A Giant of Black Cinema, Melvin Van Peebles Dies At 89

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Melvin Van Peebles at a 2018 film festival in Hollywood.





Charley Gallay/Getty Images for TCM



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Mario Van Peebles (left) and Melvin Van Peebles in 2018 in Los Angeles.





Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP



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Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP



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Van Peebles was born in Chicago in 1932. He helped pave the way for the renegade genre known as blaxpolitation, with movies that were bitingly funny, sexually swaggering and occasionally violent, that put Black protagonists front and center. His heroes were hustlers and revolutionaries; Sweetback was considered so outrageous, it was originally rated X. It was also a huge financial success.

The director was multi-talented; he was also a playwright, painter and composer who seriously studied astronomy and options trading as alternative careers. His death came shortly before the 50th anniversary of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and a celebration planned by the the New York Film Festival. The Criterion Collection planned a box set to be released next week called «Melvin Van Peebles: Essential Films.» The company announced the filmmakers’ death on social media.

We are saddened to announce the passing of a giant of American cinema, Melvin Van Peebles, who died last night, at home with family, at the age of 89. In an unparalleled career, Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the international cultural landscape. He will be deeply missed. pic.twitter.com/HpciXXVoYo

— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) September 22, 2021

The Criterion Collection’s statement read in part, «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.»