Joie Susannah Lee is an American screenwriter, actress, and producer. Her credits include “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze,” and “Do the Right Thing,” among other films directed by her brother Spike Lee. She was reared in a literary and musical environment in Brooklyn, New York, where she was born and raised. Her parents have always encouraged and supported her acting career. Lee has been in all of her brother Spike Lee’s films, including “She’s Gotta Have It,” which launched her acting career and was hailed by critics as a “poignant depiction of contemporary black society.” But in addition to her family’s projects, she has contributed to other movies, such as Jim Jarmusch’s “Coffee & Cigarettes” and James Dearden’s “A Kiss Before Dying.” Her effortless acting approach adds a unique touch to roles that would otherwise be supporting roles for the story. In addition, Lee has given performances on stage and in a number of TV shows, such as “Broad City,” “Rectify,” and “Zero Tolerance.” She is a screenwriter for movies and television series in addition to being one of the co-founders of “Child Hood Productions.”
Early Life & Childhood of Joie Lee
Born in Brooklyn, New York on June 22, 1962, Joie Lee (pronounced as “Zhwah”) was the daughter of Jacquelyn (née Shelton), an arts and black literature teacher, and jazz musician, bassist, actor, and composer William “Bill” James Edward Lee III. Her four brothers are actor, producer, director, and photographer Spike Lee; still photographer David Lee; retail store manager Chris Lee; and actor Cinque Lee.
In addition to acting in a few of Spike Lee’s films, her father Bill composed the music for them. The Lee siblings learned about black pride from their mother, Jackie. Joie claims that her mother is the source of her acting style. (She began experimenting with African hairstyles much earlier than anyone else.) Cancer claimed her life in 1976. Bill Lee wed Susan Kaplan following her passing, and the two had a son named Arnold who was born in 1985. On October 24, 1991, Bill was taken into custody for heroin possession.
The Lee kids were raised in a setting that encouraged self-reliance and creative development. Her parents supported Lee’s decision to pursue acting, despite the fact that there were relatively few black actors in the business.
Her mother was a teacher at “St. Ann’s School,” in Brooklyn, where Lee and her brothers attended school. Later, she spent two years as a student at “Sarah Lawrence College” in Bronxville, New York.
Career of Joie Lee
In her brother Spike Lee’s 1986 film “She’s Gotta Have it,” Joie Lee made her screen debut as “Clorinda Bradford.” At the box office, the film brought in $7.1 million, making it a commercial success. She then starred in the musical comedy drama film “School Daze” as “Lizzie Lie.” Spike Lee directed the film, which Columbia Pictures released on February 12, 1988.
She has contributed to every Spike Lee movie. She appeared in his third movie, “Do the Right Thing,” (1989), as “Jade,” the mature sister of Spike Lee’s character “Mookie.” She portrayed a character in this role that exemplified the complexity of a black woman’s existence in a family and in society.
She played a teacher named “Indigo Downes,” the patient lover of a dishonest jazz artist played by Denzel Washington, in the 1990 movie “Mo’ Better Blues.” Although she didn’t have a glamourous part, her talent allowed her to infuse some freshness into an otherwise dark and emotional film.
Lee has also made appearances in other non-film productions. She played “Athena” in the indie thriller “Bail Jumper” from 1990 and “Cathy” in the murder mystery “A Kiss Before Dying” from 1991. She starred alongside Matt Dillon and Sean Young in the latter. Lee and her brother Cinque played twins in Jim Jarmusch’s 2003 film “Coffee and Cigarettes,” with Lee being the “good twin.” She also made an appearance in Jonathan Demme’s music video for “Sister Roza,” by the Neville Brothers.
In the 1991 collaboration “Mule Bone” by Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, Lee made her “Broadway” debut. When she made her stage debut, she went by “Joy Lee,” her birth name. In 2000, she also performed in the off-Broadway drama “The Hologram Theory.”
Lee and her brother Cinque Lee founded “Child Hood Productions” in 1992. She collaborated with Spike Lee on the story, screenplay, and associate producer duties for his 1994 film “Crooklyn.” In this semi-autobiographical film, an African-American family from Brooklyn in the 1970s is shown; the ten-year-old daughter of the family is the main focus of the narrative. The plot of the movie is more reminiscent of Joie Lee’s early years. She played the part of “Aunt Maxine” in the movie.
She produced, directed, and wrote the screenplay for the short film “Snapped” in 2000. In addition to co-writing the screenplay for “Crooklyn,” she also collaborated with Spike Lee on the TV movie “Flight 770” and the TV pilots for “Accidentally on Purpose.”
Her other well-known films include “Fathers and Sons.” Isaiah’s loss, “Girl 6,” “Get on the Bus,” “Nowhere Fast,” “Personal,” “Summer of Sam,” “She Hate Me,” and “Full Grown Men” are just a few of the titles.
In addition to executive producing and writing the short films “Jesus Children of America” and “All the Invisible Children” (2005), she was the producer of “Nowhere Fast.”
In addition, Lee has experience in television, having made appearances in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003), Zero Tolerance (2002), and The Cosby Show (1989). In 1997, she played a coach in the television movie “Clover.”
She has acted in movies such as “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus,” “Window on Your Present,” and “Starting Out in the Evening” in recent years. Her most recent TV appearances include “Broad City,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” and “Rectify.”
Individual Life of Joie Lee
Cliff Booker, a hairstylist and her brother Spike Lee’s classmate, is supposedly the man she is seeing. 1989 saw the two get together.
Net worth of Joie Lee
The estimated net worth of Joie Lee is about $1 million.