Personal Info
Melvin Van Peebles
Acting
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 succe…
Known For
Filmography
Movies
Sweet Black Film: The Birth of the Black Hero in Hollywood
as Self
Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking
as Self
Armed
as Grandpa V.
Peeples
as Grandpa Peeples
Salty Dog Blues
as Self (Interviewee)
Redemption Road
as Elmo
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
as Self (voice)
Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat by the Door
American Swing
as Self
The Black List: Volume Two
as Self
TV Shows
Hollywood Black
as Self (archive footage) · 4 ep.
Sex: The Revolution
4 ep.
Girlfriends
as Kenneth Daly · 2 ep.
The Shining
as Richard Hallorann · 2 ep.
Homicide: Life on the Street
as Bennett Jackson · 1 ep.
Living Single
1 ep.
Dream On
as Norman Green · 1 ep.
Sonny Spoon
15 ep.
The Sophisticated Gents
as Walter 'Moon' Porter · 3 ep.
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Bucket · 1 ep.
