Melvin Van Peebles was born Melvin Peebles on August 21 1932 in Chicago. He grew up in the suburb Phoenix, Illinois. Starting at age 10 he worked in his father's tailor shop. It was his mother who encouraged his interest in art history. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where he received a Bachelor's degree in English literature. He was also enrolled in the university's Air Force ROTC program, and after graduating he served three years in the Air Force as a flight navigator. He tried making a living as a painter before moving to San Francisco. Unable to get a job with the airlines as a pilot, he made his living as a trolley gripman.
After being fired from the transit company, he wrote, directed, and acted in the shorts "Three Pickup Men for Herrick" (1957) and "Sunlight" (1957). He shopped both shorts around Hollywood, but found on one who would hire him as a director. He moved to the Netherlands, where he adopted the name Melvin Van Peebles. There he performed with the Dutch National Theatre for a time. He directed the short "Cinq cent balles" (1961). When Mad tried a French edition in 1965, they hired Melvin Van Peebles as its editor. He directed his first feature film in Europe, La permission (1967). It won an award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and attracted the attention of Hollywood.
His first Hollywood feature was Watermelon Man (1970), starring Godfrey Cambridge. Wanting complete control of his next film, he funded most of it by himself. The end result was Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song (1971). Made on a shoestring budget, it proved to be a success and is credited as one of the films to launch the cycle of Blaxploitation films in the Seventies. He would go onto direct the films Don't Play Us Cheap (1972), Identity Crisis (1989), Le conte du ventre plein (2000), and Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha (2008). He directed the segment "Vroom Vroom Vroooom" in the movie Tales of Erotica (1996). On television he directed an episode of The Bill Cosby Show, the TV movie Gang in Blue, and an episode of the 1990s revival of The Outer Limits.
As an actor he appeared in his own films Watermelon Man, Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song, and Identity Crisis. In the Eighties he appeared in the films O. C. and Stiggs (1985), America (1986), and Jaws: The Revenge (1987). He played the regular role of Mel Spoon on the TV series Sonny Spoon and appeared in the mini-series The Sophisticated Gents. He appeared in the TV movie Taking Care of Terrific and guest starred on In the Heat of the Night.
In the Nineties he appeared in the films True Identity (1991), Boomerang (1992), Posse (1993), Last Action Hero (1993), Terminal Velocity (1994), Panther (1995), Fist of the North Star (1995), Love Kills (1998), Time of Her Time (2000), and Antilles sur Seine (2000). He guest starred on the TV shows Dream On, Living Single, and Homicide: Life in the Street. He appeared in the mini-series The Shining and the TV movies Gang in Blue, Calm in Sunset, and Riot. From the Naughts into the Teens he appeared in the films The Hebrew Hammer (2003), Blackout (2007), Redemption Road (2010), We the Party (2012), Peebles (2013), and Armed (2018). He guest starred on the television soap opera All My Children in 2008.
Melvin Van Peebles also wrote the plays The Hostage (1964), Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (1971), Don't Play Us Cheap (1972), Out There by Your Lonesome (1973), Waltz of the Stork (1982), and Champeen (1983). He was co-librettist on the play Reggae (1980). He also wrote several books, including The Big Heart (1957).
Melvin Van Peebles was certainly a remarkable talent, one who worked in multiple media. As a playwright he won a Tony. As a TV writer he won an Emmy. Throughout it all he remained loyal to his own vision. He certainly had an impact on film history. Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song presented Black characters as never before seen on screen. And while it is debatable if the film itself is Blaxploitation (it plays in many ways more like an independent art film), there can be no doubt that it sparked the Blaxploitaiton cycle that followed it. Film history would certainly be different had Melvin Van Peebles never existed.
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