Jennifer Lopez Biography

NAME: Jennifer Lopez

OCCUPATION: Actress, Dancer, Singer, Reality Television Star

BIRTH DATE: July 24, 1969 (Age: 42)

EDUCATION: Preston High School in the Bronx, Baruch College

PLACE OF BIRTH: Bronx, New York

Height : 5'6''

Eyes : Brown

Hair : Brown

ZODIAC SIGN: Leo

Jennifer was born on July 24, 1969, in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx. Her father, David, was a computer technician. Her mother, Guadalupe, taught kindergarten. Jennifer is the middle of three daughters. Her elder sister, Leslie, is a housewife who sings opera. Her younger sister, Lynda, is a DJ on New York's WKTU, a VH1 VJ, and a morning news show correspondent on New York's Channel 11. Jennifer's parents were born in Puerto Rico, but did not meet until both came to America. Her mother's parents were Europeans who settled in Puerto Rico. She says that it was her parents' work ethic that made a difference in her life. Jennifer took singing and dancing lessons from age 5. She attended 12 years of Catholic school, including an all-girl high school. She played softball and tennis in high school and was a gymnast.

Lopez's first television job as an actress, on the Fox series South Central came her way because the producer of the television series was married to one of the other "Fly Girls," and he took notice of Lopez during a special Fox aired about them. Lopez also made a guest appearance Second Chances and Hotel Malibu. She then appeared in the made-for-television film Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Lopez's first serious screen role was in Gregory Nava's 1995 drama My Family, playing the character of Young Maria in the 1920s. After starring alongside Jimmy Smits and Edward James Olmos in My Family, Lopez starred in the action film Money Train opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. In 1996, she beat out Ashley Judd and Lauren Holly for the supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 comedy Jack starring Robin Williams. She then starred opposite Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson's well-received noir thriller Blood and Wine.

Lopez's first big break came in 1997, when she was chosen to play the title role in Selena, a biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena. Despite having previously worked with Nava on Mi Familia, Lopez was subjected to an intense auditioning process before landing the lead role of Selena. She earned widespread praise for her performance, including a Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy". Later that year Lopez appeared in two major films. She starred in the horror film Anaconda alongside Ice Cube and Jon Voight, playing the role of Terri Flores, a director who is shooting a documentary while traveling through the Amazon River. Though, despite being a modest box office hit, the film was critically panned. Lopez then starred as the leading actress in the neo-noir film U Turn, which is based on the book Stray Dogs, starring alongside Sean Penn and Billy Bob Thornton.

In 1998, she had one of her most acclaimed roles, starring opposite George Clooney in Out of Sight, Steven Soderbergh's adaptation the Elmore Leonard novel. Cast as a deputy federal marshal who falls for a charming criminal, Lopez won raves for her tough performance and in the process she became the highest paid Latina actress in Hollywood history. That same year, she provided the voice for Azteca on the computer-animated film Antz. Lopez then starred opposite Vince Vaughn, in the psychological thriller film The Cell. She portrayed Catherine Deane, a child psychologist who uses a virtual reality to enter into the minds of her patients to coax them from their comas. The film was released on August 18, 2000 and became a box office success opening at number one. The following year, Lopez took a hiatus from acting in films to work on her music career.

In 2001, Lopez starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner. The film debuted at number one, making her the first actress and singer in history to have a film and an album, J.Lo, at number one in the same week. Her next role in the supernatural romance Angel Eyes (2001), and in the psychological revenge thriller Enough (2002), both failed to click with audiences and critics alike. She appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in the romantic comedy film Maid in Manhattan (2002). Her character, Marisa Ventura, is a struggling single mother who lives in the Bronx and makes her living cleaning rooms in a super-luxurious Manhattan hotel, who gets mistaken for a socialite by a princely politician. Maid in Manhattan was a box office hit opening at number one. The New York Times compared the films storyline to her 2002 song, "Jenny from the Block", commenting, "In her new single, Jenny From the Block, Jennifer Lopez declares that despite her enormous wealth and global fame, she has not lost touch with her roots."

Some of her other critically-acclaimed films include 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. Her modestly successful film includes Monster-in-Law (2005). 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 addition, she will appear in the romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan.

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. She was on the The Hollywood Reporter's list of the top ten actress salaries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Lopez received $15 million 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. In 2007, Lopez made the Forbes magazine's list of "The 20 Richest Women In Entertainment," ranking ninth. Her wealth is estimated to be $110 million.

In the fall of 1999, the album's second American single, 'Waiting For Tonight' was released. It was not a hit on the same scale as 'If You Had My Love', but was huge nonetheless. The memorable video capitalized on the millennium craze of the time, featuring J. Lo at a futuristic dance party in a jungle, while an enormous clock counted down the seconds to the year 2000. The video also had a popular dance remix, by popular club remixer, Hex Hector. To date, the remix video still gets occasional airplay on MTV2, during dance blocks.

The albums also included the other hit singles like, 'Feelin' So Good', a hip hop track which contained guest raps by Big Pun and Fat Joe and the Latin-dance-flavored track, 'Let's Get Loud'.

Towards the end of 2000, Lopez released 'Love Don't Cost A Thing', her first single from her second album, J. Lo. Upon the album's release in early 2001, it quickly rose to the top of the charts; as had the single, which became her biggest hit since 'If You Had My Love'. The second single, 'Play', which was written by rising teen star, Christina Milian, was a huge dance radio and club hit in early 2001 and was also successful on pop radio.

The album's next two singles, 'I'm Real' and 'Ain't It Funny' were her biggest ever hits both spending many weeks on top of the Billboard charts. However, to capitalize on this, Lopez asked Murder Inc. to remix both songs, completely changing the lyrics and melodies and adding raps from Ja Rule in both songs, and from Caddillac Tah to 'Ain't It Funny (Remix)'. The 'I'm Real' and 'Ain't It Funny' remixes were two of the biggest pop and rap hits in late 2001 and early 2002, respectively, and their more hip hop sound gave J.Lo street credibility and brought her music to a whole new group of fans.

She continued the successful trend by getting 50 Cent and Nas to write rhymes for two remixes of her next single, 'I'm Gonna Be Alright'. In mid-2002, Lopez released a remix album called J To The L-O: The Remixes, featuring the already popular rap remixes of 'I'm Real', 'I'm Gonna Be Alright', and 'Ain't It Funny', and well as the dance remix of 'Waiting For Tonight'. The album also included rarer dance and hip hop remixes of her past singles, and a new song, a ballad called 'Alive,' which was included in Lopez' movie, Enough.

In the fall of 2002, Lopez released This Is Me... Then, which spawned three hugely popular singles: 'Jenny From The Block,' (based on the 'Watch Out Now' by the Beatnuts which included raps from Jadakiss and Styles P); 'All I Have,' one of 2003's most popular songs to date, which was a duet with LL Cool J; and 'I'm Glad'. Later she released the fourth single 'Baby I Love You' the musical theme for the movie 'Gigli.' Last, she released the fifth single 'The One', but the video was based on the remixed version of the song which featured East Coast Rapper Joe Budden.

On November 18, 2003, she released her fifth album, Reel Me, which included a DVD having all her music videos from her first video 'If You Had My Love' to her last one 'Baby I Love You.' This album also included a bonus track, 'Baby I Love You (Remix)' featuring R. Kelly.

Jennifer Lopez Relationships:

Ben Affleck - Ex-fiancé

Cris Judd - Ex-husband

David Lopez - Father

Guadalupe Lopez - Mother

Leslie Lopez - Sister

Lynda López - Sister

Marc Anthony - Husband (separated)

Ojani Noa - Ex-husband

Sean Combs - Ex-significant Other

Arianna - Stepdaughter

Cristian Anthony Muñiz - Stepson

Ryan Anthony Muñiz - Stepson

Maximilian David Muñiz - Son

Emme Maribel Muñiz - Daughter

Jennifer Lopez Awards:

1998 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee