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Quick Facts
- NAME: Wesley Snipes
- OCCUPATION: Film Actor
- BIRTH DATE: July 31, 1962 (Age: 50)
- EDUCATION: State University of New York at Purchase, High School for the Performing Arts
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Orlando, Florida
- Full Name: Wesley Trent Snipes
- AKA: Wesley Snipes
- ZODIAC SIGN: Leo
Best Known For
Wesley Snipes is an actor known for his action roles in such films as Blade and Passenger 57 and for his trouble with the law over unpaid taxes.
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Play NowWesley Snipes. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:31, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590.
Wesley Snipes. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Wesley Snipes." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 10:31 http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590.
"Wesley Snipes," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Wesley Snipes," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Wesley Snipes [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590.
Wesley Snipes, http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Wesley Snipes. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/wesley-snipes-9542590. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Born in Florida in 1962, Wesley Snipes made his film debut in Wildcats in 1986 and was cast in Mo' Better Blues in 1990. In 1991, Snipes took the leading role in Lee's Jungle Fever and also played one of his most memorable characters—stylish crime lord Nino Brown in New Jack City. In 2008, Snipes was sentenced to a maximum of 3 years in prison on tax evasion charges, an event that has colored his career since.
Early Life and Education
Wesley Trent Snipes was born on July 31, 1962, in Orlando, Florida. Raised with his three sisters in the South Bronx by his grandmother and mother, Snipes attended the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City.
After attending the State University of New York at Purchase, he pursued his acting career in earnest.
Film Debut: 'Wildcats'
Snipes made his film debut in Wildcats, starring Goldie Hawn, in 1986. After Spike Lee spotted him in the Michael Jackson video Bad, the director cast him in Mo' Better Blues opposite Denzel Washington in 1990.
The following year, Snipes not only took the leading role in Lee's Jungle Fever, but also portrayed one of his most memorable characters to date, that of stylish crime lord Nino Brown in Mario Van Peebles' New Jack City.
Continued Success
Throughout the 1990s, Snipes remained one of the biggest actors in Hollywood thanks to subsequent turns in such successful films as the emotionally wrought The Waterdance, the big-budget action flick Passenger 57 and the comedy White Men Can't Jump.
Though audiences might best remember him in such action adventures as 1993's Rising Sun and 1988's Blade, Snipes has made a concerted effort to explore other directions with such films as Waiting to Exhale in 1995, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (where he played an over-the-top drag queen) and One Night Stand in 1997, for which he won the award for best actor at the Venice Film Festival.
Personal Life
On April 24, 2008, Snipes was sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison on tax evasion charges. The government said Snipes should've paid $2.7 million in taxes on his $13.8 million income, and that he didn't file returns from 1999 to 2001.
Snipes married April Snipes in 1985. They had a son together, Jelani Asar Snipes, in 1988. The couple divorced in 1990. In 2003, Snipes married painter Nakyung "Nikki" Park. They have four children.
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