Charles Burnett (director)

Charles Burnett
Charles Burnett in 2008
Born	(1944-04-13) April 13, 1944 (age 72) Vicksburg, Mississippi
Nationality	American
Occupation	Film director, film producer, writer, editor, actor, photographer, cinematographer
Years active	1977-present
Known for	Killer of Sheep To Sleep with Anger
Spouse(s)	Gaye Shannon-Burnett
Children	2

Charles Burnett (April 13, 1944 in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is an African-American film director, film producer, writer, editor, actor, photographer, and cinematographer. His most popular films include Killer of Sheep (1978), My Brother's Wedding (1983), To Sleep with Anger (1990), The Glass Shield (1994), and Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007). He has been involved in other types of motion pictures including shorts, documentaries, and a TV series.

Considered by the Chicago Tribune as "one of America's very best filmmakers" and by the New York Times as "the nation's least-known great filmmaker and most gifted black director", Charles Burnett has had a long and diverse filmmaking career.

Charles Burnett was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on April 13, 1944 to a nurse's aide and a military father. According to a DNA analysis, he descended, mainly, of people from Sierra Leone. In 1947, Charles's family moved to Watts, a largely black neighborhood in South Los Angeles. Although Burnett was interested in expressing himself through art from a young age, the economic pressure to maintain a stable job initially kept him from pursuing film or art in college.

The neighborhood of Watts had a significant effect on the life and the work of Charles Burnett. The community, which gained notoriety in 1965 when violent riots in the area caused the deaths of 34 people and injured more than 1,000, again made the news in 1992 when protestors turned to looting and arson following the acquittal of police officers tried for the beating of Rodney King. Burnett has said that the neighborhood had a strong Southern influence due to the large number of Southerners living in the area. The Watts community strongly influences the subject matter of his movies, which often revolve around southern folklores mixed with modern themes. His film Killer of Sheep was set in the Watts neighborhood.