Snoop Dogg was born in Long Beach, California, to Beverly (Tate) and Vernell Varnado, who was a mail carrier and singer. His parents were both originally from Mississippi. He got his name from his mother, who jokingly remarked that he looked like the Peanuts character Snoopy. Snoop is known primarily for his achievements in the music industry, as a gangsta MC. As most successful musicians seem to do at some point, Snoop Dogg has done some work in film. Due to the nature of his music and his related star persona, the primary focus of his film effort has been in urban drama and comedy. Unfortunately, the talented MC has had more than one brush with the law: he served a drug conviction prior to the start of his career as a hip-hop MC, just after he graduated from high school; and in 1993, he was charged with murder but was later found not guilty.
