Lee Daniels – Biography
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Lee Daniels is a film producer and director who is well-known for his films that address sensitive issues like race, body image, and family violence.
Lee Daniels- Birth, Age, Ethnicity, Siblings
He is a producer and director of motion pictures and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1959. He is renowned for making movies that deal with complex topics including sex, family violence, racism, and image. In addition to becoming an Oscar winner, his critically praised 2002 hit, Monster’s Ball, turned a $2.5 million film into a $31 million success.
Lee Daniels was born far from Hollywood’s glamor and splendor. Lee Daniels grew raised in West Philadelphia as the eldest of Clara and William Daniels’ five children. When Lee’s older brother was 12 years old, his father, a police officer who had served as Muhammad Ali’s bodyguard before being killed in a heist, was killed. Lee in particular, who showed early gay behavior that upset William Daniels, was sometimes treated harshly by him.
William Daniels had a side to him that was centered on a strong love of literature and poetry, in addition to physical violence. He loved to read, and he also produced his poetry and short stories. According to Lee, “I took whatever artistic I had from him.”
Lee Daniels claimed that he loved his father and that the strain William Daniels put on their relationship was impossible to deal with, let alone comprehend.
Education Details
Daniels moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after graduating from high school to enroll at Lindenwood College, a small liberal arts college. He wanted to major in theater and movies, but he quickly lost interest in academics. He left school just before the start of his junior year.
Lee Daniels- Relationship, Married Life
Daniels, a native of New York, shares a home with Billy Hopkins, a casting director, and his twin kids, Clara and Liam, whom he adopted from his brother in 1996.
Lee Daniels- Professional Career
With barely $7 in his pocket and a lot of drive, Daniels once more packed up his belongings and relocated to Los Angeles in an attempt to succeed as a writer. However, he struggled to get employment in Hollywood. Daniels decided to work as a receptionist at a nursing agency to make ends meet. Daniels quickly rose to management status and opened a nursing business out of his house.
Although it wasn’t the reason Daniels went to Hollywood, his five-person nursing team soon swelled to 500, and he was running a multimillion-dollar business. Daniels’ job in healthcare had a little bit of a pioneering attitude, just like his subsequent cinematic work would.
His company became the first of its kind in the nation to secure a contract with the AIDS Project Los Angeles in addition to working with the American Heart & Lung Associations and the American Sickle Cell Anemia Association.
But Daniels hadn’t given up on his ambition to work in Hollywood entirely. By happenstance, a producer who had worked with Prince was also one of his clients. On their first Saturday morning together, Daniels revealed his desire to work in the film industry. The director assured him that he could aid in his employment search.
Daniels sold his agency at the age of 22, collected millions of dollars, and began working as a production assistant. Casting soon became his main priority, and he ultimately started working on well-known films like Under the Cherry Moon and Purple Rain.
Frustrated by the dearth of substantial roles available for accomplished African-American performers in 1984, Daniels demonstrated his ambition by attempting to go it alone.
He established Lee Daniels Entertainment, a management firm based in New York City, whose clientele eventually included some of the most well-known figures in Hollywood, such as Cuba Gooding, Jr., Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
After multiple discussions with Sean Penn regarding the movie, Daniels decided to try his hand at directing with the production of Monster’s Ball. The film’s production experienced numerous stops and starts as different directors—first Penn and then Oliver Stone—tried to complete the story, which was centered on a complex bi-racial romance.
Daniels decided to take charge of the project himself because he was fascinated by the story and annoyed by all the challenges. He hired Swiss-born filmmaker Marc Foster to take the helm of the picture and persuaded enough A-list actors, including Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry, to work on the movie for little pay.
Berry became the first African-American woman to win the Best Actress Oscar as a result, and the film received an Oscar nomination for best writing in 2002. Daniels became the first African-American single producer of an Academy Award-nominated film thanks to the movie as well.
On May 18, 2019, American actor Miles Teller smiles for the camera during a photocall for the movie “Too Old To Die, Young – North of Hollywood, West of Hell” at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France.
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 02: On March 2, 2011, in Washington, DC, ranking member U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) interrogates U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke during his testimony at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on receiving “the Monetary Policy Report to the Congress required under the Humphrey-Hawkins Act.”
On October 2, 2010, in New York City, actor Ben Whishaw attended the premiere of “The Tempest” as part of the 48th New York Film Festival. (Image courtesy of Getty Images/Astrid Stawiarz) Local captioning Whishaw, Ben
Daniels didn’t take long to enjoy the attention. The Woodsman, a chilling narrative about the tortured existence of a child abuser who was freed from prison, was his subsequent movie, which was made in 2004. The movie, which starred Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, and Mos Def, brought Daniels more praise and accolades.
With the debut of Shadowboxer two years later, viewers had the opportunity to witness Daniels’ directing efforts in action. The movie, starring Macy Gray, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Mo’Nique, Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Ferlito, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is about an assassin’s mother and her stepson.
Daniel’s biography had a part in his initial interest in the subject, as it has with most of his other work. Shadowboxer was inspired by Daniels’ own life, he told The Times. “I knew murderers. My uncle, who raised me, was a murderer, but he still looked out for me. Murderers who have served time in prison are also people.”
Precious, a 2009 movie based on the book Push by Sapphire, was directed by Daniels after the critically acclaimed Push by Sapphire. The narrative of an obese African-American girl and her attempts to flee the violence that has molded her life is told in the novel. Daniels remembered, “Ally Sheedy’s mother handed me the book to read.”
“It stunned me, shook my soul, and adhered to me like hot grits. However, the author initially refused to grant me the book’s rights. After several stalking attempts, she gave me the book.”
The movie, in which Mariah Carey and Mo’Nique also starred, wasn’t quite a formulaic production. Daniels and his team had to search outside of Hollywood and the majority of traditional casting techniques to find a 350-pound African-American lady to play Claireece Precious Jones due to the enormous proportions required of the lead character. Gabourey Sidibe, a resident of New York City with no prior acting experience, ended up being their woman.
Even nevertheless, the film’s production was anything but simple. Daniels, who produced and directed the movie, let people go. Additionally, the film funding ran out in a few instances. To solicit funding from a group of potential investors, Daniels once invited Carey to perform a private concert at his home.
When the movie was finally completed, Daniels’ stardom was furthered. Precious won the top prize at the Toronto Film Festival, the People’s Choice award, in addition to three other accolades in Sundance, including the Grand Jury Prize.
With success comes criticism, and Daniels’ portrayal of African-American characters in his films has alarmed and even incensed some critics. The same is true with Precious. Critics argue that the fact that the main character in the movie gets AIDS from her father simply serves to reinforce preconceived notions about the Black community and black women in general.
Daniels disagrees, though. Soon after the 2009 film’s debut, he told reporters, “Black women are dying because everyone wants to appear to have a certain image. “Black women make up the majority of AIDS patients in this nation. It would be unjust to me as a man—forget about being a Black man—to represent and not convey my truth and put it on the screen. If I said otherwise, Black women are dying.”
To inspire young African-Americans to vote in 2004, Daniels collaborated with former President Clinton on several public service productions.
Daniels starred with Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy, which he directed in 2012. The film received some attention for a suggestive moment starring its two main actors. The Butler (2013), which Daniels later produced, looks at several presidents through the eyes of those who served them. Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker are among the cast members.
The Butler, which cost less than $30 million to produce, has earned more than $115 million domestically. There is a lot of talk regarding the movie and its performances being nominated for Academy Awards.
The life of legendary rocker Janis Joplin was the subject of Daniels’ subsequent endeavor. The Hollywood Reporter, said: “I was unaware that Janis Joplin was so intelligent. Look, some of the brightest minds in history struggled with drug addiction.” The late singer is portrayed by Amy Adams. Adams had the vocal ability to carry off such a demanding role, in Daniels’ opinion.
Daniels managed to make a successful television series despite some setbacks with his Janis Joplin idea. He is one of the co-creators of the drama Empire, which examines a successful music business family. Some of the episodes of the show were also written and directed by Daniels.
Terrence Howard plays Lucious Lyon, the family and music label’s boss, in the television show. When he learns that he is dying, he must pick who will run his company. Cookie (Taraji Henson), his ex-wife, also desires a stake in the company. The first 13 episodes of the series aired in early 2015 to rave reviews.
