Young actor and screenwriter whose most visible cinematic activity, prior to co-scripting Spike Lee's "Crooklyn" (1994), was as the helpful bellboy of Screamin' Jay Hawkin's fly-swatting hotel owner in Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train" (1989). "Crooklyn", which Lee wrote with sister Joie and brother Spike, was a family affair: the story featured an African-American family in Brooklyn during the 1970s that was loosely based on Lee's own family.