Wesley Trent Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, to Marian Long, a dedicated teacher's assistant, and SMSGT Wesley Rudolph Snipes, a skilled aircraft engineer. Growing up in the South Bronx, New York City, Snipes discovered his passion for dance and theatre at a very young age. He attended the prestigious High School for the Performing Arts, popularized in the iconic film Fame (1980). However, his dreams of a career in musical theatre were put on hold when his mother relocated to Orlando, Florida, before he could graduate.
Fortunately, Snipes and his friends, along with their drama class teachers, Mr. S Porro and K. Rugerio, established a bus-and-truck theatre company, Struttin' Street Stuff, which played a significant role in his high school's induction into the International Thespian Society, Orlando Chapter. This experience laid the foundation for the theatre arts program at Dr. Phillips High School.
Snipes continued to pursue his passion for musical theatre, performing song-and-dance, puppetry, and acrobatics in city parks, dinner clubs, and performing arts centers across central Florida. As a recipient of the Victor Borge Scholarship, Snipes left Orlando to attend the renowned professional theatre arts program at SUNY Purchase in New York, now Purchase College, where he refined his theatrical performance and martial arts skills. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and went on to co-star in several soap operas and nighttime dramas, interspersed with critically acclaimed performances on Broadway.
It was during a Broadway performance that an agent discovered Snipes and invited him to audition for his first feature film role in the movie Wildcats (1986). Snipes' athletic roles gave way to dramatic roles, and eventually, he landed tough guy roles in films like New Jack City (1991) and action hero roles in Passenger 57 (1992). Notably, his roles were approved by Hollywood heavyweights such as Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper, and Sean Connery, who all had veto power over casting.
In addition to his acting career, Snipes founded Amen Ra Films Production Company and holds a Multi System Combat Arts Black Belt. He is also an IT technologist and venture capitalist.
