▲To date, Lee has directed over 25 films and produced countless others. He's also made a number of short films and several documentaries. He's seen here in 2002 with Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola at the third annual Directors Guild of America Awards in New York City.

▲Lee shows off his 2003 César Award at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France.

▲The filmmaker receives the Hall of Fame Award at the 34th NAACP Image Awards at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles in 2003.

▲Spike Lee's first movie was an independent film that premiered in 1983 at the Lincoln Center's New Directors New Films Festival in New York City. The film won a Student Academy Award.

▲Director Spike Lee and wife Tonya Lewis Lee, who's an attorney. The couple met in 1992 and married a year later in New York City.

▲In 1999, Lee became embroiled in controversy after his inflammatory comments about the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the suggestion that someone should "shoot" NRA president Charlton Heston were widely published.

▲Spike Lee answers questions during a book signing for 'That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It' at Harlem's Hue-Man book store in 2005 in New York City.

▲Spike Lee accepts the Ossie Davis Humanitarian Award onstage during Film Life's 2006 Black Movie Awards in Los Angeles.

▲In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Lee waded in on the conspiracy theories suggesting that a largely black New Orleans neighborhood had been deliberately flooded by authorities. He is pictured attending the 'When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts' press conference during the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.

▲Lee attends the preview of his 2012 film 'Red Hook Summer' during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

▲Lee expressed his faith during an 2014 interview with the BBC. He said: "Yes. I have faith that there is a higher being. All this cannot be an accident."

▲Director Spike Lee introduces his film 'When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,' a documentary about the impact of Hurricane Katrina, at the 2006 premiere in New Orleans. The four-part documentary aired on HBO and won a slew of awards, including three Emmys, an International Federation of Film Critics award, and a Peabody Award.

▲The filmmaker is a passionate fan of baseball team the New York Yankees and the New York Knicks basketball team. He is often photographed at games with his Hollywood friends, including Denzel Washington (pictured).

▲Lee has made several highly acclaimed documentaries. His 1997 documentary '4 Little Girls' about the children killed in the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama bombing was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.

▲Spike Lee accepts the President's Award at the 46th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, California in 2015.

▲Director Spike Lee celebrates his Emmy win in the Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking category for his documentary, 'When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,' during the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in 2007.

▲Lee and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson pose for photographers during a 2012 news conference to talk about the Broadway debut of Tyson's one-man show, the Lee-directed 'Mike Tyson Undisputed Truth.'

▲Spike Lee oozes style as he collects the Jaeger-LeCoultre award at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012.

▲Director Spike Lee with the Grand Prix Award for the film 'BlacKkKlansman' at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.

▲The filmmaker accepts an Academy Honorary Award at the 7th Annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, California in 2015.

▲'BlacKkKlansman' was screened in competition at the 71st Cannes Film Festival and won second prizes. It subsequently received six nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Lee (his first directing nomination), and Best Supporting Actor for Adam Driver.

▲Lee speaks during a 2015 mass at Saint Sabina Church in Chicago, as Father Michael Pfleger listens. A character in Lee's movie 'Chi-Raq' is based on Pfleger, a controversial Catholic priest on Chicago's south side. The film deals with gang violence and drew criticism from some quarters for supposedly capitalizing on Chicago deaths occurring nightly in hospitals.

▲Spike Lee and the cast of 'BlacKkKlansman' at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.

▲Filmed in black-and-white and on a small budget, Lee's first feature-length film garnered positive reviews and launched the filmmaker's career. A Netflix series of the same name aired from 2017 to 2019.

▲Lee produced, wrote, and directed this comedy-drama. He also had a starring role.

▲A critical and commercial success, the movie garnered numerous accolades, including Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello.

▲Accusations of anti-Semitism were leveled against Lee by the Anti-Defamation League and several film critics after Jewish characters in 'Mo' Better Blues' were described as "Shylocks." The filmmaker retorted by saying he could never make an anti-Semitic film because Jews run Hollywood, and "that's a fact."

▲The filmmaker was a friend of the late King of Pop, and made two documentaries about the singer: 'Bad 25' (2012) and 'Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall.'

▲In 2008, a spat developed between Lee and Clint Eastwood after the former accused the latter of not depicting black Marines in his film, 'Flags of Our Fathers' (2006). Eastwood fired back and said Lee should "shut his face." The two filmmakers eventually settled their differences, with Lee sending Eastwood a print of his own WWW II drama, 'Miracle at St. Anna' (2008).

▲'BlacKkKlansman' actors John David Washington and Adam Driver flank Lee—recipient of the Career Achievement Award—at the 30th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival in California, held in January 2019.

▲

Lee's passionate speech touched deeply on black history as he spoke of his ancestors' struggles in the past, but used it to urge the crowd to get involved in the future presidential election. He told everyone to do the right thing, then added, "You know I had to get that in there."

▲Samuel L. Jackson could barely hold back his excitement when he called Spike Lee's name for Best Adapted Screenplay—his first Oscar. A purple-clad Lee jumped to embrace him, and the moment was thick with history.

▲

Lee with his Peabody Award, presented in 2011 for his documentary 'If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise,' a follow-up to 'When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.'

▲

Spike Lee is one of cinema's most gifted film directors. He's also one of its most controversial. And after finally winning an Oscar, in addition to his numerous other accolades, the director shows no signs of slowing down.

In honor of his birthday, check out the following gallery and see why America's most provocative black filmmaker matters.