Photos: Melvin Van Peebles through the years Filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles attends the 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, in New York. Van Peebles, a Broadway playwright, musician and movie director, died Sept. 21, 2021, at age 89. Keep clicking to see more photos from his career. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)