Wesley Snipes (born July 31, 1962 in Orlando, Florida) is an American actor and producer. He is probably best known for his role as the eponymous vampire hunter in the Blade trilogy of movies.

Biography

Snipes grew up in The Bronx and decided early on that he wanted to be a dancer until he took some acting classes. He started the High School for the Performing Arts, but his mother divorced and they moved back to Orlando. He graduated from a Florida high school. While in Florida, Snipes did puppet theatre, mime and musical theatre in competitions and festivals. He then attended the State University of New York College at Purchase and graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 1985.

He did dinner theater and regional productions. An agent spotted Snipes and got him a role in Wildcats (1986). He often plays tough characters in action movies, and demonstrates considerable athletic and fighting ablity. He is interested in martial arts, including Karate, Kung Fu and Capoeira, and this interest is reflected in the fact that many of his movies make reference to Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Snipes was married from 1985 to 1990 and has a son from this marriage. His second child, a daughter born in 2001, was with Korean painter Nikki Park.

In 1991, Snipes formed the independent production company is Amen Ra Films . It co-produced the first two Blade films and other titles that Snipes has starred in.

Selected Filmography

• Wildcats (1986)
• Major League (1989)
• New Jack City (1991)
• White Men Can't Jump (1992)
• Passenger 57 (1992)
• Demolition Man (1993)
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
• Murder at 1600 (1997)
• Blade (1998)
• The Art of War (2000)
• Blade II (2002)
• Blade: Trinity (2004)

External links

• Sweet & Sour Snipes