Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

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Birth name: Jennifer Lynn Lopez
Date of birth: 24 July 1969
Place of birth: The Bronx, New York, USA
Nickname: J. Lo, La Lopez, Lola
Height: 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
Spouse: Marc Anthony (5 June 2004 – present) 2 children , Cris Judd (29 September 2001 – 26 January 2003) (divorced), Ojani Noa (22 February 1997 – 1 January 1998) (divorced)

Famous Quote: “I throw myself into love because I believe in it, but when things don’t work you have to take responsibility. You all know things have gone wrong for me. Everybody has laughed, everybody has had a knock at me. It hurts, it always does. There have been times when I didn’t want to be me any more. From the outside looking in, it may have appeared that it was a glamorous exciting life, but I would have swapped places with anybody. It really did start to get to me and the easy thing to do would be to walk away.”

Contact Address and Autograph: Addresses and fan mail information

Jennifer Lopez
Madre’s Restaurant
897 Granite Drive
Pasadena, CA 91101, USA 

Biography: Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), popularly nicknamed J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, fashion designer, and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influential Hispanic entertainer in America according to People en Español’s list of “100 Most Influential Hispanics”.

Starting in 1999, Lopez released seven albums, including two #1 albums on the Billboard 200 charts and four Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles. She won the 2003 American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and the 2007 American Music Award for Favorite Latin Artist. She has appeared in numerous films, and has won ALMA Awards for outstanding actress for her work in Selena, Out of Sight, and Angel Eyes. She parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her celebrity endorsement.

Media attention has also focused on her personal life. She has had high-profile relationships with Ojani Noa, Cris Judd, Sean Combs, Ben Affleck, and most recently, Marc Anthony. Her first children, fraternal twins named Max and Emme, were born on February 22, 2008.

She made her film debut in the little-seen My Little Girl, but her career then stalled until she was tapped to become one of the dancing “Fly Girls” on the television sketch comedy series In Living Color. A recurring role on the TV drama Second Chances followed before Lopez was thrust into the limelight co-starring with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson in the 1995 feature film Money Train; smaller roles in pictures including My Family/Mi Familia, Jack, and Blood and Wine followed before she landed the title role in 1997′s Selena, portraying the slain tejano singer. Co-starring opposite George Clooney in 1998′s acclaimed Out of Sight, Lopez (the product of a Puerto Rican family) became the highest-paid Latina actress in Hollywood history; the following summer, she returned to her musical roots with her debut pop album, On the 6, scoring a major hit with the infectious single “If You Had My Love.” Lopez didn’t waste time perfecting a sophomore effort, the appropriately titled J.Lo, which was issued in early 2001. 

The following year Lopez released J to tha L-O!: The Remixes and This Is Me…Then, which spawned another hit single, “Jenny from the Block.” Although her high-profile romance with Ben Affleck created more headlines than her recording career, her follow-up, 2005′s Rebirth — released just after she married singer Marc Anthony — was anticipated enough to debut at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart. The Spanish-language album Como Ama una Mujer followed in 2007, peaking at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart while remaining at the top of the Latin chart for seven consecutive weeks.

Lopez was born and grew up in the South Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez, a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist. She has two siblings, Lynda and Leslie. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools, finishing at the all-girls Preston High School, in the Bronx. She financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of 19. After attending Baruch College for one semester, Lopez divided her time between working in a legal office, dance classes, and dance performances in Manhattan night clubs. 

After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various rap music videos, a 1990 episode of Yo! MTV Raps, and as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block and their performance of their song “Games” for the American Music Awards in 1991. After being rejected twice, Lopez gained her first regular high-profile job as a “Fly Girl” dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1990. Soon after, Lopez became a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video “That’s the Way Love Goes”.

Lopez appeared on the short-lived television programs South Central, Second Chances, and Hotel Malibu, and the made-for-television film Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Lopez broke into the big screen in the 1995 drama My Family and then appeared opposite Wesley Snipes in the action film Money Train. Lopez has played roles in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1996 comedy Jack starring Robin Williams, and the 1997 thriller Blood and Wine with Jack Nicholson. Lopez played the lead role in the 1997 film Selena for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for “Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy” in 1998. She became the first Latin actress to get paid $1 million or more for a film role. A Bronx-born actress-singer-dancer of Puerto Rican descent, Jennifer Lopez quickly went from a rising starlet to leading lady, with her sultry, intelligent eyes, luxuriant wavy hair, and fluid body of legendary voluptuousness coming across well on the big screen. 

Lopez first won attention as a “fly girl”, one of the back-up dancers on the Fox variety series “In Living Color” and went on to act in several failed TV series before reaching the big time, leading in feature films and hitting the top of the Billboard charts. This daughter of a computer specialist and a kindergarten teacher always wanted to perform and began taking dance lessons at an early age. Lopez later danced in the European tour of “Golden Musicals of Broadway”, in the chorus behind Hinton Battle in the Japanese tour of “Synchronicity” and in numerous music videos and TV variety specials.

Some of her other critically-acclaimed films include Out of Sight, The Cell, An Unfinished Life, and Shall We Dance?. Two independent films produced by Lopez were well-received at film festivals: El Cantante at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Bordertown at the Brussels film festival. Other modestly successful films include The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, Monster-in-Law, and Enough. Gigli, however, would be a critical and commercial disappointment. In August 2007, Lopez collaborated on the feature film, El Cantante, with her husband singer-actor Marc Anthony. The film is in English, with a creative use of subtitles for songs with Spanish lyrics.

In April 2004, Lopez guest starred in the sixth season finale of Will & Grace, playing herself. This was the highest-rated episode of the series since Elton John’s appearance in 2002, and Lopez appeared again in the seventh season’s opening episode. In May 2006, MTV gave the greenlight on her executively-produced reality show, DanceLife. The show followed the lives of six aspiring dancers as their struggle to make it in the competitive world of professional dance. Lopez, who took an active role in selecting the show’s participants, made cameo appearances over the course of the season and the show’s eight-episode run which began on January 15, 2007. In midst of her busy life as a celebrity, Lopez also continued to make films: she was paired opposite Richard Gere as an icy dance instructor who rediscovers her passions as she teaches Gere’s obsessed family man how to move across the dance floor in the romance “Shall We Dance?” (2004), a role that made great use of her prowess as a dancer. 

In 2005 Lopez–who announced that she preferred it if the media dropped the “J-Lo” monicker–made headlines with her live duet with Anthony at the 47th annual Grammy Awards (their over-the-top, melodramatic performance of the song “Escapémonos” was snickered at by critics of her musical ability, though Anthony took home the Grammy for best Latin pop album for “Amar Sin Mentiras”) and she demonstrated her continual entreprenurial spirit with a new fragrance launch, the debut of her Sweetface clothing line (which prompted protests from animal activists due to its use of fur), and a new album, “Rebirth,” a return to club-style dance beats which launched to initially disappointing sales. Her next film, the comedy “Monster-In-Law” (2005), pitted her effectively against screen legend Jane Fonda (in her first role in 15 years): in the film Lopez’s sweet-natured temp finds the man of her dreams, only to be menaced by his meddling, over-protective mother who hopes to drive her away. 

Candy-sweet on the outside at first, Lopez eventually reveals the inner steel that made her more than a match for the icon Fonda. Her next film, Lasse Halstrom’s “An Unfinished Life” (2005) was released long after completion due to the complexities of the restructuring of Miramax following the departure of Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and while Lopez generally recieved good notices for her role as a widowed mother in an abusive relationship who seeks shelter with her estranged father-in-law (Robert Redford),

The actress also developed and executive produced the TV series “South Beach” (UPN, 2005 – ), an ensemble drama about three young adults whose dreams and aspirations lead them to Miami. She next was set to star in “Bridge and Tunnel” (lensed 2006), a romantic comedy in which she played a stock trader who depends on a suburban teen who day-trades on his home computer. 

Lopez made an appearance as a mentor on American Idol on April 10, 2007. She is the executive producer of a miniseries in Univisión. The Miniseries will be named after her CD “Como Ama Una Mujer”. It will premiere on October 30, 2007 at 10:00 on Univisión. Christian Borrero will be acting in it along with Adriana Cruz.

Lopez is one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood and the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood history, though she’s never had a film grossing over $100 million in the U.S. Lopez appeared in the 2007 Guinness World Records as the most powerful actress. She was on the The Hollywood Reporter’s list of the top ten actress salaries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. She received $15,000,000 for her role in Monster-in-Law. Her top-grossing film domestically is Maid in Manhattan which grossed $94,011,225, and her most successful international film, Shall We Dance?, grossed $112,238,000 at the international box office. Domestically, Shall We Dance? grossed $57,890,460 and a total of $170,128,460 worldwide. Lopez has sold over 48 million albums worldwide. Lopez made the 2007 Forbes magazine’s list of The 20 Richest Women In Entertainment, ranking ninth. Her wealth is estimated to be $110 million.

Lopez’s debut album On the 6, a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill was released on June 1, 1999, and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. The album featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one lead single, “If You Had My Love”,, as well as the top ten hit “Waiting for Tonight”. The album also featured a Spanish language, Latin-flavored duet “No Me Ames” with Marc Anthony (who later would become her husband.) Though “No Me Ames” never had a commercial release, it reached number one on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks. On the 6 featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track “Feelin’ So Good”, which had moderate success on the Billboard Hot 100. “Let’s Get Loud”, the final single, earned Lopez a Grammy Award nomination in the “Best Dance Recording” category in 2001 Grammy Awards. “Waiting for Tonight” was nominated for the same category the previous year. “No Me Ames” received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards “Best Pop album by a Duo or Group with Vocal” and “Best Music Video”.

Lopez’s second album, J. Lo, was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. When her film The Wedding Planner achieved number one shortly after, Lopez become the first actress-singer to have a film and an album at number one in the same week. The lead single, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”, was her first number-one single in the United Kingdom and took her into the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. She followed it up with “Play” which gave her another top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number three in the UK. 

Her next two singles were “I’m Real” and “Ain’t It Funny” which were quickly rising up the charts. To capitalize on this, Lopez asked The Inc. Records (then known as Murder Inc.) to remix both songs, which featured rap artists Ja Rule (on both) and Caddillac Tah (on the “Ain’t It Funny” remix). Both remixes reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks. She re-released J. Lo on her thirty-second birthday with the remix of “I’m Real” as a bonus track. Also, “Si Ya Se Acabó” was released in Spain, due to the success “Que Ironia”.

Following the success of the re-release of J. Lo, Lopez decided to devote an entire album to the remixing effort, releasing J to tha L-O!: The Remixes, on February 5, 2002. This album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first remix album in history to debut at the top on the chart. Featured artists on J to tha L-O!: The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album included rare dance and hip hop remixes of past singles. It is the third all-time biggest-selling remix album in the world, after Michael Jackson’s Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (1997) and Madonna’s You Can Dance (1987).

On November 26, 2002, Lopez released her third studio album, This Is Me… Then, which reached number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles: “Jenny from the Block” (featuring Jadakiss and Styles P), which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100; “All I Have” (featuring LL Cool J), which spent multiple weeks at number one; “I’m Glad”; and “Baby I Love U!”. The album included a cover of Carly Simon’s 1978 “You Belong to Me”. The video for “I’m Glad” recreated scenes from the 1983 film Flashdance, leading to a lawsuit over copyright infringement, which was later dismissed

After a year away from the music scene, Lopez released her fourth studio album, Rebirth, on March 1, 2005. Although debuting and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, the album quickly fell off the charts. It spawned the hit “Get Right”, which reached the top fifteen in the U.S. and became her second Platinum hit (after “If You Had My Love”). “Get Right” was also successful in the UK, becoming her second number-one single there. The second single, “Hold You Down”, which featured Fat Joe, reached number sixty-four on the U.S. Hot 100; it peaked at number six in the UK and ascended to the top twenty in Australia. 

Another song, “Cherry Pie”, was slated for a release in late 2005, but the plans to make a video were cancelled as the album sales were definitely too weak and the promotion budget exceeded. It was released to radio stations in Spain. Rebirth was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. Lopez was then featured on LL Cool J’s single “Control Myself”, which was released on February 1, 2006. It reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was Lopez’s first U.S. top ten hit in three years.

Lopez officially released her first full Spanish-language album, called Como Ama una Mujer, on March 27, 2007 in the U.S. and March 23, 2007 in Europe. Her husband, singer Marc Anthony, produced the album with Estefano, except for “Qué Hiciste”, which Anthony co-produced with Julio Reyes. The album peaked at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200, number one on the U.S. Top Latin Albums (for four straight weeks), number one on the U.S. Latin Pop Albums (for seven straight weeks), and number one hundred and thirty-one in the UK. The album did well in Europe peaking at number three on the albums chart, mainly due to the big success in countries like Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Austria, and Portugal. The lead single, “Qué Hiciste” (Spanish for “What Did You Do”), was officially released to radio stations in January 2007. 

Since then, it has peaked at eighty-six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Latin Songs and the Hot Dance Club Play. It also went top ten on the European chart. The video for the song was the first Spanish-language video to peak at number one on MTV’s Total Request Live daily countdown. The second single released is called “Me Haces Falta” and the third is “Por Arriesgarnos”. Lopez won an American Music Award as the Favorite Latin Artist in 2007. Como Ama una Mujer according to the United World Chart, it is #3 on the best selling Spanish albums of 2007 and #37 on the best selling albums so far of 2007. Como Ama una Mujer holds the record for the best opening week internet sales for a Spanish album. With Como Ama Una Mujer, Jennifer Lopez is one of the few performers to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 with a spanish album.

Just over six months later, on October 9, 2007, Lopez released her fifth English studio album (sixth studio album overall). She collaborated with producers Midi Mafia, J. R. Rotem, Lynn and Wade and Ryan Tedder, with Rotem working on some tracks with writing partner Evan “Kidd” Bogart. Earlier, on August 26, 2007, ABC premiered a promo for the fourth season of Desperate Housewives, featuring a snippet of the song “Mile In These Shoes”. “Do It Well” was released as the lead single and reached the top 20 in many countries. “Hold It, Don’t Drop It” was released as the second single in UK and Italy only.

Lopez launched a clothing line in 2003. Named JLO by Jennifer Lopez, the line included different types of clothing for young women, including jeans, T-shirts, coats, belts, purses, and lingerie, a jewelry line, and an accessory line that includes hats, gloves, and scarves.] Lopez participated in the Louis Vuitton Winter 2003 campaign. In 2005, she launched a new clothing line called Sweetface. In late 2007, Lopez retired JLO by Jennifer Lopez and launched a new juniors’ line called JustSweet. Her fashion lines have featured at many New York Fashion Week events.

Lopez’s frequent use of animal fur in her clothing lines and personal wardrobe has brought the scorn of people concerned with animal rights. At the Los Angeles premiere of Monster-in-Law, more than one hundred protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) held a demonstration to highlight their concerns. Lopez told a radio DJ she was open to being educated on the topic.

On April 12, 2002, Lopez opened a Cuban restaurant in the South Lake district of Pasadena, California named Madre’s. A media sensation was creating when during a press shoot for the fancy restaurant, a mysterious man appeared out of the sidelines and gave Lopez a floral arrangement from Ben Affleck, even as then-husband Cris Judd stood next to her. Lopez was widely criticized for what appeared to be infidelity on her part.

Lopez has ventured in the perfume industry, with her debut “Glow by J.Lo” which broke numerous records in sales. In October 2003, Lopez introduced a perfume called “Still”. Before launching another completely new fragrance, she revisited 2002 “Glow” by creating a limited edition spin-off entitled “Miami Glow by J.Lo”, in homage to her adopted hometown of Miami. Around the same time, Lopez came up with a “Glow” body line, which featured different body lotions and bronzers. For the Christmas season of 2005, she launched another fragrance, “Live by Jennifer Lopez”. Most recently, for 2006 Valentine’s Day, “Miami Glow” was replaced by yet another “Glow” spinoff “Love at First Glow by J.Lo”. Her latest fragrance is called “Live Luxe” and was released in August 2006, with “Glow After Dark” following its release in January 2007. She is expected to release another perfume called “Desire” in 2007.

Lopez owns a film and television production company called Nuyorican Productions which she co-founded with her manager Benny Medina. Dancer and ex-husband Cris Judd once had a stake in the company when he and Lopez were still married. Lopez is a spokesperson for Lux shampoo in Japan, appearing in the product’s television commercials. Lopez has been recognized by People en Español magazine as both the cover subject for the “50 Most Beautiful” issue in 2006 and the “100 Most Influential Hispanics” issue in February 2007.

On the last night of their “En Concierto” tour November 7, 2007, before a crowd of fans, Lopez confirmed she was expecting her first child with husband Marc Anthony. The announcement ended months of speculation over the pregnancy. Her father later confirmed on February 5, 2008, she was expecting twins. Lopez gave birth on February 22, 2008 to fraternal twins, Emme Marbiel Muñiz at 12:12 am (5 lbs, 7 oz) and Maximilian “Max” David Muñiz at 12:13 am (5 lbs, 13 oz) by C-section. The twins were introduced in the March 11, 2008 issue of People magazine for which the magazine $6 millon for.

On February 14, 2007, Lopez received the Artists for Amnesty International award “in recognition of her work as producer and star of Bordertown, a film exposing the ongoing murders of hundreds of women in the border city of Juárez, Mexico”. Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos-Horta presented the award to Lopez at the Berlin International Film Festival. She also received special recognition and thanks from Norma Andrade, co-founder of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. (“May Our Daughters Return Home, Civil Association”), an organization consisting of mothers and families of the murdered women of Juárez.

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