Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes was born on July 31, 1962, in Bronx, New York. His grandmother and mother raised him and his three sisters in South Bronx. Wesley attended the High School for Performing Arts in New York City but had to leave it behind when his family packed up and moved to Florida; this put a damper on his dreams of musical theater. After graduating from a Florida high school, he appeared in local dinner theaters and regional productions. This is where an agent saw Wesley and landed him his first role in a movie, Wildcats with Goldie Hawn in 1986. After attending the State University of New York at Purchase, Wesley pursued his acting in earnest. In 1989, he got to take a comedic turn in Major League opposite Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Corbin Bernsen. A spot in the Michael Jackson music video Bad caught the attention of director Spike Lee, this got Wesley cast in the movie Mo’ Better Blues opposite Denzel Washington in 1990. The next year, he not only landed the leading underwater metal detectors role in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, he also portrayed one of his most memorable characters to date, that of stylish crime lord Nino Brown in Mario Van Peebles’ New Jack City. The 1990s was a busy and productive time for Wesley Snipes. Here we see his steady and continuous rise to celebrityhood and stardom. Subsequent turns in successful frozen yogurt machines films made him a household name. His work ranged from the emotionally wrought Waterdance as he costarred with Helen Hunt and Eric Stoltz, to the big-budgeted action movie Passenger 57 thrilling audiences alongside former Jungle Fever costar Halle Berry, or to the light and funny White Men Can’t Jump with Woody Harrelson and Rosie Perez. 1993 brought several more Wesley Snipes films; most notably, a movie with Sean Connery based on a Michael Crichton thriller, Rising Sun and the hit movie Demolition Man, where he played a tankless water heater villain opposite Sylvester Stallone. In the following years, Wesley Snipes’ efforts to select more diverse roles become more obvious. He still goes for the occasional action packed movies but he also makes it a point to explore other genres to perhaps stretch his acting abilities and maybe avoid boredom. Choices such as 1994’s Drop Zone and the next dog wheelchairs year’s The Money Train are sure to satisfy his usual fans’ requirements; while movies like Waiting to Exhale and To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar—as Noxeema, a scary-looking drag queen on a road trip with fellow drag queen, John Leguizamo (Chichi) and Patrick Swayze (Vida)—in 1995 where he were sure to introduce him to new audiences. His work continued to rise in popularity and so did the caliber of the actors he worked with. The Fan in 1996 had him working with Robert De Niro. In 1997, with Murder At 1600, it was Diane Lane and Alan Alda. 1998 brought two big hits: U.S. Marshalls and Blade. In U.S. Marshalls, Wesley Snipes starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Downey Jr., plus a strong support cast. Blade, meanwhile was loosely based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. Wesley’s martial arts background served him well in this film and it really showed through. In it he starred with Stephen Dorff and Kris Kristofferson The movie was such a hit that it was followed by two sequels: Blade II and Blade: Trinity. On the personal front, although he has been romantically linked to many Hollywood names, Wesley Snipes has married twice and both to non-Hollywood personalities. His first marriage was in 1985, to April Snipes. They have a son together. They divorced in 1990. His second marriage is to Nakyung Park, in 2003. They have four children. He calls South Korea his “second home.”