Wesley Snipes

Wesley Trent Snipes born July 31 1962 is an American actor film producer and martial artist He has starred in numerous actionadventures thrillers and dramatic feature films and is wellknown for his role as Blade in the Blade trilogy Snipes formed a production company titled AmenRa Films in 1991 and a subsidiary Black Dot Media to develop projects for film and television Snipes has been training in martial arts since age twelve earning a high ranking 5th dan black belt in Shotokan Karate and 2nd dan black belt in Hapkido 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 At age 23 Snipes was discovered by an agent while performing in a competition He made his film debut in the 1986 Goldie Hawn vehicle Wildcats Later that year he appeared on the trendy 1980s TV show Miami Vice as a drugdealing pimp in the episode Streetwise first aired December 5 1986 In 1987 he appeared as Michael Jacksons nemesis in the Martin Scorsesedirected music video Bad he is seen in only the long version of the video and the feature film Streets of Gold That same year Snipes was also considered for the role of Geordi La Forge in the TV series Star Trek The Next Generation Snipes performance in the music video Bad caught the eye of director Spike Lee Snipes turned down a small role in Lees Do the Right Thing for the larger part of Willie Mays Hayes in Major League beginning a succession of boxoffice 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 romantic 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 US Marshals a sequel of The Fugitive and Rising Sun with Sean Connery he has also had success in comedies like White Men Cant 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 Snipes has been married twice first to April Snipes from 19851990 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 KihwaT Snipes daughter Iset JuaT Snipes born July 31 2001 son Alaafia JehuT Snipes born May 26 2004 and son Alimayu MoaT Snipes born March 26 2007 Snipes spends a lot of time in Parks home country of South Korea which he calls his second home