From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Melvin "Block" Van Peebles (August 21, 1932 - September 21, 2021) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer. He was most famous for creating the acclaimed film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which heralded a new era of African American focused films. He was the father of actor and director Mario Van Peebles. Description above from the Wikipedia article Melvin Van Peebles, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.