Wesley Snipes

Wesley Trent Snipes - Actor, martial artist, film producer

Wesley Trent Snipes was born on July 31, 1962, in Orlando, Florida. Not much is known about his early life, except that he was raised by his mother and grandmother with his three sisters in the South Bronx. Snipes attended the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City. Snipes was raised a Christian but converted to Islam in 1978, but then left Islam in 1988.

Since the age of 12 years old he has trained in martial arts. He has a 5th degree black belt in Shotokan karate and a 2nd degree black belt in Hapkido. He has also trained in Capoeira and in a number of other disciplines including Kung Fu at the USA Shaolin Temple and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.            

At age 23, Snipes was discovered by an agent while performing in a competition. He made his feature film debut in the 1986 Goldie Hawn movie Wildcats.

After Spike Lee spotted Wesley Snipes in the Michael Jackson video Bad, Lee cast him in Mo' Better Blues opposite Denzel Washington in 1990. Following, in 1991, Snipes took the leading role in Lee's Jungle Fever,  and the role of crime lord Nino Brown in New Jack City.

Snipes is most commonly known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, as well as Passenger 57, Demolition Man (with Sylvester Stallone), U.S. Marshals (with Tommy Lee Jones), and White Men Can't Jump. Snipes formed a production company, Amen-Ra Films, in 1991 and a subsidiary, Black Dot Media, to develop projects for film and television.  In 1996, the first film produced by Amen Ra was A Great And Mighty Walk – Dr. John Henrik Clarke.

Wesley Snipes as also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, SUNY/Purchase.

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 tax problems. 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 because he was not allowed to leave the United States without the court's approval. (Since his release from prison in April 2013, it is rumored that he will be in the Expendables 3 sequel.)

Snipes owned an apartment in NYC that was destroyed during the September 11 attacks. However, he was on the West Coast at the time.

Snipes married his first wife April Snipes in 1985. Together they had a son, however, the couple divorced in 1990. In 2003, Snipes married painter Nikki Park, they have four children together.

On April 24, 2008, Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison for willful failure to file federal income tax returns. The United States Court of Appeals affirmed Snipes’ convictions on July 16, 2010. Snipes reported to federal prison on December 9, 2010, to begin his three-year sentence, and was held at McLean Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania, until he was released on Tuesday, April 2, 2013.

The Brute Comparison – Wesley Snipes Character Portrayals

          According to the Jim Crowe Museum of Racist Memorabilia, “The brute caricature portrays black men as innately savage, animalistic, destructive, and criminal -- deserving punishment, maybe death. This brute is a fiend, a sociopath, an anti-social menace. Black brutes are depicted as hideous, terrifying predators who target helpless victims…”

         Demolition Man -  In Wesley Snipe’s portrayal of Simon Phoenix in Demolition Man, you can make a comparison of this character, to that of the Jim Crowe’s brute caricature. Simon Phoenix is a ruthless killer, who was frozen as his sentence after committing many heinous crimes. He is then thawed out into a time where the world is crime free. Phoenix then begins to wreak havoc and violence on an idyllic city, thus perpetrating the “destructive and criminal” element of a brute.

         New Jack City -  As Nino Brown in New Jack City, Snipes demonstrated the brute caricature again by playing the character of a drug king pin and murderer who’s megalomania becomes such that it separates him from his gang, and eventually becomes the reason for the downfall of the gang. The Nino Brown character was an anti-social menace in this movie; there are building fires and shootouts that ends with multiple deaths.

          Blade Trilogy - In the Blade trilogy movies, Snipes plays Blade, who is a half vampire, half human hybrid who is bent on destroying the world’s vampires. While Blade seems to be on the side of good, he is capable of immense violence and destruction. The manner in which he kills vampires is savage and animalistic. This is comparable to that of the brute caricature.

          While there are some movies where Snipes has played characters that have not been comparable to that of the nature of the brute caricature, they are few and far between. It appears as though Snipes is stereotypically cast in these roles where he is consistently violent and destructive. Even in his next rumored role in The Expendables will most likely have him performing stunts that are violent and mass destruction will be present, even though The Expendables are the good guys.