Felicia Pearson (born May 18, 1980) is an American actress, rapper and author. She played

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson Felicia "Snoop" Pearson is a semi-fictional character on the HBO series ''The Wire'', played by the actress of the same name. She is a young female soldier in Marlo Stanfield's drug dealing organization and Chris Partlow's earliest protégé. ...

on ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

'' and wrote a 2007 memoir, ''

Grace After Midnight ''Grace After Midnight: A Memoir'' is an American 2007 autobiographical memoir by Felicia Pearson, with author David Ritz credited as a contributor and co-author. The book chronicles Pearson's life in East Baltimore, including her birth as a 3 poun ...

,'' detailing her troubled childhood and time in prison for second-degree murder.

Early life

Pearson was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, the daughter of two incarcerated drug addicts, and was raised in an East Baltimore foster home. Born premature and weighing three pounds, she was not expected to live. She was so small that she was fed with an eyedropper until she could be fed normally. According to her memoir, ''

'', she met her biological parents very few times, her mother was a crack addict, and her father was an armed robber. As a result of this, she decided to go by her foster family's surname. Pearson was a

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

from a young age and worked as a

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

as a teenager. At the age of fourteen, she was convicted of

second degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

after the shooting of a girl named Okia Toomer and was sentenced to two eight-year terms, to be served consecutively, at the

Maryland Correctional Institution for Women Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCI-W) is a multi-level security prison operated by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services in Jessup, Maryland. Prisoners Diane Sawyer visited the prison in 2015 for a sp ...

Jessup, Maryland Jessup ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Howard and Anne Arundel counties, about southwest of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 10,535. Geography Jessup is located at ( ...

. She was released after six and a half years. Pearson said her life turned around at the age of eighteen, when Arnold Loney, a local drug dealer who looked out for her and sent her money in prison, was shot and killed. He had coined her nickname "Snoop," because she reminded him of

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip '' Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American a ...

's beagle

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

in the comic strip ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...

''. While in prison, Pearson earned her

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

. She was released in 2000, and landed a local job fabricating car bumpers, but was fired after two weeks when her employer learned she had a prison record.

Career

Television

Pearson met

Michael K. Williams Michael Kenneth Williams (November 22, 1966 – September 6, 2021) was an American actor. He rose to fame in 2002 through his critically acclaimed role as Omar Little on the HBO drama series ''The Wire''. He has been described as a "singular pr ...

, who played

Omar Little Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', portrayed by Michael K. Williams. He is a notorious Baltimore stick-up man, who frequently robs street-level drug dealers. He is legendary around Baltimore for h ...

on ''

,'' in a Baltimore club. He invited her to come to the set one day, and introduced her to the writers and the producers. After subsequent auditions, she was offered a role in the series. For her performance in ''The Wire,'' Stephen King called her "perhaps the most terrifying female villain to ever appear in a television series." Her appearance on the show kickstarted her acting career, leading to appearances in music videos for R&B singer Lil' Mo's " Dem Boyz"; rapper Rick Ross' " The Boss" and " Here I Am"; rapper

Ace Hood Antoine Franklin McColister (born May 11, 1988), better known by his stage name Ace Hood, is an American rapper. He was born in Port St. Lucie, Florida and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He was signed to record producer DJ Khaled's label W ...

's " Cash Flow";

A$AP Ferg Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Ferg (stylized as A$AP Ferg), is an American rapper from New York City's Harlem neighborhood. Aside from his solo career, he is a member of the hip hop collec ...

's "Shabba (feat

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

)" and Snoop Dogg's "

So Many Pros "So Many Pros" is a song by American Hip hop music, hip hop recording artist Snoop Dogg, featuring uncredited vocals by Charlie Wilson (singer), Charlie Wilson, The Neptunes and Rhea Dummett. It was released on April 14, 2015 as the second single ( ...

." She has appeared in the

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

films ''

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus ''Da Sweet Blood of Jesus'' is a 2014 American horror film directed by Spike Lee. The plot is about a wealthy anthropologist who is stabbed by an ancient African dagger and turned into a vampire. Lee has said the film is about " man beings who ar ...

,'' and ''

Chi-Raq ''Chi-Raq'' () is a 2015 American musical crime comedy drama film, directed and produced by Spike Lee and co-written by Lee and Kevin Willmott. Set in Chicago, the film focuses on the gang violence prevalent in neighborhoods on the city's sout ...

,'' and in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

police procedural drama '' Blue Bloods,'' titled " Good Cop Bad Cop." Pearson joined the cast of the VH1

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

series '' Love & Hip Hop: New York'' for its

seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...

and eighth seasons.

Music

Pearson is featured in the song "It's a Stick Up" with

Tony Yayo Marvin Bernard (born March 31, 1978), better known by his stage name Tony Yayo, is an American rapper. He is best known as a member of G-Unit, a hip hop group he formed with his childhood friends 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks. Yayo released his deb ...

and Mazaradi Fox, with its music video featuring clips from ''The Wire''.

Volunteer work

Pearson has volunteered as a prison visitor, worked on anti-violence and literacy campaigns for youth, and supported ''The Stay Strong Foundation''.

Personal life

On March 10, 2011, Pearson and sixty others were arrested and charged with drug offenses. The arrest was made during a predawn raid at her home in Baltimore, following a five-month

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

operation. At the first hearing after Pearson's arrest, Judge John Addison Howard denied her bail due to Pearson's acting ability, stating: "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." After a month in jail, Pearson was offered bail of $50,000 on April 8, 2011. In August 2011, she pleaded guilty to the charges the day before her trial was to begin. She was sentenced to a suspended seven-year prison term, with credit for time served, and given three years of supervised probation. She pled guilty because the trial could have been a year or more and Pearson wanted to move on with her life according to FOX news affiliates in Maryland. Pearson is a lesbian.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Felicia 1980 births African-American actresses Rappers from Baltimore African-American women rappers Living people Actresses from Baltimore Dumout Records artists American memoirists African-American non-fiction writers American non-fiction writers American television actresses LGBT rappers American lesbian musicians American lesbian actresses American lesbian writers LGBT African Americans East Coast hip hop musicians American women memoirists Participants in American reality television series People convicted of murder by Maryland 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American women musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century women rappers