Melvin Van Peebles, an actor, playwright, filmmaker, novelist, and composer, died at 89 in his home in Manhattan with his family by his side, reports confirm.&nbsp;

 
The Criterion Collection, a box set of Van Peebles' essential films next week, informed his fans and the media on behalf of his family. Peebles breathed his last on September 21.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We are saddened to announce the passing of a giant of American cinema, Melvin Van Peebles, who died last night, at home with family, at the age of 89. In an unparalleled career, Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the international cultural landscape. He will be deeply missed. <a href="https://t.co/HpciXXVoYo">pic.twitter.com/HpciXXVoYo</a>
— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Criterion/status/1440784276866301959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-billie-eilish-bts-elton-john-in-concert-for-climate-action-vaccines-415058">Billie Eilish, BTS, Elton John in concert for climate action, vaccines</a>

 
The independent artiste left his mark on art and culture with his writing, direction, among others talented works, but his most successful stint to this date remains his 1971 film 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'.&nbsp;

 
In the 70s, this film became one of the highest-grossing indie movies of all time and even started a dialogue around blaxploitation. The political statement that Peebles had made through this movie remains relevant even to this day.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-prosecution-details-r-kelly-sex-crime-universe-in-closing-arguments-415059">Prosecution details R. Kelly sex crime 'universe' in closing arguments</a>

"Dad knew that Black images matter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer's mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty, and interconnectivity of all people," his son Mario Van Peebles, actor and director himself, reportedly said in a statement.&nbsp;

 
Van Peebles launched his artistic career as a writer, publishing his first book 'The Big Heart' &nbsp;in 1957. From writing, he had then moved on to filmmaking.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/historic-night-as-somalia-screens-first-film-in-30-years-415063">'Historic night' as Somalia screens first film in 30 years</a>

Van Peebles then traveled to Europe, eventually settling in France. He made his short film 'Les Cinq Cent Balles' (500 Francs) there and worked as an investigative journalist for France Observateur, which then led him to become a columnist for the humor magazine Hara-kiri.

 
In 1965, Melvin Van Peebles became the editor-in-chief of the French edition of Mad magazine.&nbsp;

 
In total, Van Peebles published four novels, a number of short stories, and wrote the play 'La Fête à Harlem', which was later released as a novel.&nbsp;

 
Van Peebles debuted his first feature film, 'The Story of a Three-Day Pass', based on a novel by the same name. 
The film won award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and got the attention of Hollywood producers, that opened his door to his studio debut with 1970-released 'Watermelon Man'.&nbsp;

Melvin Van Peebles, an actor, playwright, filmmaker, novelist, and composer, died at 89 in his home in Manhattan with his family by his side, reports confirm. The Criterion Collection, a box set of Van Peebles' essential films next week, informed his fans and the media on behalf of his family.

Melvin Van Peebles, an actor, playwright, filmmaker, novelist, and composer, died at 89 in his home in Manhattan with his family by his side, reports confirm. The Criterion Collection, a box set of Van Peebles' essential films next week, informed his fans and the media on behalf of his family. Peebles breathed his last on September 21. We are saddened to announce the passing of a giant of American cinema, Melvin Van Peebles, who died last night, at home with family, at the age of 89. In an unparalleled career, Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the international cultural landscape. He will be deeply missed. pic.twitter.com/HpciXXVoYo — Criterion Collection (@Criterion) September 22, 2021 × Also read: Billie Eilish, BTS, Elton John in concert for climate action, vaccines The independent artiste left his mark on art and culture with his writing, direction, among others talented works, but his most successful stint to this date remains his 1971 film 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song'. In the 70s, this film became one of the highest-grossing indie movies of all time and even started a dialogue around blaxploitation. The political statement that Peebles had made through this movie remains relevant even to this day. Also read: Prosecution details R. Kelly sex crime 'universe' in closing arguments "Dad knew that Black images matter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer's mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty, and interconnectivity of all people," his son Mario Van Peebles, actor and director himself, reportedly said in a statement. Van Peebles launched his artistic career as a writer, publishing his first book 'The Big Heart' in 1957. From writing, he had then moved on to filmmaking. Also read: 'Historic night' as Somalia screens first film in 30 years Van Peebles then traveled to Europe, eventually settling in France. He made his short film 'Les Cinq Cent Balles' (500 Francs) there and worked as an investigative journalist for France Observateur, which then led him to become a columnist for the humor magazine Hara-kiri. In 1965, Melvin Van Peebles became the editor-in-chief of the French edition of Mad magazine. In total, Van Peebles published four novels, a number of short stories, and wrote the play 'La Fête à Harlem', which was later released as a novel. Van Peebles debuted his first feature film, 'The Story of a Three-Day Pass', based on a novel by the same name. The film won award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and got the attention of Hollywood producers, that opened his door to his studio debut with 1970-released 'Watermelon Man'.

Melvin Van Peebles, iconic Black actor-director-writer, dies at the age of 89

The 75th annual Golden Globes is expected to turn up the heat Sunday night with Hollywood A-listers looking forward to using&nbsp;the award ceremony for voicing their concerns and of course showing up in their best.&nbsp;

Hollywood, over the last one year, has been in the crosshairs of myriad <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/golden-globes-marks-the-first-test-on-how-hollywood-handles-sex-scandal-on-live-television-28578" target="_blank">controversies</a> from producer Harvey Weinstein getting accused by more than 100 women from the film fraternity to actor Kevin Spacey being removed from his own Netflix series &quot;House of Cards&quot;&nbsp;after he&nbsp;too, was accused of sexual misconduct by fellow actress&nbsp;and 15 other women.&nbsp;

While 2017 saw the ugly side of Hollywood up front, the year also saw the release of some of the most mind-boggling movies with great scripts and incredible performances delivered by artists.&nbsp;

Now that Golden Globes is a few days away, we round up pre-Oscars prize-giving ceremony in the form of 10 fun-filled facts:&nbsp;

1. How it started

Golden Globes was founded in 1944 and were given out by journalists for the first 14 years of its running. These journalists were members of the&nbsp;Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association, a precursor to the HFPA.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr took over the stage as impromptu masters of ceremony in 1958 and were a big hit on the stage. They were invited back as official hosts the following year.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-golden-globe-awards-2018-the-complete-list-of-nominations-26482" target="_blank">Also Read:&nbsp;Golden Globe Awards 2018: The complete list of nominations</a>

From the years 1958 to 1963, the Golden Globes were only broadcast in Los Angeles. They started to get broadcast nationally from 1964.

2. The Prizes&nbsp;

Unlike other award ceremonies and most importantly Oscars, the Globes only recognises actors, directors, producers and writers. They don&#39;t give out awards for technical skills.&nbsp;

The total list of awards is 25 -- 14 in film and 11 in television.&nbsp;

3. The&nbsp;Winners&nbsp;

Actress&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-meryl-streep-is-the-most-golden-globe-nominated-actor-26561" target="_blank">Meryl Streep</a> has the most nominations in Golden Globes. She got her latest nomination for her role in &quot;The Post&quot;, her 31st in total. Out of all nominations, Streep has won the title eight times, one less than record-holder&nbsp;Barbra Streisand.&nbsp;

Jamie Foxx and Helen Mirren jointly hold the record for the most nominations in one year with three.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/entertainment-saoirse-ronan-gets-a-boost-ahead-of-golden-globes-2018-for-her-performance-in-lady-bird-28554" target="_blank">Also Read:&nbsp;Saoirse Ronan gets a boost ahead of Golden Globes 2018 for her performance in &#39;Lady Bird&#39;</a>

The youngest winner remains Ricky Schroder, who was nine, for his role in &quot;The Champ,&quot; while the oldest was Jessica Tandy, who was 80 when she picked up best actress for &quot;Driving Miss Daisy.&quot;

4. The Goof-ups

Actress&nbsp;Renee Zellweger was in the bathroom when her best actress award for &quot;Nurse Betty&quot; was announced in 2001. It led to Hugh Grant asking for her table for her whereabouts to give the award. She reached the stage just in time and announced to the audience that she had been cleaning lipstick off her teeth.&nbsp;

Zellweger wasn&#39;t the first to do this as&nbsp;Christine Lahti had gotten caught in a similar scenario three years earlier when she won the best actress for &quot;Chicago Hope&quot;.

5. The &#39;Big Five&#39;

The &#39;big five&#39;&nbsp;means the&nbsp;best picture, actor, actress, director and screenplay. &quot;One Flew Over the Cuckoo&#39;s Nest&quot; was the first movie to win all of the &#39;big five&#39;&nbsp;categories as part of a six-win haul in 1975.&nbsp;

It remained the only &quot;big fiver&quot; until &quot;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/life-fun/la-la-land-sweeps-golden-globes-2017-11064" target="_blank">La La Land</a>&quot; took home the major categories as part of a record-breaking seven-trophy clean sweep in 2017.&nbsp;

Earlier, &quot;Who&#39;s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?&quot; (1967) and &quot;The Godfather, Part III&quot; (1991) each received seven nominations but lost in every category, going home empty-handed.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/emma-stone-leads-forbes-highest-paid-list-with-two-time-reigning-actress-jennifer-lawrence-at-3rd-position-no-indian-actress-makes-it-to-the-list-19162" target="_blank">Also Read:&nbsp;Forbes top-10 rich list: Emma Stone leads highest paid actress list, Deepika slips out</a>

6. Lifetime Achievement

The Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement was first handed out in 1952 to Cecil B. DeMille.&nbsp;

Subsequent winners include Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Sidney Poitier and Jodie Foster.

7. Those Who Objected

Actor Marlon Brando refused to accept his Golden Globe for &quot;The Godfather&quot; in 1973 in protest against the Vietnam war. Two months later, he rejected an Oscar over the poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry.

The producers of &quot;Z&quot; refused the award for best foreign language film in 1970 because they were angry it was left out of the prestigious best motion picture category.

8. The Trophy

The 24-karat gold-plated Golden Globe statuette costs around $800 to make and is 10.75 inches (27.3 centimetres) tall and 3.5 inches wide, weighing in at a hefty 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms).

After 2008, it was given a facelift and was then placed in a marble custom presentation box.

9. The Hosts 

NBC Late Night host Seth Meyers will be compering this year&#39;s show&nbsp;for the first time. He promises to use his&nbsp;political humour that he is rather famous for. He has indicated that Hollywood&#39;s sexual misconducts will also be treated with a fair punch of fun and satire in the night.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/golden-globes-2018-former-bond-girl-halle-berry-wonder-woman-gal-gadot-penelope-cruz-to-present-28009" target="_blank">Also Read:&nbsp;Golden Globes 2018: Former &#39;Bond&#39; girl Halle Berry, &#39;Wonder Woman&#39; Gal Gadot, Penelope Cruz to present</a>

Previous hosts have included Ricky Gervais (2010-12, 2016), Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (2013-15) and Jimmy Fallon (2017).

10. The Menu 

Before dinner, guests will be treated to champagne cocktails -- Moet Imperial, tequila, blood orange juice and a smattering of honey, according to a popular US-based magazine.&nbsp;

The menu includes burrata cheese, frisee lettuce and heirloom tomato salad and the&nbsp;main course of sea bass. The dessert menu boasts of a crunchy base of Italian hazelnuts beneath a coffee biscuit and Frangelico mascarpone -- all&nbsp;in chocolate and topped with a chocolate globe filled with sea salted caramel.

&nbsp;

The 75th annual Golden Globes is slated for Sunday night with the best of the industry coming out for the coveted awards

The 75th annual Golden Globes is expected to turn up the heat Sunday night with Hollywood A-listers looking forward to using the award ceremony for voicing their concerns and of course showing up in their best. Hollywood, over the last one year, has been in the crosshairs of myriad controversies from producer Harvey Weinstein getting accused by more than 100 women from the film fraternity to actor Kevin Spacey being removed from his own Netflix series "House of Cards" after he too, was accused of sexual misconduct by fellow actress and 15 other women. While 2017 saw the ugly side of Hollywood up front, the year also saw the release of some of the most mind-boggling movies with great scripts and incredible performances delivered by artists. Now that Golden Globes is a few days away, we round up pre-Oscars prize-giving ceremony in the form of 10 fun-filled facts: 1. How it started Golden Globes was founded in 1944 and were given out by journalists for the first 14 years of its running. These journalists were members of the Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association, a precursor to the HFPA. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr took over the stage as impromptu masters of ceremony in 1958 and were a big hit on the stage. They were invited back as official hosts the following year. Also Read: Golden Globe Awards 2018: The complete list of nominations From the years 1958 to 1963, the Golden Globes were only broadcast in Los Angeles. They started to get broadcast nationally from 1964. 2. The Prizes Unlike other award ceremonies and most importantly Oscars, the Globes only recognises actors, directors, producers and writers. They don't give out awards for technical skills. The total list of awards is 25 -- 14 in film and 11 in television. 3. The Winners Actress Meryl Streep has the most nominations in Golden Globes. She got her latest nomination for her role in "The Post", her 31st in total. Out of all nominations, Streep has won the title eight times, one less than record-holder Barbra Streisand. Jamie Foxx and Helen Mirren jointly hold the record for the most nominations in one year with three. Also Read: Saoirse Ronan gets a boost ahead of Golden Globes 2018 for her performance in 'Lady Bird' The youngest winner remains Ricky Schroder, who was nine, for his role in "The Champ," while the oldest was Jessica Tandy, who was 80 when she picked up best actress for "Driving Miss Daisy." 4. The Goof-ups Actress Renee Zellweger was in the bathroom when her best actress award for "Nurse Betty" was announced in 2001. It led to Hugh Grant asking for her table for her whereabouts to give the award. She reached the stage just in time and announced to the audience that she had been cleaning lipstick off her teeth. Zellweger wasn't the first to do this as Christine Lahti had gotten caught in a similar scenario three years earlier when she won the best actress for "Chicago Hope". 5. The 'Big Five' The 'big five' means the best picture, actor, actress, director and screenplay. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was the first movie to win all of the 'big five' categories as part of a six-win haul in 1975. It remained the only "big fiver" until "La La Land" took home the major categories as part of a record-breaking seven-trophy clean sweep in 2017. Earlier, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1967) and "The Godfather, Part III" (1991) each received seven nominations but lost in every category, going home empty-handed. Also Read: Forbes top-10 rich list: Emma Stone leads highest paid actress list, Deepika slips out 6. Lifetime Achievement The Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement was first handed out in 1952 to Cecil B. DeMille. Subsequent winners include Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Sidney Poitier and Jodie Foster. 7. Those Who Objected Actor Marlon Brando refused to accept his Golden Globe for "The Godfather" in 1973 in protest against the Vietnam war. Two months later, he rejected an Oscar over the poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry. The producers of "Z" refused the award for best foreign language film in 1970 because they were angry it was left out of the prestigious best motion picture category. 8. The Trophy The 24-karat gold-plated Golden Globe statuette costs around $800 to make and is 10.75 inches (27.3 centimetres) tall and 3.5 inches wide, weighing in at a hefty 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms). After 2008, it was given a facelift and was then placed in a marble custom presentation box. 9. The Hosts NBC Late Night host Seth Meyers will be compering this year's show for the first time. He promises to use his political humour that he is rather famous for. He has indicated that Hollywood's sexual misconducts will also be treated with a fair punch of fun and satire in the night. Also Read: Golden Globes 2018: Former 'Bond' girl Halle Berry, 'Wonder Woman' Gal Gadot, Penelope Cruz to present Previous hosts have included Ricky Gervais (2010-12, 2016), Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (2013-15) and Jimmy Fallon (2017). 10. The Menu Before dinner, guests will be treated to champagne cocktails -- Moet Imperial, tequila, blood orange juice and a smattering of honey, according to a popular US-based magazine. The menu includes burrata cheese, frisee lettuce and heirloom tomato salad and the main course of sea bass. The dessert menu boasts of a crunchy base of Italian hazelnuts beneath a coffee biscuit and Frangelico mascarpone -- all in chocolate and topped with a chocolate globe filled with sea salted caramel.

Golden Globes 2018: 10 fun facts about the awards ceremony

black-actresses

Black Actresses, News on Black Actresses, stories on Black Actresses, articles on Black Actresses, Black Actresses stories at Wion, Black Actresses news, Black Actresses latest news

black actresses

Melvin Van Peebles, iconic Black actor-director-writer, dies at the age of 89

Golden Globes 2018: 10 fun facts about the awards ceremony