|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, martial artist, and tax protester. Snipes has starred in action-adventures, thrillers and dramatic feature films opposite such actors as Robert De Niro and Sean Connery. In recent years, Snipes has moved behind the scenes in order to make his own films. To this end, he formed his own independent production company, Amen Ra Films, and its subsidiary Black Dot Media in 1991, to develop projects for film and television. The sleekly athletic Wesley Snipes has proven himself equally adept at drama, comedy, sports, and action features. After attending the High School of the Performing Arts and SUNY, Purchase, he held odd jobs while searching for stage work. Co-founder of the theater troupe Struttin' Street Stuff, Snipes appeared in commercials for such products as Levi's 501 jeans and Coca-Cola before landing his first real break and making his Broadway debut in the Vietnam drama "The Boys of Winter" (1985). Wesley Snipes has been training in martial arts since he was twelve. He is a fourth-degree Black Belt in Shotokan Karate and a student of Capoeira under Mestre Jelon Vieira. Snipes has also pursued training in a number of other disciplines including Kung Fu. Snipes will return to the big screen in the U.S. with 2009's Gallowwalker. Born in Orlando, Florida, Snipes grew up in the Bronx where he attended Manhattan's famed High School for the Performing Arts but he moved back to Florida before he could graduate. After finishing high school in Florida, Snipes attended the State University of New York at Purchase and began pursuing an acting career. A 24-year-old Snipes was discovered by an agent while performing in a competition. A short time later he made his film debut in the Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats. In 1987, Snipes appeared as Michael Jackson's rival gang leader in the Martin Scorsese-directed music video "Bad" (he is only seen in the long version of the video) and the feature film Streets of Gold. Snipe's performance in the music video "Bad" caught the eye of director Spike Lee. Snipes turned down a small role in Lee's Do the Right Thing for the larger part of Willie Mays Hays in Major League, beginning a succession of box-office hits for Snipes. Lee would later cast Snipes as the jazz saxophonist Shadow Henderson in Mo' Better Blues and as the lead in the interracial romance drama Jungle Fever. Another important role for Snipes was the powerful drug lord Nino Brown in New Jack City, which was written specifically for him by Barry Michael Cooper. Another film in which his character was involved in drugs was the somber movie Sugar Hill. Snipes first came to filmmaker Spike Lee's attention when he played a young tough who threatens Michael Jackson in the Martin Scorsese-directed video, "Bad" (1987). Lee later cast him as saxophonist Shadow Henderson in "Mo' Better Blues" (1990) and the "buppie" architect protagonist in the provocative "Jungle Fever" (1991). Snipes and co-star Annabella Sciorra made a very attractive pair in a transgressive relationship that was not well served by the screenplay. Significantly, unlike most dark-skinned actors of the past, Snipes has been cast as a virile romantic lead in several mainstream Hollywood films. While he began his feature career playing athletes (e.g., a football player in "Wildcats" 1986 and speedster Willie Mays Hayes in "Major League" 1989), Snipes made a strong impression in a small role in Abel Ferrara's "King of New York" (1990) and as the fierce drug lord antagonist in Mario Van Peebles' "New Jack City" (1991). In 1992, he scored with two box-office hits: the free-wheeling, fast-talking basketball feature "White Men Can't Jump", co-starring Woody Harrelson, and the "Die Hard" knock-off, "Passenger 57". He also found time to play a paraplegic in the more modest drama, "The Waterdance" (also 1992) before returning to the action vein with "Boiling Point", as a federal agent bent on avenging the death of a colleague; and the futuristic "Demolition Man" (both 1993), as ex-cop Sylvester Stallone's deranged, blond-haired nemesis. The success of the latter led to a $7 million payday for his next, "Drop Zone" (1994), with Snipes as a US Marshall on the trail of a team of renegade stunt skydivers. The role of drag queen Noxeema Jackson in "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" (1995) was not one of Snipes' favorites, and he has heatedly nixed a sequel. He was back to more familiar action terrain reteamed with Harrelson in "The Money Train" and played an uncredited part as a smooth-talking married man who tries to pick up Angela Bassett in a bar in the popular female bonding drama "Waiting to Exhale" (both 1995). After a turn as a baseball player harassed by the obsessive Robert De Niro as "The Fan" (1996), Snipes moved into producing, serving as executive producer and narrator of the documentary "John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk" (1996) and the actioner "The Big Hit" (1998). Despite an increased presence behind the scenes, Snipes continued to remain busy as an actor. He was the DC detective investigating "Murder at 1600" and an adulterous husband in "One Night Stand" (both 1997). After appearing as the quarry of Tommy Lee Jones in "U.S. Marshall", he switched to a more heroic persona as "Blade" (both 1998), a black superhero battling a group of vampires. The actor rounded out the year serving as star and as one of the producers (including co-star Alfre Woodard) in Maya Angelou's directorial debut, "Down in the Delta" and segueing to the small screen doing similar double duty in the sci-fi actioner "Futuresport" (ABC, 1998). Although Snipes is more remembered for his roles in action films like Passenger 57, Demolition Man (with Sylvester Stallone), and Rising Sun (with Connery), he has also had success in comedies like White Men Can't Jump, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar where he played a drag queen together with Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo. Snipes has also been critically acclaimed for his roles in dramas like The Waterdance and Disappearing Acts. In 1997 he won the Best Actor Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in New Line Cinema's One Night Stand. Snipes was also lauded by critics worldwide for his performance in U.S. Marshals, a sequel of sorts to the box-office hit, The Fugitive. In the action-thriller “The Art of War” (2000), Snipes played Neil Shaw, an international security expert who, after being framed by terrorists in a plot to bring down the United Nations, wages a private war to prevent World War III. The plot—derivative to the point of being laughable—confounded both critics and audiences, but Snipes managed to kick, punch, and swagger his way through the dreck. After filming the forgettable prison boxing flick “Undisputed” (2002), Snipes returned to the lead role in “Blade II” (2002), directed by Mexico’s premiere horror filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro. Box office returns and critical praise were good enough to warrant a third installment, with Snipes once again reprising his half-human, half-vampire title character in “Blade: Trinity” (2004), co-starring Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds. 1998 was especially rewarding for Snipes with the opening of the year's hit Blade, for New Line Cinema, which has grossed over $150 million worldwide. The film turned into a successful series (see Blade) with the last installment coming out in 2004. He was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, SUNY/Purchase, for his outstanding achievements in film. Despite all the success, most of his latest films have been released straight-to-DVD. His latest films are The Shooter (also know as The Contractor), filmed in Bulgaria and the UK, with Charles Dance, Lena Heady and Eliza Bennett, and the upcoming Gallowwalker, set to be released in 2009. In 1991, Snipes formed the independent production company Amen Ra Films. It co-produced the first two Blade films and other titles that Snipes has starred in. Snipes produced The Big Hit, starring Mark Wahlberg and executive produced by John Woo and Terence Chang, and the critically acclaimed feature Down in the Delta, which marked Maya Angelou's directorial debut and garnered several awards including a Christopher Prism and nominations in multiple categories for the Acapulco Black Film Festival, as well as an NAACP Image Award for Best Motion Picture. Additionally, television projects distinguished Snipes as a creative force with ABC's Futuresport, in which he starred with Dean Cain and Vanessa L. Williams. Snipes also produced the highest rated cable special of all time, TNT's "The First Tribute to the Martial Arts Masters of the 20th Century," which showcased some of the greatest innovators of the martial arts. Snipes also served as executive producer of a series of documentaries that he personally financed through now defunct Black Dot Media. The company showcased prominent thinkers from the African and Afro-Caribbean culture. The first in the series, John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk, chronicled the life of John Henrik Clarke, an authority on African and Afro-Caribbean studies. The film won critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997 and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York. In the late 90s, Snipes and his brother started a security firm called the Royal Guard of Amen-Ra dedicated to providing VIPs with bodyguards trained in law enforcement, military, and martial arts. In 2000, the business was investigated for alleged ties to an extremist religious cult called the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors. It turns out that Snipes had spotted 200 acres of land with the intention to buy and use for his business academy, which were close to the aforementioned religious cult compound in Putnam County, Georgia. As far as coincidences go, both Snipes business and the religious cult had Egyptian motifs as their symbols which prompted people to make up alleged ties between both. Snipes and his brother ended up not buying the land and established their company in Florida and Antigua, while the religious cult compound was raided in 2002 and their leader convicted. In 2005 Snipes was in negotiations to fight Fear Factor star and UFC commentator Joe Rogan in an upcoming UFC event. In 1993, Snipes was fined $1,000 and placed on two-year unsupervised probation in California after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a loaded weapon. In April of 1994, while on probation on the California gun conviction, Snipes was briefly detained and charged with reckless driving after he crashed his Kawasaki 1100cc motorcycle at the end of a thirty mile, 120 mile per hour chase with a Florida Highway Patrol officer and police helicopters. Snipes had been returning from a family visit in Orlando, and was in the area north of Port St. Lucie, on his way to Key Largo in connection with the making of the film Drop Zone. Neither Snipes nor the officer was seriously injured in the crash. Snipes eventually pleaded no contest to the charge of reckless driving, and was sentenced to perform 80 hours of community service. In 2002, an Indiana woman named Lanise Petits claimed that Snipes was the father of her child. Snipes denied the charges, and the case was later dismissed when the biological father was found, In June of 2005, Snipes was detained in South Africa at Johannesburg International Airport for allegedly trying to pass through the airport with a fake South African passport. Snipes was allowed to return home because he had a valid U.S. passport. In 2005, Snipes sued New Line Cinema, and David S. Goyer (director of Blade: Trinity) claiming that the studio didn't pay his full salary, that he was intentionally cut out of casting decisions and filmmaking process, despite being one of the producers, and that his character's screen time was reduced in favor of costars, Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel. Snipes contends that Goyer, his fellow producers, and New Line kept him out of the project's decision process, which ended up harming the film's performance (it made just $52 million, compared to the previous installments that had made $70 and $82 respectively). He says that a portion of his salary - $3.6 million - was withheld as punishment. The suit is still pending. On October 12, 2006, Wesley Snipes, Eddie Ray Kahn, and Douglas P. Rosile were charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 371 and one count of knowingly making or aiding and abetting the making of a false and fraudulent claim for payment against the United States, under 18 U.S.C. § 287 and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Snipes was also charged six counts of willfully failing to timely file Federal income tax returns under 26 U.S.C. § 7203. The conspiracy charge against Snipes included allegations that he filed a false amended return including a false tax refund claim of over US$4 million for the year 1996 and a false amended return including a false tax refund claim of over US$7.3 million for the year 1997. The government alleged that Snipes attempted to obtain fraudulent tax refunds using a legally discredited tax protester theory called the "861 argument" (essentially, an argument that the domestic income of U.S. citizens and residents is not taxable). The indictment said Snipes used accountants who already had a history of filing false returns to obtain refund payments for their clients. The government also charged that Snipes sent three worthless, fictitious "bills of exchange" to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the amounts of $1,000,000 (on November 30, 2000), $12,000,000 (January 18, 2001), and $1,000,000 (September 10, 2002), with each accompanied by an IRS tax payment voucher coupon. Under the alleged deal, the firm American Rights Litigators was to receive, from the clients, an amount equal to 20 percent of the tax refunds obtained for those clients. The government also charged that Snipes failed to file tax returns for the years 1999 through 2004. In a December 4, 2006 letter from Snipes in response to his indictment, he declared himself "a nonresident alien" of the United States. Snipes said he was a scapegoat and unfairly targeted by prosecutors in connection with the federal tax fraud investigation. He attempted unsuccessfully to get the trial moved from Ocala, Florida on the ground that racist attitudes in that town would prejudice his chance for a fair trial. Snipes faced the possibility of up to sixteen years in prison and substantial fines if convicted on all the charges. The trial began on Monday, January 14, 2008, in Ocala, Florida, with opening statements beginning on Wednesday, January 16, 2008. On February 1, 2008, Snipes was acquitted on the felony count of conspiracy to defraud the government and on the felony count of filing a false claim with the government. He was, however, found guilty on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file Federal income tax returns (and acquitted on three other "failure to file" charges). His co-defendants, Douglas P. Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn, were convicted on the conspiracy and false claim charges in connection with the income tax refund claims filed for Snipes. Following the guilty verdicts on the misdemeanor charges, Snipes faces a maximum possible three years in prison. His sentencing was scheduled for April 24, 2008. Snipes failed to pay approximately $70,000 in local property taxes, interest and penalties on a home in Alpine, New Jersey, owned by his company, Kymberlyte Production Services International, Inc. In December 2007, the taxing authority of the borough of Alpine, New Jersey sold the tax lien on the home to a third party. Snipes has two years to redeem the property or risk foreclosure. In 2005, Snipes defaulted on California property taxes, owing over $171,000 in property taxes in that state. As of February 2008, a home owned by Snipes in Florida is subject to delinquent property taxes of over $15,000. Snipes has been linked to a number of women including Jada Pinkett Smith, Sanaa Lathan, Halle Berry,Donna Wong and Jennifer Lopez. Snipes has also been married twice. First, to April Snipes from 1985-1990 with whom he has a son, Jelani Asar Snipes, born in 1988. Jelani had a cameo role in Snipes 1990 film Mo' Better Blues. In 2003, Snipes wed painter Nakyung "Nikki" Park, who is the mother of his four youngest children: son Akhenaten Kihwa-T Snipes; daughter Iset Jua-T Snipes (born July 31, 2001); son Alaafia Jehu-T Snipes; and son Alimayu Moa-T Snipes (born March 26, 2007). Now divorced to former wife Nakyung, Snipes spends a lot of time in Park's home country of South Korea which he calls his "second home". |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Celebrities Guide 
| WhoABC
Home : Disclaimer
: Terms
: Privacy
Policy : Contact
Us : Links All original content Copyright Celebrities Guide, WhoABC.com © 2004 - 2008. All Rights Reserved |