Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist recognized for his commanding presence in action cinema during the 1990s and early 2000s.[1]
Rising from stage performances in New York, Snipes gained prominence with roles in films such as New Jack City (1991), where he portrayed the drug lord Nino Brown, and White Men Can't Jump (1992), showcasing his athleticism alongside Woody Harrelson.[2] His breakthrough in the action genre came with Passenger 57 (1992), establishing him as a versatile performer capable of high-stakes physical roles.[3]
Snipes achieved global stardom portraying the vampire hunter Blade in the eponymous 1998 film and its sequels, Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004), roles that highlighted his extensive martial arts expertise, including a fifth-degree black belt in Shotokan karate and second-degree in Hapkido, honed since age twelve.[1] He received critical acclaim for dramatic work, winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 1997 Venice Film Festival for One Night Stand.[4] As a producer, he contributed to projects amplifying his influence in independent and genre films.
A significant controversy arose from Snipes' legal battles over federal income taxes; despite earning over $13 million in the late 1990s, he was convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file returns for 1999–2001, resulting in a three-year prison sentence served from 2010 to 2013.[5][6] Acquitted of felony tax evasion charges, the case underscored his adoption of tax protester arguments, which courts rejected as lacking merit.[7]