Felicia Pearson

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Felicia Pearson
Felicia "Snoop" Pearson (cropped).jpg
Pearson in August 2015
Born (1980-05-18) May 18, 1980 (age 45)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other namesSnoop
Occupations
  • Actress
  • rapper
  • author
Years active2004–present

Felicia Pearson (born May 18, 1980) is an American actress, rapper, and author. She is best known for playing Snoop, a fictionalized version of herself, on The Wire .

Contents

Early life

Felicia Pearson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 18, 1980, the daughter of incarcerated drug addicts; her mother was a crack addict and her father was an armed robber. She was premature at birth, weighing just 3 pounds (1.4 kg), and was not expected to live. [1] She was so small that she was fed with an eyedropper until she could be fed normally. [1] She grew up in an East Baltimore foster home and, according to her memoir, met her biological parents very few times. She decided to go by her foster family's surname.

Pearson was a tomboy from a young age and began dealing drugs as a teenager. At the age of 14, she was convicted of second-degree murder after shooting 15-year-old Okia Toomer, whom she later claimed was trying to attack her with a lead baseball bat. [2] She described the incident as "the worst day of [her] life". [2] She was tried as an adult and sentenced to two eight-year terms, to be served consecutively, at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, Maryland. [3] She was released in 2000 after serving six and a half years. [2]

Pearson credited drug dealer Arnold Lonly, to whom she referred as her uncle, with helping her turn her life around; he sent her money and visited her regularly in prison, discouraged her from getting more involved in crime, and urged her to study and get her GED. [2] He nicknamed her "Snoop" because she reminded him of the cartoon dog Snoopy. [1] He was shot and killed while she was in prison, prompting her to follow his advice and earn her GED. [1] [2] Upon her release, she found work at a car wash and fabricating car bumpers on an assembly line, but was fired from both when employers learned she had a criminal record. [1] [4]

Career

Pearson met The Wire star Michael K. Williams in a Baltimore club. At the time, she had returned to dealing drugs as she could not hold down a job due to her criminal record. [2] Williams invited her to come to the set one day, and introduced her to the writers and producers. After successful auditions, she was offered the role of Snoop, a fictionalized version of herself that she portrayed from 2004 to 2008. [1] Author Stephen King called her "perhaps the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series". [4]

Pearson's role on the show launched her acting career and she appeared in music videos such as Lil' Mo's "Dem Boyz", Rick Ross' "The Boss" and "Here I Am", Ace Hood's "Cash Flow", A$AP Ferg's "Shabba", and Snoop Dogg's "So Many Pros". [5] She acted in the Spike Lee films Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) [6] and Chi-Raq (2015), [7] and appeared in an episode of the CBS series Blue Bloods (2016). [8]

Outside of acting, Pearson wrote the memoir Grace After Midnight (2007). She was featured on the 2009 song "It's a Stick Up" with Tony Yayo and Mazaradi Fox, and its music video showed clips from The Wire. [9] [10] She appeared on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: New York for its seventh and eighth seasons (2016–2018).

Personal life

Pearson is a lesbian. [11] As of 2008, she lives outside Baltimore with her girlfriend and their dog. [2]

Pearson has visited prisons as a volunteer for anti-violence and literacy youth campaigns, and supported the Stay Strong Foundation. [12] [13] [14]

Pearson and 60 others were arrested and charged with drug offenses on March 10, 2011, following a raid at her Baltimore home as part of a five-month DEA operation. [15] At the first hearing, Judge John Addison Howard denied her bail and told her, "Well, you can change your appearance. I've seen the episodes of The Wire in which you appear. You look very different than you do here today, and I'm not talking about the jumpsuit, I'm talking about your general appearance." [16] After one month in jail, Pearson was offered bail of $50,000 on April 8. [17] In August, she pleaded guilty to the charges the day before her trial was to begin. [18] She was sentenced to a suspended seven-year prison term, with credit for time served, and given three years of supervised probation. [19]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2004–2008 The Wire Snoop 27 episodes
2009 Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations HerselfEpisode: "Rust Belt"
2013They Die by DawnBartender
2014DesireeLou(isa)
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Lucky Mays
2015Diamond RuffKK
By Any MeansWIZ2 episodes
Chi-Raq Danai
2016Guns and GramsSwerve
Blue Bloods Roxy BarnesEpisode: "Good Cop Bad Cop"
2021Asbury ParkTag
Swagger Lil Pip2 episodes
2022Scott FreeDetective Ferell
I Thought You KnewMia
2023 The Family Plan Toothpick

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McCauley, Mary Carol (March 11, 2011). "Legal troubles nothing new for 'Wire' actress". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/may/24/the.wire.season.five
  3. ↑ Hunnie, Jaye (January 2, 2008). "Felicia's Journey". Baltimore City Paper. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  4. 1 2 Dawkins, Walter (October 21, 2006). "An Actress's Hard Life Feeds 'Wire' Character". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  5. ↑ "15 Times the Wire Actors Appeared in Rap Videos". April 21, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Felicia "Snoop" Pearson Talks "The Wire" and Her Challenging New Role in Spike Lee's Latest Film". Complex. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  7. ↑ "'Snoop' from 'The Wire' makes the jump to 'Chi-Raq'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Listings - BLUE BLOODS on CBS". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Felicia "Snoop" Pearson Intv". YouTube. July 22, 2009. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Felicia "Snoop" Pearson On Her Type Of Woman". YouTube. August 10, 2009. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Felicia "Snoop" Pearson is Black, Female, and Out in Hollywood". Jasmyne Cannick. February 25, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
  12. ↑ Teresa Wiltz (March 19, 2007). "The Role of Her Life". The Washington Post . Retrieved April 12, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Inspiring People: HBO series The Wire's Snoop Pearson". Dana Roc.
  14. ↑ Cannick, Jasmyne (February 25, 2008). "Felicia "Snoop" Pearson is Black, Female, and Out in Hollywood". Jasmynecannick.typepad.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  15. ↑ Fenton, Justin (March 10, 2011). "More than 60 people, including 'Snoop' of 'The Wire,' arrested in drug raids". The Baltimore Sun.
  16. ↑ Hermann, Peter (March 11, 2011). "The Wire's Snoop spars with judge, gets no bail". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 14, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Snoop freed from city jail". The Baltimore Sun . April 8, 2011. Archived from the original on April 11, 2011. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  18. ↑ Lee, Felicia (August 9, 2011). "'Wire' Actress, Caught on Wiretap, Pleads Guilty to Heroin Charge". NYTimes Arts Blog. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  19. ↑ "'Wire' actress Pearson pleads guilty in drug case". Japan Times . Associated Press. August 10, 2011. p. 6.

Further reading

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