Lee Daniels Net Worth

Lee Daniels's Quotes

• My roots, my DNA, what I know is what it's like to live as an African-American and as a gay man. And I think trying to marry myself, ad stories that speak to me, to the studio world has been hard. They want Precious (2009), they want another something like that, but they're afraid.
• I can't embrace anything unless I can identify with the world. I think what made Precious (2009) so true is that, down to the wallpaper, I worked from a snapshot of the room that I grew up in, the hallway I grew up in. I knew exactly where the paint was going to chip from the wall. Whether or not I'll be able to capture that detail and that truth again, I don't know.
• [on making Precious (2009)] There wasn't the name game where you have to have this person or that person, and this person equals this amount of money, and that person means it will sell foreign. It was, "You have X amount of dollars," ... I think we started at $8 million--and "go with God".
• I was always intrigued with European cinema, and hated most American cinema. I didn't like the one, two, three-boom! style, with a neat and tidy ending. That was never my scene.
• [on how much the commercial prospects of a project play into what he decides to make] Of course it does. When you have two kids about to go to college, you have to say it is a business. Unfortunately, I think my artist supersedes that [laughs]. It's a problem when your artist supersedes your brain! I end up going with what my gut and spirit tell me.

Interesting Facts about Lee Daniels

1. Raised twins Clara and Liam, who are biologically his niece and nephew, as his own children since they were three days old in the mid-1990s. They were born to his brother and his girlfriend, and were adopted by Daniels and his then-boyfriend, Billy Hopkins (who is also his casting director).
2. Is the second African-American to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars (Precious (2009)).
3. Is the second African-American to be nominated for an Oscar® for Best Director (Precious (2009)).
4. Is the first African-American to direct a Best Picture Oscar nominee (Precious (2009)).
5. Good friends with Mariah Carey.
6. Suffered a heart attack when he went for a run in the mid-2000s.
7. Boyfriend since 2009 is Andy Sforzini, an actuary at Prudential Life Insurance.
8. Has one younger brother and three sisters.
9. He and Billy Hopkins ended their relationship in 2009. They share custody of their children Clara and Liam.
10. Worked as casting agent and manager since the 1980s. Among his clients were Nastassja Kinski and Wes Bentley.
11. His younger sister is casting director Leah Daniels Butler.
12. Was given the novel "Push", which his movie Precious (2009) is based upon, by Ally Sheedy's mother, Charlotte Sheedy, who is a literary agent.
13. Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6533 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December 2, 2016.
14. Directed 3 Oscar nominated performances: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, and Andra Day. Mo'Nique won for her performance in Precious (2009).
15. His father, William Daniels, was a police officer in Philadelphia, who was killed in the line of duty. He died when Lee Daniels was age 13.
16. Revealed that his father was physically abusive and that he did not approve of Daniels' homosexuality.
17. Attended and graduated from Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri.
18. Attended and graduated from Radnor High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania (1978).