Profile on Wesley Snipes.

Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is 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. In 2008, Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of wilful failure to file federal income tax returns, and on April 24 sentenced to three years in prison. On May 22, the trial court ruled that Snipes may remain free while his appeal is being considered.

Early life.
Snipes was born July 31, 1962, in Chicago , the son of Marian, a teacher's aide, and an aircraft engineer father. He grew up in the Bronx, New York City and attended the famed John Hopkins School, but moved back to Florida before he could graduate. After graduating from Jones High School in Orlando,[1] 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.

Acting Career.
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. 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.

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.

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.

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

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, TX, 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 is a former Muslim, having converted from Christianity to Islam in 1978. He later left Islam in 1988.

Snipes's apartment was destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers during the September 11 attacks on 2001. He happened to have been delayed at the gym where he was working out, otherwise he would have been home at that moment.
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 ranged from $500 to $250,000."