Melvin Van Peebles

In 1971, he released his best-known work, creating and starring in the film ''Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'', considered one of the earliest and best-regarded examples of the blaxploitation genre. He followed this up with the musical, ''Don't Play Us Cheap'', based on his own stage play, and continued to make films, write novels and stage plays in English and in French through the next several decades; his final films include the French-language film '''' (2000) and the absurdist film ''Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha'' (2008). His son, filmmaker and actor Mario Van Peebles, appeared in several of his works and portrayed him in the 2003 biographical film ''Baadasssss!''. Provided by Wikipedia