Obituaries
Melvin Van Peebles, Pioneering Filmmaker, Writer, and Actor, Dies at 89
Melvin Van Peebles, the pioneering African-American auteur behind the 1970s films Watermelon Man and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, has died.
Melvin Van Peebles, the pioneering African American auteur behind the 1970s films Watermelon Man and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, has died. He was 89.
Van Peebles died Tuesday night at his home in Manhattan. His family, The Criterion Collection and Janus Films announced his death in a statement.
“In an unparalleled career distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the international cultural landscape through his films, novels, plays and music,” the statement read. “His work continues to be essential and is being celebrated at the New York Film Festival this weekend with a 50th anniversary screening of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song; a Criterion Collection box set, Melvin Van Peebles: Essential Films, next week; and a revival of his play Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death, slated for a return to Broadway next year.”
Melvin Van Peebles – The Godfather of Black Cinema
Considered by many to be the godfather of modern Black cinema, Van Peebles made a huge impact and was influential to a younger generation of African American filmmakers such as Spike Lee and John Singleton. The Chicago native also was a novelist, theater impresario, songwriter, musician and painter. And the father of actor-filmmaker, Mario Van Peebles.
In This Photo: Mario Van Peebles, Melvin Van Peebles
Park City, UT – January 16: Actor Mario Van Peebles and his father, director Melvin Van Peebles pose for portraits during the 2004 Sundance Film Festival January 16, 2004 in Park City, UT.
Actors Melvin Van Peebles and Mario Van Peebles attend the 14th Annual IFP Gotham Awards, a benefit dinner and awards honoring New York’s filmmaking community, at Pier Sixty December 1, 2004 in New York City.
(Dec. 1, 2004 – Source: Evan Agostini/Getty Images Entertainment)
Peebles first feature he wrote and directed, The Story of a Three-Day Pass, garnered him attention and put him on the radar at Columbia Pictures. The studio selected him to direct Watermelon Man (1970), a racial satire that starred Godfrey Cambridge as Jeff Gerber, a bigoted white insurance salesman who goes to the bathroom in his suburban home in the middle of the night and discovers he’s Black. Peebles achieved a major feat as very few African Americans were directing in Hollywood at the time.
Melvin Van Peebles Jet Magazine
Due to the success of Watermelon Man, Columbia offered Van Peebles a three-picture deal but wanted no part of his next project, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971). With the help of Bill Cosby, Peebles secured a $50,000 loan from the entertainment mogul and wrote, directed, produced, scored and edited the revolutionary film while starring as its anti-hero, a ladies man with superhero lovemaking abilities who battles the corrupt white establishment in Los Angeles.
Van Peebles made Sweetback in 19 days for a reported $500,000. It opened in only two venues, in Detroit and Atlanta, but strong word-of-mouth from working-class African Americans and a soundtrack of music performed by Earth, Wind & Fire, the picture raked in more than $10 million, making it the highest-grossing independent film in history at the time.
In a 1997 book about the movie, his son Mario notes in the introduction that his father “was forced to self-finance, constantly on the brink of ruin, his crew got arrested and jailed, death threats, and yet [at first] he refused to submit his film to the all-white MPAA ratings board for approval. The film then received an X rating. My dad, true to form, printed T-shirts that read, ‘Rated X … By an All-White Jury,’ and made it part of his marketing campaign.”
The New York Times called Van Peebles “the first Black man in show business to beat the white man at his own game,” and Sweetback ushered in the blaxploitation era in Hollywood.
After Sweetback, Van Peebles took Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death, his musical about Black urban life, to Broadway and received Tony nominations for best book and best original score in 1972. A year later, he received another book nomination for Don’t Play Us Cheap!, about a devil who attempts to break up a party in Harlem. The two musicals garnered nine Tony nominations in total.
Van Peebles went on to direct a 1973 film version of Don’t Play Us Cheap! as well as the action comedy Identity Crisis (1989), which starred his son. He helmed and appeared with Mario in Posse (1993), a Western about African American soldiers who mutiny against their racist white officer, and contributed a song, “Cruel Jim Crow,” to that movie.
Van Peebles had a writing credit on Greased Lightning (1977), starring Richard Pryor, and adapted his novel about the growth of the Black Panther Party into a 1995 movie, Panther, that was directed by his son.
In 2003, he was portrayed by his son in the movie Bad Asssss.
Melvin Peebles was born on Aug. 21, 1932 in Chicago. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan in 1953 with a degree in literature, served in the U.S. Air Force and married a German woman. After his discharge, he worked as a portrait painter in Mexico, then moved to San Francisco, where he ran cable cars.
“Dad knew that Black images matter,” Mario said in a statement “If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.”
Obituaries
O.J. Simpson, football Hall of famer, dies at 76 after cancer battle
O.J. Simpson, the football hall of famer and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend, has died. He was 76.
O.J. Simpson, the football hall of famer and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of murder charges, has died.
He was 76.
Family announces passing
The family announced on Simpson’s official X account that Simpson passed Wednesday after battling prostate cancer. He died in Las Vegas, officials there said Thursday.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace,” the family posted on Simpson’s X account.
Life of ups and downs for O.J. Simpson
Simpson was a former NFL star, actor, and broadcaster whose athletic achievements and fame were eclipsed by his 1995 trial in the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
The infamous case
Simpson assembled a “dream team” defense for the trial.
He didn’t testify, but the prosecution asked him to try on the gloves in court. He struggled to squeeze them onto his hands and spoke his only three words of the trial: “They’re too small.”
His attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. told the jurors, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
Acquitted
Simpson was acquitted of murder for both his ex-wife and Goldman.
The proceedings captivated the country, with tens of millions of viewers tuning in at home and at work and sparked heavy debates on race.
Though acquitted of murders, in 1997, a civil trial jury unanimously deemed Simpson liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.
Served time
Years later at 61, Simpson served about nine years in prison for an unrelated case involving a memorabilia robbery in Las Vegas. He was released in 2017 on parole.
Football career
After graduating from high school, Simpson enrolled at City College of San Francisco for a year and a half before transferring to the University of Southern California for the spring 1967 semester to play football.
At USC, Simpson dominated the collegiate football and received the Heisman trophy in 1968.
NFL
Simpson went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL, nine of them with the Buffalo Bills, where earning him the moniker “The Juice” and ran behind an offensive line known as “The Electric Company.”
He won four NFL rushing titles, rushed for 11,236 yards in his career, scored 76 touchdowns and played in five Pro Bowls. His best season was 1973, when he ran for 2,003 yards, the first running back to accomplish breaking the 2,000-yard rushing mark.
O.J. Simpson’s Legacy
Simpson leaves behind five children. He shared three children, Arnelle, Jason and Aaren, with his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, and welcomed two kids, Sydney and Justin, with his second wife Nicole Brown Simpson.
Obituaries
Legendary DJ Mister Cee passes away
Mister Cee, the legendary New York City radio DJ, has died. He was 57 years old.
Calvin LeBrun, the legendary New York City radio DJ known as Mister Cee, has died. He was 57 years old.
DJ Mister Cee passes
Cee, who grew up in Brooklyn,was a prominent figure in the hip-hop scene in New York City.
He got his start as a DJ and producer for Big Daddy Kane, taking part in Kane’s debut album. Cee is also often credited with discovering another pillar of Brooklyn hip-hop, the Notorious B.I.G. He also played a role in launching the careers of Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, 50 Cent, Drake among others.
Cee’s long-running “Throwback at Noon” show became one of the most listened to programs in NYC radio at Hot 97. At the time of his death, he was working for Audacy’s 94.7 The Block in New York.
“We have lost the iconic Mister Cee. I listened to him yesterday and am in complete shock. He was a dear friend to all of us, a wonderful man, and one of the most important and impactful DJs of all time. I love you Cee”, Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg said.
No cause of death has been revealed.
Obituaries
Former NFL cornerback Vontae Davis dies at 35
Former NFL cornerback Vontae Davis was found dead in a Florida mansion, police said Monday. He was 35. No cause of death was revealed.
Former NFL cornerback Vontae Davis has died at the age of 35.
Passing details
Davis was found by police Monday at his home in Southwest Ranches, Fla., reports NBC.
Officers were disparched Monday morning to a residence in the 6000 block of SW 178th Avenue by the house assistant, who discovered Davis’ body, the Davie Police Department said in a statement.
“Preliminary information suggests that foul play is not involved,” the department said.
The details of Davis cause of death were not released.
Vontae Davis NFL Career
A native of Washington, D.C., Davis was selected by Miami as the 25th pick in the first round of the 2009 draft. He played college football at the University of Illinois.
Davis spent 10 seasons in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills, achieving a record of 22 interceptions and made the Pro Bowl twice.
He had one of the most memorable retirements. At halftime in 2018 with the Bills, he hung up his pads and walked off the field.
In a statement about the retirement mid-game, Davis said: “This isn’t how I pictured retiring from the NFL. But today, on the field, reality hit me hard and fast. I shouldn’t be out there anymore. … I meant no disrespect to my teammates or coaches.”
Life after retirement for Vontae Davis
After retirement, Davis co-wrote a children’s book about overcoming a tough upbringing and becoming an NFL superstar.
He also operated a wellness spa, Vzone, that specialized in oxygen treatments. According to Davis’s LinkedIn profile, he was chief executive of Davis Family Hospitality Group, described as “a comprehensive support system encompassing mentorship and safeguarding for athletes.”
Vontae’s older brother is former NFL star Vernon Davis.
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