Capital: € 9 million
Age: 57
Born: July 31, 1962
Country of origin: United States of America
Source of wealth: actor
Last updated: 2024

Short introduction

Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor from Orlando, Florida. His acting career began in the 80s and peaked in the 90s. Meanwhile, Snipes was jailed for tax fraud conviction.

Early life

Wesley Snipes was born in Orlando on July 31, 1962. He spent his childhood with his mother in the Bronx. He made his first contacts with acting while still at school. He attended the High School for the Performing Arts, where he took courses in singing, dance and acting. After graduating from high school, he studied drama at the State University of New York. He made his first appearances in the theater. Among other things, Snipes appeared on Broadway.

He had practiced karate regularly since the age of 12. At 23, Snipes was discovered by an agent during a martial arts competition. He played his first minor role in the American Wildcats football film.

Career

Shortly after his first film role, further appearances followed in the television series Miami Vice and in the music video for Michael Jackson’s song Bad. Both times Snipes took on the role of a gangster. In this early phase of his career, he was temporarily considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek: The Next generation series before deciding to LeVar Burton.

There followed further roles in The Indians of Cleveland and Jungle Fever. In the latter, Snipes received good reviews for his acting performance. In 1991, he returned to the role of gangster and played drug dealer Nino Brown, a character specially written for him, in the film New Jack City. Snipes finally had his commercial breakthrough in 1992 as Sidney Deane in the film White Boys Can’t Do It.

In the same year, Snipes played in the surprise hit Passenger 57. This role signaled his switch to action films. So he played in 1993 in The Cradle of the Sun and Demolition Man. Wesley Snipes celebrated his greatest success in 1998 with his leading role in the film Blade, which also earned him a fee of $ 13 million. Blade received two sequels with Blade II and Blade Trinity. In total, Snipes earned around $ 38 million during this peak of his career.

During the filming of Blade Trinity, there were disagreements between Wesley Snipes and the director and the production company New Line about the script. According to reports, Snipes was uncooperative when shooting various scenes. The film was followed by a legal dispute in which Snipes claimed that the studio still owed him part of his fee. In the following films, he should no longer be able to build on the success of his big hits. Instead, a number of direct-to-DVD productions followed.

In October 2006, Snipes was charged with misrepresenting income tax for years. He was accused of illegally securing $ 12 million in repayments in this way. In April 2008, Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison. He appealed this judgment, which was dismissed in 2010. He then had to start serving his sentence on December 9 of the same year. On April 2, 2013, Snipes was released from prison and served the last months of his sentence in house arrest.

His first role after the release was in the action film The Expendables 3 alongside Sylvester Stallone. A number of smaller film productions and appearances in television series followed.

In addition to his acting career, Snipes was also active as an entrepreneur. In the late 90s, he and his brother founded a security company called the Royal Guard of Amen-Ra. She specialized in providing security forces for VIPs. He also founded his own film production company, which was also called Amen-Ra.

Career highlights

Snipe’s acting career peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s. His most famous role is the vampire hunter Blade from the trilogy of the same name. Wesley Snipes received his most important film award for his role in the 1997 film One Night Stand. For this he was awarded as best actor at the Venice International Film Festival.

Famous quotes

“I come from the repertoire theater, so I’ve worked under pressure all my career.”

“I don’t see myself as extremely attractive. I think I can just make people like me. ”

Success tips

Looking at his own lows and the similar problems of fellow actor Robert Downey Jr. at that time, Wesley Snipes once advised that one should never let one’s head down. Ups and downs could come and go, as long as you always have confidence in your own abilities and focus on improving yourself, you would always have new opportunities.

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