 1971
Sweetback
Fist of the North Star
Movie • 1995
Asher
O.C. and Stiggs
Movie • 1987
Wino Bob
BaadAsssss Cinema
Movie • 2002
Self
Peeples
Movie • 2013
Grandpa Peeples
Directors on Directing
Movie • 2009
Self
True Identity
Movie • 1991
Taxi Driver
Sweet Black Film: The Birth of the Black Hero in Hollywood
Movie • 2022
Self
Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
Movie • 2008
Melvin Van Peebles
Calm at Sunset
Movie • 1996
Mr. Bucket
Gang in Blue
Movie • 1996
Andre Speier
René Vautier, le rebelle
Movie • 2000
Self
Hard Luck
Movie • 2006
Hospital Prophet
Watermelon Man
Movie • 1970
Sign Painter (uncredited)
The Black List: Volume Two
Movie • 2009
Self
Blackout
Movie • 2007
George
SMUT
Movie • 2006
Elmoore
Unstoppable
Movie • 2005
Self
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
Movie • 1989
Self
Wattstax
Movie • 1973
Self
Classified X
Movie • 1998
Self
Midnight Blue, Vol. 3: Celebrities Edition
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
Panther
Movie • 1995
Old Jail Bird
Riot
Movie • 1997
Vernon
Love Kills
Movie • 1999
Able
American Swing
Movie • 2009
Self
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
Movie • 2011
Self (voice)
Jaws: The Revenge
Movie • 1987
Mr. Witherspoon
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)
Movie • 2005
The Real Deal: What It Is
Movie • 2003
Self
Terminal Velocity
Movie • 1994
Noble
Salty Dog Blues
Movie • 2012
Self (Interviewee)
Armed
Movie • 2018
Grandpa V.
America
Movie • 1986
Man Interviewed
The Hebrew Hammer
Movie • 2003
Sweetback
Sunlight
Movie • 1957
Posse
Movie • 1993
Papa Joe
Last Action Hero
Movie • 1993
Self
Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat by the Door
Movie • 2011
Farewell, Babylon!
Movie • 1993
Self
Boomerang
Movie • 1992
Editor
Redemption Road
Movie • 2011
Elmo
Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking
Movie • 2021
Self
Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong
Movie • 1992
Louis Armstrong (voice)
Girlfriends
TV • 2000
Kenneth Daly
Living Single
TV • 1993
Homicide: Life on the Street
TV • 1993
Bennett Jackson
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Bucket
Sonny Spoon
TV • 1988
Sex: The Revolution
TV • 2008
The Sophisticated Gents
TV • 1981
Walter 'Moon' Porter
Dream On
TV • 1990
Norman Green
The Shining
TV • 1997
Richard Hallorann