- Born
- Birth nameWesley Trent Snipes
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Wesley Trent Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, to Marian (Long), a teacher's assistant, and SMSGT Wesley Rudolph Snipes, an aircraft engineer. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City, where he very early decided that dance and the theatre were to be his career. He attended the High School for the Performing Arts (popularized in Fame (1980)). But dreams of the musical theater (and maybe a few commercials) faded when his mother moved to Orlando, Florida before he could graduate. Fortune would have it that he along with two friends and his "Drama class" teachers Mr. S Porro and K. Rugerio, would start a bus-n-truck theatre company (Struttin Street Stuff) be instrumental in his high schools (Jones High) induction into the International Thespian Society, Orlando Chapter and help lay the foundation for what would become Dr. Phillips High Schools theatre arts program. Musical theatre rooted Snipes performed song-n-dance, puppetry, and acrobatics in city parks, dinner clubs, and performing arts centers around central Florida. As a recipient of a Victor Borge Scholarship, Snipes left Orlando and entered the world-renowned professional theatre arts program at SUNY Purchase in New York, now Purchase College, where he honed his theatrical performance and martial arts skills. Graduating with a BFA, he went on to co-star in a few soap operas and nighttime dramas, peppered in between critical acclaim performances Broadway. It was there in a Broadway theater An agent saw him on stage and invited him to audition for his first feature film role.
Goldie Hawn Wildcats (1986). Athletic roles such as that gave way to dramatic roles such as that gave way to tough guy roles as in New Jack City (1991), and to the action hero in Passenger 57 (1992). Wesley feels that at least with the Hollywood heavyweights he must be doing something right - Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper and Sean Connery all had veto power over casting and all approved his role. Wesley also founded Amen Ra Films Production Company, and is a Multi System Combat Arts Black Belt Holder IT Technologist & VC.- IMDb mini biography by: Maandihouse@gmail.com
- SpousesNakyung (Nikki) Park(March 17, 2003 - present) (4 children)April DuBois(1985 - 1990) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenJelani Asar SnipesAlaafia Jehu-T SnipesAkhenaten Kihwa-T SnipesAlimayu Moa-T SnipesIset Jua-T Snipes
- ParentsWesley Rudolph SnipesMaryann Snipes (Long)
- Characters in his films, usually his own characters, frequently quote the literary classic "The Art of War", written by Sun Tzu around 500 B.C.E., which is widely regarded as the single best resource for training military special forces groups worldwide.
- Deep commanding voice
- His incredible martial arts skill
- Was Sylvester Stallone's original choice to play Hale Caesar in The Expendables (2010), but couldn't accept because of his tax issues made him unable to leave the United States.
- His apartment in NYC was destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. He happened to be on the west coast with his wife, Nikki Park., taking care of their daughter who was born on his birthday on the west coast.
- He is a fifth degree black belt in Shotokan karate. He also studied Kung Fu and has a second degree Black Belt in Hapkido, 9th Dan in the Kushindaryu and Karate, 5th Dan in Sanuces Ryu Jujutsu, and a 9th Dan in Weaponry.
- On April 18, 2005, Snipes filed a suit against New Line Cinema for more then $5 million, claiming that the studio failed to pay the balance of his fixed rate for Blade: Trinity, and that he wasn't allowed to approve the director, per his contract stipulations.
- Is close friends with Woody Harrelson.
- Lot of the scripts I've been in with other non-white actors haven't been great. Lot of non-white actors ain't all that great.
- [on marriage] I don't understand the mandate of being together forever. The idea that you should do that is wrong. It makes us slaves to a societal mandate. You can still love, but it doesn't mean you have to be tethered to the flesh. [9.14.97: Toronto Sun newspaper: Interviewed by Liz Braun]
- I read that Asian women were bedroom generals. Some people think that means they're great in bed, but that's not the issue. They're talking about a place where the man is at his most vulnerable, where they have the most control. They don't have to beat him over the head to mow the lawn. They can whisper it in his ear and give him a kiss on the cheek and it's no problem. That's a general. (August 1998: Jet Magazine v.94 #13 pg.58)
- Certain roles are more challenging than others, but I haven't come across one yet that I can't tackle.
- I used to do puppet theatre and also mime and musical theatre in Florida for competitions and festivals, which was great. I was very much involved in theatre when I was in college. It's funny because all I wanted to do when I was young was to become a dancer and then I went to acting school, where they taught me great drama! And that was it, I became an actor and the rhythm went through the door. But I can still do some dancing, some choreography in my films and that's cool.
- Blade: Trinity (2004) - $13,000,000
- Blade (1998) - $8,000,000
- Murder at 1600 (1997) - $10,000,000
- The Fan (1996) - $7,000,000
- Money Train (1995) - $5,500,000
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