---
name: "Lee Daniels"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/lee-daniels"
fi1m_id: "lee-daniels"
imdb_id: "nm0200005"
tmdb_id: 20019
wikidata_id: "Q555460"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "24 December 1959"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 69
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-04T18:34:21.561788+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Lee Daniels

## Identity

Lee Daniels

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/lee-daniels
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** lee-daniels
- **IMDb ID:** nm0200005
- **TMDB ID:** 20019
- **Wikidata ID:** Q555460
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Daniels, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q555460, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200005/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/20019

Director and producer. Born 24 December 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 24 December 1959, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Active:** 1984–2014
- **Also known as:** Lee Louis Daniels
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 1 acting, 2 directing, 1 producing
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 69, as director, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 72 (1), 2000s 72 (1), 2010s 78 (2)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Daniels, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q555460, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200005/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/20019

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire*](https://film.one/film/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire.md) (72), [*The Butler*](https://film.one/film/the-butler.md) (66)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Lee Daniels

> Lee Daniels gets remarkable performances from actors his films do not always serve well. We rate his work most highly when he lets those performances hold our attention, without fantasy sequences or repeated explanations.

In *Precious* (2009), Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique play a daughter and mother who have never been kind to each other. Daniels gets two remarkable performances, then keeps distracting us with fantasy sequences and famous faces in small parts. We found their scenes together distressing because neither performer softens the lack of kindness between these people. This was Sidibe’s first film, and her performance helps carry the whole thing. Daniels has a gift for finding actors who can make difficult material convincing, but he does not always know when to leave them alone.

His directorial debut, *Shadowboxer* (2005), had already put Helen Mirren alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. in an unconventional cast. *Precious* brought wider recognition, and the lush southern pulp of *The Paperboy* (2012) followed. Moving between social realism and heightened drama has remained central to his work; restraint was never likely to be his strong point. The problem is that his storytelling can become familiar even while his actors are doing something fresh. In *Precious*, Geoffrey Fletcher’s adaptation of Sapphire’s *Push* leans towards the old inspirational-teacher story.

*The Butler* (2013) tries to tell a family’s story alongside a broad account of history, and cannot quite fit both in. Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey make it affecting, while Cecil Gaines’s White House work gives Daniels a useful way to look at power. Danny Strong’s screenplay keeps hurrying towards the next event, leaving too little time for the family. The famous faces and repeated explanations add to the sense of a director unwilling to let anything pass without emphasis. We recommend it cautiously, for the performances, and with patience required for the script.

Daniels and Strong continued their partnership as co-creators of *Empire* (2015–2020), taking his taste for heightened drama into television. His later features include *The United States vs. Billie Holiday* (2021) and *The Deliverance* (2024). Casting remains the first reason we would take a chance on another Daniels film. We would be happier still if it gave those actors fewer interruptions to overcome.

## Biography

Lee Daniels is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter. He made his feature directorial debut with *Shadowboxer* (2005) and directed *Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire* (2009), which he also produced.

Daniels attended Radnor High School and Lindenwood University. He previously worked in healthcare and as a casting director and talent manager before producing films including *Monster's Ball* (2001). His later directing credits include *The Paperboy* (2012), *The Butler* (2013), *The United States vs. Billie Holiday* (2021) and *The Deliverance* (2024). He created and directed episodes of the television series *Empire* (2015).

*Precious* earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, variety.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Performed in (1)

- *BoJack Horseman* (2014), Fi1m 91, as Flea Daniels (voice) — [page](https://film.one/tv/bojack-horseman.md)

### Directed (2) — the average rests on these

- *The Butler* (2013), Fi1m 66, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-butler.md)
- *Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire* (2009), Fi1m 72, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire.md)

### Produced (1)

- *Purple Rain* (1984), Fi1m 72, Casting Assistant — [page](https://film.one/film/purple-rain.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Deliverance* (2024), Director, Producer
- *The Reading* (2023), Executive Producer
- *The Wonder Years* (2021), series, Executive Producer
- *Our Kind of People* (2021), series, Executive Producer
- *The Ms. Pat Show* (2021), series, Executive Producer
- *The United States vs. Billie Holiday* (2021), Producer, Director
- *Concrete Cowboy* (2020), Producer
- *Pimp* (2018), Executive Producer
- *Star* (2016), series, Video Director, Executive Producer, Director, Writer, Creator
- *Empire* (2015), series, Director, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *BoJack Horseman* (2014), series, as Flea Daniels (voice) — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/bojack-horseman.md)
- *The Butler* (2013), Director, Producer — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/the-butler.md)
- *The Paperboy* (2012), as Bartender · Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire* (2009), Director, Producer — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire.md)
- *Tennessee* (2008), Producer
- *Shadowboxer* (2005), as Man in Steam Room · Producer, Director
- *The Woodsman* (2004), Producer
- *Agnes and His Brothers* (2004), as Henry Preminger
- *Monster's Ball* (2001), Producer
- *Billy Crystal: Don't Get Me Started* (1986), Casting
- *A Little Off Mark* (1986), as Steve
- *Purple Rain* (1984), Casting Assistant — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/purple-rain.md)
- *Terms of Endearment*, Director, Screenplay
- *Stealth*, Director
- *My Family's Slave*, Executive Producer

## Gallery

- ![Lee Daniels on the red carpet of the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, January 23rd, 2010.](https://film.one/media/person/100528/gallery-7e4f5d579de0.jpg) Lee Daniels on the red carpet of the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, January 23rd, 2010. — Tomdog, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Lee-Daniels-2010-SAG-Awards.jpg/1280px-Lee-Daniels-2010-SAG-Awards.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Lee Daniels and children (2007)](https://film.one/media/person/100528/gallery-000c2e69ccf5.jpg) Lee Daniels and children (2007) — David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Lee_Daniels_and_children_by_David_Shankbone.jpg/1280px-Lee_Daniels_and_children_by_David_Shankbone.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Lee Daniels, American film director. (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/100528/gallery-b799a6d205fd.jpg) Lee Daniels, American film director. (2011) — Sannita, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Lee_Daniels_at_2011_Capri%2C_Hollywood_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Lee_Daniels_at_2011_Capri%2C_Hollywood_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Lee Daniels at the Vanity Fair celebration for the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.](https://film.one/media/person/100528/gallery-c4f2f3b18514.jpg) Lee Daniels at the Vanity Fair celebration for the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. — David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Lee_Daniels_at_the_2009_Tribeca_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Lee_Daniels_at_the_2009_Tribeca_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 2010: Best Picture (nominated), for *Precious*
- 2010: Best Director (nominated), for *Precious*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2010: Best Film (nominated), for *Precious*

### Other awards — 4 won, 5 nominated

- GLAAD Davidson/Valentini Award 2010: GLAAD Davidson/Valentini Award (won)
- Independent Spirit Awards 2010: Best Director (won), for *Precious*
- Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture 2010: Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture (nominated), for *Precious*
- Producers Guild Stanley Kramer Award 2010: Producers Guild Stanley Kramer Award (won), for *Precious*
- Critics' Choice Awards 2009: Best Director (nominated), for *Precious*
- Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film 2009: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film (nominated), for *Precious*
- Satellite Award for Best Director 2009: Satellite Award for Best Director (nominated), for *Precious*
- Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award 2009: Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award (won), for *Precious*
- Independent Spirit Awards 2005: Best First Feature (nominated), for *The Woodsman*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/lee-daniels