FRC Fallen Icon #1 – Wesley Snipes.

This week see’s the return of a favourite feature here on FRC. But this time with a twist. We are now looking at Fallen Icons. The Actors we once loved and are in need of a comeback.

Remember when you would always be waiting for a new film from [insert fallen icon’s name here]. They were always on the top of the list when the casting calls went out. demanding top dollar for their appearance. But then they got old, fat, or just unfashionable and got lost in TV  or even the world of PORN.

Well I am going to take a few weeks to pay tribute to these guys. They deserve a comeback. I mean Robert Downey Jr got one. John Travolta got one (Ok he kinda fell again) so these guys deserve it too!!

First up is Wesley Snipes…

Born in 1962 Snipes was raised in The Bronx, although he was actually born in Orlando Florida. He developed a love for acting at an early age and started to attend the Manhattan’s School of Performing Arts but his Mother moved back to Florida before he was able to graduate. So when he was old enough he enrolled in The State University of New York and pursued his dream of an acting career.

Snipes showed a great skill for acting and whilst performing in a competition he was discovered by an agent which brought him his first role in the Goldie Hawn film, WILDCATS in 1986. Although he did appear in a few film ins the 80s it wasn’t until he was cast in the Scorsese directed Michael Jackson video for BAD that his face got noticed by the director Spike Lee.

Lee cast him alongside Denzel Washington in ‘MO BETTER BLUES’. It was this turn that really put the young actor on the map and led to him starring in the lead role in ‘JUNGLE FEVER’ again directed by Lee.

That same year, Snipes further demonstrated his flexibility with disparate roles in New Jack City, in which he played a volatile drug lord, and THE WATERDANCE, in which he starred as a former wild man repenting for his ways in a hospital’s paraplegic ward. Both performances earned strong reviews, and the following year Snipes found himself as the lead in his first big-budget action flick, PASSENGER 57. The film, which featured the actor as an ex-cop with an attitude who takes on an airplane hijacker, proved to be a hit. Snipes’ other film that year, the comedy WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, was also successful, allowing the actor to enter the arena of full-fledged movie star.

After a few more action stints in such films as RISING SUN (1993), which featured him opposite Sean Connery, Snipes went in a different direction with an uncredited role in WAITING TO EXHALE (1995). The same year he completely bucked his macho, action figure persona with his portrayal of a flamboyant drag queen in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.

Snipes continued to focus on less testosterone-saturated projects after a turn as a baseball player in THE FAN (1996), starring as an adulterous director in Mike Figgis’ ONE NIGHT STAND(1997) — for which he won a Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival — and as Alfre Woodard’s handsome cousin in Down in the Delta in 1998.

That same year, Snipes returned to the action genre, playing a pumped-up vampire slayer in BLADE and a wrongfully accused man on the run from the law in the sequel to The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals.

But where is he now?

Unfortunately for the star his life turned into what could have been a script from one of his movies. He was arrested in 2006 for tax fraud. It seems that Snipes forgot to file tax returns from 1999-2004! Which is a pretty big deal seeing as this was at the height of his career. He was finally convicted in 2008 and sentenced in 2010 for three years in jail, where he now resides.

It would seem owing the U.S. Government $2.7 million is a bad thing. Now that seems like a lot of money, but let us put that into the context of earning $38 million for the period. Silly Wesley.

Always pay your taxes kids!!

Why does he deserve a comeback?

Well Mr Snipes was a great martial artist with a great screen presence. This is a guy that gave us Nino Brown, Blade, Simon Phoenix and John “Always bet on black” Cutter.He is very deserving of a comeback. As long as he gets a better accountant that is!! At 48-years-old, the man still can kick ass and we would like for him to enjoy a nice comeback like his friend Woody Harrelson has enjoyed the last couple of years. And I am not talking about a straight to DVD comeback either!!

Must See

Mo’ Better Blues

Talented trumpeter Bleek Gilliam (Washington) is obsessed by his music and indecisive about his girlfriends Indigo (Joie Lee) and Clarke (Cynda Williams). But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend (Spike Lee), Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.

Stunning cinematography, a rousing score and superlative performances come together in this unforgettable feast for the senses.

New Jack City

There´s a new kind of criminal on the streets – ruthless gangsters who have turned drug trafficking into highly lucrative inner-city corporations and who got a ´New Jack´ way of dress, music and culture.

There´s a new kind of cop, too. They´re the tough, young New Jack cops who grew up on the streets and who alone know how to bring these ruthless mobsters down…

White Men Can’t Jump

Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes) is the hottest basketball player on the streets of down-town Los Angeles, and each game he plays provides money as well as fame. Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) wanders into Deane’s game and a con partnership begins (Deane wakes up to the fact that drips like Hoyle are not as useless as they appear to be). They set out to play the field for the biggest stakes both on and off the court.

Blade

A blood chilling, action-packed thriller about modern day vampires unlike any previously encountered. Wesley Snipes is Blade, the ultimate vampire hunter, and immortal warrior who possesses the superhuman strength and cunning of a vampire but shares none of their weakness.

Able to walk by day and stalk by night, Blade must confront his ultimate adversary, the omnipotent vampire overlord Deacon Frost, Stephen Dorff, who is intent on leading an underground legion of vampires to conquer mankind. Blade must use his awesome powers and razor-sharp weaponry like never before to prevent the annihilation of the entire human race

Do you think Mr Snipes is in need of a comeback when he gets out? What was is your favourite films of his? Comment below…