Snoop Dogg
Born: October 1971
Where: Long Beach, California, USA
The rapper has featured in movies ranging from the straight-to-video porn of Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle to mainstream roles in Training Day and Starsky & Hutch.
Born Calvin Broadus, but nicknamed after his resemblance to the Peanuts' character Snoopy, Dogg followed in the footsteps of Ice Cube and Ice-T when he chose acting.
His troubled teen years had culminated in a drug conviction after high school and after serving a jail term he turned to rap and soon captured the attention of star producer/rapper Dr Dre.
Having been introduced by Dre, he produced his own Grammy-nominated debut album Doggystyle in 1993.
Unfortunately, Dogg was involved in a drive-by shooting that led to a murder charge that same year.
Battling the charge through the mid-'90s, Snoop Dogg was cleared in 1996, but his record sales waned along with gangsta rap's popularity.
Still a notable music celebrity, however, he branched out into acting with a cameo appearance in the stoner comedy Half Baked.
Staying true to his urban persona, Dogg appeared in L.A. crime drama Caught Up and Master P's coming-of-age story Hot Boyz, and co-starred with Ice-T in action movies The Wrecking Crew and Urban Menace.
Increasingly comfortable as an actor, Dogg subsequently took on roles in several prominent 2001 releases, including the lame comedy The Wash with Dr Dre.
After a cameo as a drug dealer paralyzed by Denzel Washington's corrupt cop in Training Day, Dogg moved to his first solo starring role in the horror movie Bones.
As a murdered 1970s superfly community pillar-turned-ghostly avenger, Dogg earned kudos for his assured, menacing performance.
Despite claims that his legal problems were over, Snoop Dogg was busted for marijuana possession during his Puff, Puff, Pass tour in October 2001.
The following year he supplied a live rap backing for the video porn movie Diary of a Pimp before earning plaudits as Huggy Bear in the Starsky & Hutch remake.
Recent work includes the role of a stoner pilot in the action comedy Soul Plane with Tom Arnold.
