Director Spike Lee and musician Nick Wheeler are celebrating their birthdays today.
Spike Lee, 57
Director, producer, writer, and actor Spike Lee turn 57 today. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, have produced over 35 films. In college, Lee's film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Head, was the first student film to be featured in Lincoln Center's New Directors New Films festival. His first feature film, She's Gotta Have It, was filmed in two weeks, had a budget of $175,000, and grossed over $7 million in the United States.
Do the Right Thing (1989), earned Lee an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His 1997 documentary on the killings of the 16th street Baptist church bombing in Alabama, 4 Little Girls, earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Feature Documentary. In his career, Lee has earned a San Francisco Film Society's Directing Award (2007), a Wexner Prize (2008), and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (2013). Lee's work as a director brought about great films like Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, He Got Game, She Hate Me, and Oldboy.
Lee is married to attorney Tonya Lewis, and they have 2 children together.
Nick Wheeler, 32
Percussionist, guitarist, and vocalist Nick Wheeler turns 32 today. Wheeler co-founded The All-American Rejects with lead vocalist Tyson Ritter while in high school. Wheeler currently serves as lead guitarist, and also does background vocals. He engineered, mixed and mastered their demo CD. Their self-titled debut album dropped in 2002, and contained the hit single "Swing, Swing."
In 2005, they released their second album, Move Along. Their singles "Dirty Little Secret," "Move Along," and "It Ends Tonight" did well on the carts, and marked the album as one of their most successful.
The band released two more albums, When the World Comes Down (2008), and Kids in the Street (2012). They are getting ready to headline the Slam Dunk festival tour on May 24 -26, and are working on another album.