Contact Wesley Snipes

Full Name:	Wesley Snipes
Famous As:	Actor, producer
Date of Birth:	July 31, 1962
Place of Birth:	Orlando, Florida, USA
Height:	5' 9?
Nationality:	American

• 'GAME' OVER FOR WESLEY SNIPES HELMER: Abel Ferrara will not reunite ...

  EURweb - Found Nov. 2, 2009 ... dropped out of Columbia's 'Game of Death,' the action drama that was to be his first pairing with star Wesley Snipes since 1990's 'King of New...

• Celebrate The 15-Year Anniversary Of Banner Ads By Accidentally ...

  Best Week Ever - Found Oct. 27, 2009 ... gave you a nostalgic internet chill, check out this hilarious original ad for AT&T ? I?m pretty sure Wesley Snipes wore this in White Men...

• Pearl & Dean names Robert Pattinson favourite movie vampire

  In Entertainment - Found Oct. 26, 2009 ... beating competition from Christopher Lee and Wesley Snipes in Pearl & Dean?s cinema advertising company with 38% of the vote. Twilight heart-throb Robert Pattinson voted 'favourite vampire' - The Independent Pattinson voted top vampire - Telegraph Twilight heart-throb Robert Pattinson voted 'favourite vampire' - The Independent Pattinson voted 'favourite vampire' - Metro.co.uk Explore All

  In Entertainment

• Wesley Snipes and the Ponzi scheme

  Sox First - Found Oct. 13, 2009 Wesley Snipes last year was pinged for tax evasion.

• Wesley Snipes Caught In Ponzi Scheme: Report

  The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com - Found Oct. 12, 2009 Wesley Snipes can't seem to get anything right when it comes to his personal finances.

• Wesley Snipes Ponzi Scheme, Sarah Palin & Races and Cherry Jones ...

  Post Chronicle - Found Oct. 13, 2009 Three interseting topics for a Monday afternoon - Wesley Snipes is involved in a Ponzi Scheme, Sarah Palin and races lock-out and Cherry Jones split

• Another Ponzi Victim: Wesley Snipes

  Business Insider - Found Oct. 12, 2009 What is it about Wesley Snipes in particular? Snipes could go to prison for tax evasion -- he's appealing an April 2008 conviction -- but now...

• Wesley Snipes Teaming Up with Abel Ferrara Once Again for Game of ...

  /Film - Found Oct. 8, 2009 Things haven?t been so great for Wesley Snipes post- Blade 3 . He appeared in a string of direct-to-video action movies, ran into a bit of tiff

• Wesley Snipes and Abel Ferrera Will Play a Game of Death

  FirstShowing.net - Found Oct. 7, 2009 Wesley Snipes might be the only actor to make the jump from vampire hunting to tax evasion .  While Snipes has certainly had his fair share of

• Wesley Snipes Back in Action in ?Game of Death?

  Film School Rejects - Found Oct. 8, 2009 Don?t call it a comeback for Wesley Snipes and director Abel Ferrara , they?ve been here for years.

Wesley Snipes extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Wesley Snipes
Snipes in September 2009
Born	Wesley Trent Snipes July 31, 1962 (1962-07-31) (age 47) Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, film producer
Years active	1986–present
Spouse(s)	April Duboise (1985–1990) Nikki Park (2003–present)

Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is a an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. He has starred in action-adventures, thrillers, and dramatic feature films but is best known for his role as Blade in the Blade trilogy. In 1991, the actor formed a production company called Amen Ra Films and a subsidiary, Black Dot Media, to develop projects for film and television. Snipes has been training in martial arts since age twelve, earning the rank of fifth dan black belt in Shotokan Karate. He has also trained as a student of Capoeira under Mestre Jelon Vieira and in a number of other disciplines including various styles of kung fu.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Acting 2.2 Other ventures 3 Personal life 4 Legal troubles 4.1 Tax problems 4.2 New Line lawsuit 5 Awards and nominations 6 Filmography 7 TV series 8 References 9 External links

Early life

Snipes was born July 31, 1962, in Chicago, the son of Marian, a teacher's aide, and an aircraft engineer father.¹ He grew up in the Bronx, New York City Snipes graduated from I.S. 131 an underprivileged middle school in the south Bronx and also attended the famed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing , but moved back to Florida before he could graduate. After graduating from Jones High School in Orlando,² Snipes returned to New York and attended the State University of New York at Purchase, before being asked to leave the prestigious Acting Conservatory his junior year. Snipes also attended a few years at Southwest College in Los Angeles.

Career

Acting

A 26-year-old Snipes was discovered by an agent while performing in a competition. He made his film debut in the Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats. In 1987, he appeared as Michael Jackson's nemesis in the Martin Scorsese directed music video "Bad" (he is seen in only the long version of the video) and the feature film Streets of Gold.

Snipes' 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 Hayes 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.

Although Snipes is more known for his roles in action films like Passenger 57, Demolition Man (with Sylvester Stallone), Money Train, U.S. Marshals (a sequel of The Fugitive) and Rising Sun (with Sean 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^{citation needed} 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. 1998 marked Snipes's largest commercial success with the opening of Blade, for New Line Cinema, which has grossed over $150 million worldwide. The film turned into a successful series. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, SUNY/Purchase, for his outstanding achievements in film.

Most of his latest films have been released straight-to-DVD. His latest films are The Shooter (also known as The Contractor), filmed in Bulgaria and the UK, with Charles Dance, Lena Heady, Eliza Bennett, and the upcoming Gallowwalker, set to be released in 2009.

Snipes was originally slated to play one of the four leads in Spike Lee's 2008 war film, Miracle at St. Anna but had to leave the film due to his widely-publicized tax problems, and his role eventually went to Derek Luke.³

Snipes made a comeback performance in Brooklyn's Finest as Caz, a supporting character. He also had to turn down the part of 'Hale Caesar' in The Expendables due to not being allowed to leave the United States without the court's approval.

Other ventures

In the late 1990s, 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 and martial arts.⁴

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 (0.81 km²) of land with the intention to buy and use for his business academy, which were close to the aforesaid religious cult compound in Putnam County, Georgia. Both Snipes's business and the religious cult had Egyptian motifs as their symbols, which prompted people to hypothesize ties between them.⁴

Snipes and his brother ended up not buying the land and established their company in Florida, Antigua, and Africa, while the religious cult compound was raided in 2002 and their leader convicted.⁴

In 2005, Snipes was in negotiations to fight Fear Factor star and UFC commentator Joe Rogan in an upcoming event.⁵

Personal life

Snipes has been linked to a number of women including Jada Pinkett Smith, Sanaa Lathan, Halle Berry, and Jennifer Lopez. He has 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 (born May 26, 2004); and son Alimayu Moa-T Snipes (born March 26, 2007). Snipes spends a lot of time in Park's home country of South Korea, which he calls his "second home."

Snipes has a younger half brother A.D. Snipes, a comedian residing in San Antonio, Texas, who has appeared in the TNT Classics films Rough Riders and Buffalo Soldiers, and has appeared on BET's Comicview and HBO's Def Comedy Jam.

Snipes converted from Christianity to Islam in 1978, but later left Islam in 1988. His current beliefs are unknown.⁶

Snipes's apartment was destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers during the September 11 attacks in 2001. He happened to have been delayed at the gym where he was working out, otherwise he would have been home at that moment.⁷

A September 24, 2002 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee press release listed Wesley Snipes as an "artist who is supporting" a $6 million fundraiser with tickets ranging from $500 to $250,000."⁸

Legal troubles

Tax problems

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. Â§ 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. Â§ 287 and 18 U.S.C. Â§ 2. Snipes was also charged with six counts of willfully failing to file Federal income tax returns by their filing dates under 26 U.S.C. Â§ 7203.⁹ 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 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.¹⁰ 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.¹¹

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.¹² The government also charged that Snipes failed to file tax returns for the years 1999 through 2004.¹³

In a December 4, 2006 letter from Snipes in response to his indictment, he declared himself "a non-resident alien" of the United States (in reality Snipes is a US born citizen).¹⁴ Snipes said he was being made an example of and unfairly targeted by prosecutors because of his fame in connection with the federal tax fraud investigation.¹² 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.¹⁵ Snipes faced the possibility of up to sixteen years in prison and substantial fines if convicted on all the charges.¹⁶ The trial began on January 14, 2008, in Ocala, Florida,¹⁷ with opening statements beginning on January 16, 2008.¹⁸

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.¹⁹²⁰

On April 24, 2008, Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison for willful failure to file federal income tax returns under 26 U.S.C. Â§ 7203.²¹²²²³ While defense lawyers urged leniency, prosecutors argued that Snipes should be made an example of because of his fame.² Kahn was sentenced to ten years in prison, and Rosile was sentenced to four and half years in prison.²⁴ As of April 2009, Snipes remains free on bail to work, even traveling internationally, while he appeals his conviction.²⁵²⁶ In April 2009, the Los Angeles Wave reported that Snipes has refused to answer certain questions in connection with a talent agency lawsuit in which the agency claims that Snipes owes over $1.4 million in commissions. Snipes is reported to have taken the position that his answers could incriminate him in a federal tax investigation. Lawyers for the talent agency stated that Snipes' lawyer advised the lawyers for the talent agency that "Snipes and his [ . . . ] companies are under an additional investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and Snipes would be asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and would not answer any questions at his deposition."²⁷ On May 22, the trial court ruled that Snipes may remain free while his appeal is being considered.²⁸

New Line lawsuit

In 2005, Snipes sued New Line Cinema, and David S. Goyer (director of Blade: Trinity) claiming that the studio did not 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 million and $82 million respectively). He says that a portion of his salary - $3.6 million - was withheld as punishment. The suit is still pending.⁴

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Title	Result
MTV Movie Awards	Best Fight	Blade	Nominated
	Best Villain	Demolition Man
	Best Screen-duo	White Men Can't Jump
	Best Villain	New Jack City
	Best Kiss	White Men Can't Jump
Venice Film Festival	Best Actor (Volpi Cup)	One Night Stand	Won
Hollywood Walk of Fame	7020 Hollywood Blvd		Awarded
Independent Spirit Awards	Best Supporting Actor	The Waterdance	Nominated
Image Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series	America's Dream	Won
	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture	New Jack City	Won
CableACE Awards	Best Actor in a Dramatic Series	Vietnam War Story	Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Duo - Action/Adventure	U.S. Marshals	Nominated
	Favorite Actor - Horror	Blade	Won
Black Reel Awards	Best Actor (Motion Picture)	Undisputed	Nominated
	Network/Cable - Best Actor	Disappearing Acts
WorldFest Houston	Gold Special Jury Award - Best Actors (shared)	The Waterdance	Won

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Wildcats	Trumaine
1987	Streets of Gold	Roland Jenkins
	Vietnam War Story II	Young Soldier	Direct-to-video
1988	Critical Condition	Ambulance Driver	Cameo appearance
1989	Major League	Willie "Mays" Hayes
1990	King of New York	Thomas Flanigan
	Mo' Better Blues	Shadow Handerson
1991	Jungle Fever	Flipper "Flip" Purify
	New Jack City	Nino Brown
1992	Passenger 57	John Cutter
	White Men Can't Jump	Sidney "Syd" Deane
1993	The Waterdance	Raymond Hill
	Boiling Point	Jimmy Mercer
	Demolition Man	Simon Phoenix
	Rising Sun	Lt. Webster "Web" Smith
1994	Drop Zone	Pete Nessip
	Sugar Hill	Roemello Skugs
1995	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	Noxeema Jackson
	Money Train	John
	Waiting to Exhale	James Wheeler	uncredited
1997	The Fan	Bobby "Bob" Rayburn
	America's Dream	George Du Vail	TV
	Murder at 1600	Detective Harlan Regins
1998	One Night Stand	Maximilian "Max" Carlyle	Volpi Cup (Best Actor) in Venice Film Festival
	Blade	Blade/Eric Brooks/The Daywalker	also fight choregraphy and producer
	U.S. Marshals	Mark J. Sheridan/Warren/Roberts
	Down in the Delta	Will Sinclair	Also executive producer
	Masters of the Martial Arts presented by Wesley Snipes	Himself	Documentary
	Jackie Chan: My Story	Himself	Documentary
	Futuresport	Obike Fixx	TV
1999	Play It to the Bone	Ringside Fan	Cameo appearance
2000	The Art of War	Neil Shaw
	Disappearing Acts	Franklin Swift	Also producer
2002	Blade II	Blade/Eric Brooks/The Daywalker	also fight and coordinator and producer
2002	ZigZag	David "Dave" Fletcher
	Liberty Stands Still	Joe
	Undisputed	Monroe "Undisputed" Hutchens	Also producer
2004	Unstoppable	Dean Cage
	Blade: Trinity	Blade/Eric Brooks/The Daywalker	also producer
2005	7 Seconds	Jack Tulliver	Direct-to-DVD
	The Marksman	Painter	Direct-to-DVD
2006	Hard Luck	Lucky	Direct-to-DVD
	Chaos	Jason York/Scott Curtis/Lorenz	Direct-to-DVD
	The Detonator	Sonni Griffith	Direct-to-DVD
2007	The Contractor	James Dial	Direct-to-DVD
2008	The Art of War II: Betrayal	Neil Shaw	Direct-to-DVD
2009	Gallowwalker	Aman	Post-Production
	Brooklyn's Finest	Caz	post-production
2010	Chasing the Dragon	Agent Bo Monroe	pre-production
2010	Game of Death		filming

TV series

Year	Title	Role	Episode
1986	Miami Vice	Silk	Streetwise
1987	Vietnam War Story	Young Soldier	An Old Ghost Walks the Earth
1989	A Man Called Hawk	Nicholas Murdock	Choice of Chance
	The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Hood	Here's Why You Should Always Make Your Bed in the Morning
1990	H.E.L.P.	Lou Barton	Series lead
1997	Happily Ever After	The Pied Piper	The Pied Piper
2002	The Bernie Mac Show	Duke	Rope-a-Dope

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wesley Snipes

• Wesley Snipes at the Internet Movie Database
• Wesley Snipes at the Internet Broadway Database
• Picture of Snipes' fake South African Passport
• The Snipes Trial - a website by commentator J.J. MacNab on the criminal tax trial of Wesley Snipes
• Snipes innocent of conspiracy to defraud
• IRS Debunks Frivolous Tax Arguments

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Blade Creators Marv Wolfman Â· Gene Colan Films Blade Â· Blade II Â· Blade: Trinity TV series   "Neogenic Nightmare" (Spider-Man TV series) Â· Blade: The Series Soundtracks Blade Â· Blade II Â· Blade: Trinity Characters Blade Â· Daywalker Â· Damek Â· Dracula Â· Frank Drake Â· Deacon Frost Â· Quincy Harker Â· Harold H. Harold Â· Hannibal King Morbius, the Living Vampire Â· Nightstalkers Â· Rachel van Helsing Â· Krista Starr Â· Vampires Â· Jared Nomak Â· Marcus Van Sciver Â· Abraham Whistler Â· Steppin' Razor Related topics Blade (video game) Â· Midnight Sons Â· The Tomb of Dracula Â· Vampire houses

Persondata
NAME	Snipes, Wesley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Snipes, Wesley Trent
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Film actor, Martial artist, film producer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 31, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH