Wesley Snipes


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Wesley Snipes was born on July 31, 1962. He was Educated at State University of New York-Purchase with a B.A. Theatre and Dramatic Arts. He has one child named Jelani Asar Snipes.

Wesley Snipes was born in Florida. His family moved to the South Bronx when he was an infant. He later attended the well known High School for the Performing Arts. He completed high school in Orlando, Florida and teamed up with friends to form a travelling puppet troupe that performed in public parks and schools. In 1980, Snipes returned to New York to attend college at SUNY/Purchase. He subsequently landed roles on Broadway in such productions as "Boys of Winter," "Executive of Justice," and in Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka's "Death and the King's Horsemen" before venturing into film.

Snipes' film career began in 1985 with Wildcats, followed by a role in the Michael Jackson music video for "Bad," which was directed by Martin Scorsese.

Snipes next appeared in "Streets of Gold," then starred as Willie Mays Hays in "Major League," which brought him widespread public notice. Spike Lee, who had noticed Snipes in the "Bad" video, next cast him as jazz saxophonist Shadow Henderson in "Mo' Better Blues" and, later, as the lead in the interracial drama "Jungle Fever".

Snipes' next role, as brilliant drug lord Nino Brown in "New Jack City," was written specifically for him by Barry Michael Cooper, who recalled Snipes' work in the "Bad" video.

Snipes continued to showcase his range as a dramatic and comedic actor with roles in "The Waterdance," and "White Men Can't Jump," while his performance in the action/adventure "Passenger 57" showcased his martial arts expertise. He portrayed an LAPD special detective opposite Sean Connery in "Rising Sun," the diabolical Simon Phoenix in "Demolition Man" opposite Sylvester Stallone, and re-teamed with "New Jack City" writer Barry Michael Cooper for "Sugar Hill."

In 1994 Snipes completed the skydiving action picture "Drop Zone," directed by John Badham, and showed a totally different side in "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar," in which he portrayed one of a trio of drag queens stranded in a small midwestern town, for director Beeban Kidron. In 1995, he teamed again with his "White Men Can't Jump" co-star, Woody Harrelson, for the action movie "Money Train."

Quote: "In the beginning, all I wanted to do was to be a singer and a dancer. That was my real groove, my real interest. When it came to doing films, my biggest goal was to do a commercial."
--Wesley Snipes

Early in 1999, Wesley Snipes (4th. Degree, at the time) hosted a show ("Masters of the Martial Arts") featuring various masters and legends of the martial arts. At the end of the show the masters got together and jointly awarded Snipes his 5th. degree. Whether the rank is legit or just honorary, is not known.

Feature Films
1998 Blade
1998 U.S. Marshals
1997 One Night Stand
1997 Murder at 1600
1996 The Fan
1995 Waiting To Exhale
1995 Money Train
1995 To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
1995 Drop Zone
1994 Sugar Hill
1993 Rising Sun
1993 Boiling Point
1993 Demolition Man
1992 White Men Can't Jump
1992 The Waterdance
1992 Passenger 57
1991 Jungle Fever
1991 New Jack City
1990 Mo' Better Blues
1989 King of New York
1989 Major League
1986 Wildcats
1986 Streets of Gold

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