Celebrity Info: Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969) is an American actress, dancer, entrepreneur and recording artist. Widely recognized as being the definition of America's sweetheart, Lopez has been cited as being the most influential Hispanic performer in the United States. She is one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood and is the highest paid actor of Latin descent, making up to US$15 million per film role. Lopez has sold over 11.8 million albums in the United States and over 70 million records worldwide. She became interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry following her small role in the 1986 film My Little Girl, to the dismay of her Puerto Rican parents, who believed that it was an unrealistic career route for a Latino. Following her move from The Bronx to Manhattan, Lopez performed in regional stage productions, before touring with musicals in Europe and Japan. She gained her first regular high-profile job as a Fly Girl dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1991, where she remained a regular cast member until 1993 when she decided to pursue a full-time acting career.

Lopez received her first leading role in the Selena biopic of the same name in 1997, which earned her widespread acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination. Following subsequent roles in the films Anaconda (1997) and Out of Sight (1998), Lopez ventured into the music industry in 1999 with the release of her debut album On the 6. With the simultaneous release of her second studio album J.Lo and her film The Wedding Planner in 2001, Lopez became the first person to have a number one album and film in the same week. Lopez's 2002 remix album, J to tha L–O! The Remixes, became the first in history to debut atop the U.S. Billboard 200. Between the release of her third and fourth studio albums - This Is Me... Then and Rebirth - Lopez took a break from her music career to focus on acting, starring in the films Maid in Manhattan (2002) and Shall We Dance? (2004). Lopez's Spanish-language album, Como Ama una Mujer (2007), received the highest first-week sales in the United States for a Spanish album. Her commercial success was severely damaged after the release of her sixth studio album, Brave (2007). The set, which showcased a different musical prospective from the singer, failed to attain the success of her previous efforts and removed Lopez from the music scene until 2011, when she became a judge on the singing competition American Idol; this move allowed her to regain media attention and improved her success at charts, with her single "On the Floor", showcased and released during such timespan, becoming a worldwide hit and her best-selling single to date.

Lopez's public image and high-profile relationships have attracted worldwide media attention. Her marriage to actor Ojani Noa from 1997 to 1998 was proceeded by a series of lawsuits resulting from Noa's attempts to sell private details of Lopez and their relationship. Following her marriage to Noa, Lopez dated producer Sean Combs, a relationship that became the inspiration for Lopez's 2000 single "Love Don't Cost a Thing". Combs accompanied Lopez to the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000, where she wore her infamous Green Versace dress. After a series of incidents and Combs' trial and pursuit by the press Lopez terminated her involvement with Combs later that same year. Lopez became romantically involved with actor Ben Affleck, while still married to her second husband Cris Judd, during shooting of Gigli (2003), a film that is considered one of the worst of all time. Their relationship, dubbed as Bennifer by the public, ended as a result of media overexposure, which had a negative impact on both of their careers. After rekindling her relationship with recording artist Marc Anthony, whom she had previously dated in 1999, the two wed in a private ceremony in 2004. Lopez gave birth to the couple's twins, Maximilian and Emme, in February 2008. They were introduced in the March 11, 2008 issue of People, for which the magazine paid a reported $6 million—the photographs of the twins became the most expensive celebrity picture ever taken at the time.

Life and career

1969–94: Childhood and early work:-

Lopez was born on July 24, 1969 in the Castle Hill neighborhood of The Bronx, New York. The middle child of Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodriguez and David Lopez, she has an elder sister, Leslie, and a younger sister, Lynda (born June 14, 1971). David worked the night shift at the Guardian Insurance Company, before becoming a computer technician at the firm, while Guadalupe was a homemaker. When Jennifer was born, the Lopez family was living in a small apartment. A few years later, her parents had saved up enough money to be able to purchase a two-story house, which was considered a big deal for the relatively poor family. By the age of five, Lopez began taking singing and dancing lessons. She toured New York with her school when she was seven years old. Her parents stressed the importance of work ethic and being able to speak English. They encouraged their three daughters to put on performances at home, singing and dancing in front of each other and their friends so that they would stay "out of trouble". Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools, finishing at the all-girls Preston High School. In school, Lopez did gymnastics, ran track on a national level and was a member of the school's softball team. She excelled athletically rather than academically, competing in national track championships. In 1984, at the age of fifteen, she began dating David Cruz, her first boyfriend.

While attending her final year of high school, Lopez learned about a film casting that was seeking several teenage girls for small roles. She auditioned and was cast in My Little Girl (1986), an low-budget film co-written and directed by Connie Kaiserman. Lopez acted as Myra, a young woman at a center for troubled girls. After she finished filming her role in the film, Lopez knew that she wanted to become a "famous movie star". To please her parents, though, she enrolled in Baruch College, only to drop out after one semester. She told her parents her dream of becoming a movie star, but they ensisted that it was a "really stupid" idea and that "no Latinos did that". The differences in opinions led Lopez to move out of their family home and into an apartment inManhattan. During this period, Lopez performed in regional productions of the musicals: Jesus Christ, Superstar! and Oklahoma. From there, she was hired for the chorus in a Golden Musicals of Broadway, which toured Europe for a period of five months. She was unhappy with the role, as she was the only member of the chorus not to have a solo. She later got a job on the show Synchronicity in Japan, where she acted as a dancer, singer and a choreographer.

In 1991 Lopez was selected as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block and performed with them during their performance of "Games" at the American Music Awards. Shortly after, Lopez gained her first regular high-profile job as a Fly Girl dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. She applied for the job after one of the cast members was unavailable to continue with the show. Out of two thousand applicants, Lopez made it to the finals; becoming the runner-up, but eventually received the role when the winner was unable to accept the job. She moved with Cruz to Los Angeles to film the series and remained a regular cast member until 1993 when she decided to pursue an acting career. Prior to leaving the show, Lopez briefly worked as a backup dancer for American recording artist Janet Jackson. Lopez was set to tour with Jackson on her Janet World Tour in late 1993, but backed out as she wanted to do her "own thing." Lopez received her first professional acting gig in the direct-to-video drama film Lost in the Wild (1993), co-starring alongside Lindsay Wagner and Robert Loggia.Later in 1993 Lopez signed a deal withCBS to co-star in the television series Second Chances. The show was cancelled after airing only six episodes, due to its set being destroyed by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. A spin-off of the series, entitled Hotel Malibu was launched later that same year. It also ran for only a brief period of time and, like Second Chances, received negative reviews.

1995–98: Selena and subsequent film roles

Lopez's received her first high-budget film role 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, which earned her a Independent Spirit Award nomination, Lopez starred in the action film Money Train, opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. Lopez reportedly 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 (1996). Lopez's first big break came in 1996, when she was chosen to play the title role in Selena, a biopic of the Tejano pop singer Selena. Despite having previously worked with the film's director on My Family, Lopez was subjected to an intense auditioning process before she was cast in the film. Lopez played Selena in her twenties, while Rebecca Lee Maza played Selena in her younger years. During pre-production, Mexican-American activists were highly critical that Lopez was selected to play Selena, preferring to have an actress with Mexican roots to play Selena. Lopez earned widespread outstanding reviews and praise from critics for her portrayal of Selena. Kenneth Turan from Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan while giving the film a mixed review, he wrote that Selena was not just a celebration of Selena's life, but the actress who played her. She garnered multiple awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Lopez married Cuban actor Ojani Noa on February 22, 1997. 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. Despite being a modest box office hit, the film was panned by film critics.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.

2008–11: Motherhood, Love? and American Idol

On February 5, 2008, it was revealed that Lopez and Anthony were expecting twins. Later that same month, Lopez released her seventh fragrance Deseo. On February 22, Lopez gave birth to a son, Maximilian David Muñiz, and a daughter Emme Maribel in Long Island, New York. The twins were introduced in the March 11, 2008 issue of People, for which the magazine paid a reported $6 million—the photographs of the twins became the most expensive celebrity picture ever taken at the time. While pregnant with her children, Lopez began working on new music for a future project. Lopez's next musical project was kept under wraps until February 2009 when a new song from the recording sessions leaked online.Following this, several other songs were leaked online, that were, at the time, meant to appear on a greatest hits album; that would later turn into a studio album. In June, Lopez told MTV's Larry Carol that the songs hinted at the musical direction of her then-upcoming seventh studio album. She also stated that she was keen to finish the album and several singles, with a potential release date for the end of 2009. In late summer, Lopez released Sunkissed Glow, the fourth flanker fragrance of Glow by J.Lo. On October 7, Lopez released her twelfth fragrance My Glow. Described as a "feminine, skin floral fragrance", My Glow contains notes that create a "subtle, yet fresh scent". The shape of the bottle is inspired by soaps from Lopez's nursery and thecherub cap is dual-sided to represent each of her twins: one side a baby boy and the other a girl. Later that same day, a song entitled "Fresh Out the Oven" featuring Miami rapperPitbull surfaced online. Following the leak, the song was issued as a buzz single and managed to peak atop the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Lopez released "Louboutins", a song written and produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, as the project's lead single in November 2009.However, upon release, the song failed to garner enough airplay to chart, despite topping the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

Lopez parted ways with Epic Records in February 2010, citing that she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and now wished to release her seventh studio album, Love?, under a new label. Her departure from the label temporarily halted production on the album, however upon signing a new contract with Island Records, recording resumed on the album. The New York Daily News revealed that Lopez would be taking some of the records recorded under Sony Music Entertainment to her new label so that they could be included on the album.^[153] In March 2010, Lopez guest starred on an episode of How I Met Your Mother as Anita Appleby, a no-nonsense author of self-help books that teach women how to mold men into "relationship machines" through the power of denial. Later that same month, Lopez launched Blue Glow, the fifth flanker to Glow by J.Lo. It was described as a "fresh, sexy and enticing" fragrance. The perfume is made of fruits, florals and woods with many different ingredients. The fragrance was initially available exclusively at HSN and was later made available at Sears, Macy's and Sephora. In April, Lopez starred in the romantic comedyThe Back-up Plan, her first theatrical role in three years. With a $35 million production budget, the film grossed $77 million worldwide. While Lopez's acting in the film was praised, the film was criticized for for its "unrelatable characters" and "predictable plot". In June, following the departure of Ellen DeGeneres from American Idol, it was reported that Lopez was in talks to join season ten's judging panel. During this same time, Lopez and Anthony were being considered for a role on The X Factor for their appeal to Latin and International markets. It was officially announced in September that Lopez would be joining the tenth season of American Idol. MTV stated that the deal was "mutually beneficial to all those involved", while CNN reported that Lopez was viewing it as a decision to revive her career, while American Idol producers believed that Lopez and Steven Tyler's appointments would strengthen viewing figures. In October, Lopez released her fourteenth fragrance, Love and Glamour. The perfume was inspired by Lopez's "return to the spotlight". L'Oreal Paris named Lopez their new Global Ambassador and the face of their brands, including EverPure hair care, Preference hair color and Youth Code skin care, in December 2010. Her ads for EverSleek hair care made their debut in early 2011, to coincide with the release of Love? and her debut as a judge on America Idol. To further promote her comeback, in February 2011, Venus chose Lopez as their new Global Ambassador. She appeared in their Gillette Venus ads, which featured Lopez covering the Venus theme song "Yeah Baby, She's Got It" for the commercials.

2012: Dance Again World Tour

In January 2012, Lopez returned as judge on the eleventh season of American Idol, earning a reported $20 million.The season was not as successful as its previous ten seasons and for the first time in the show's history, it was not the most-watched primetime television show. Later that same month a new talent show, ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen, created by Simon Fuller premiered on Univision and was a hit for the channel. It followed Lopez, Anthony and director-choeographer Jamie King as they travelled across 21 countries in Latin America to find new talent for a Las Vegas show. On May 18, Lopez returned to the big screen co-starring alongside an ensemble cast consisting of Cameron Diaz, Elizabeth Banks, Matthew Morrison and Dennis Quaid in the film What to Expect When You're Expecting. Based on the book of the same name, Lopez plays Holly, a woman who adopts a baby from abroad with her husband after difficulty conceiving. With a budget of $40 million, the film grossed a total of $74 million worldwide, becoming a moderate commerical success. The film, however, received generally negative reviews from film critics. In late May, Lopez released her eighteenth fragrance, Glowing, exclusively in Kohl's. It was described as an "evolution" of Glow by J.Lo.

In early June, Lopez released "Goin' In", a song that promoted the dance film Step Up Revolution (2012). On June 14, 2012, Lopez launched the Dance Again World Tour, her first headlining concert tour. The tour began in Panama and traveled across Latin America, ending in Brazil on July 1.Later that same month, Lopez launched Teeology, a Los Angeles-based luxury T-shirt e-commerce. Lopez voiced Shira, a saber tooth tiger, in the animated film, Ice Age: Continental Drift, the fourth film in the Ice Age franchise. The film debuted at number one at the US Box Office, having grossed $46 million in its opening weekend, becoming Lopez's highest opening weekend figure. With a $95 million production budget, the film has since grossed $860 million worldwide. On July 14, Lopez launched her co-headlining concert tour with Spanish recording artist Enrique Iglesias. The tour, an extension of the Dance Again World Tour, traveled across nineteen North American cities during the months of July, August and September.

Lopez's first greatest hits album, Dance Again... the Hits, was released on July 24, 2012 in the United States.The album was released by Epic Records, as Lopez owed them one final album to end her contract, despite previously announcing in 2010 that she had fulfilled her contract with the label. It was preceded by the release of it's sole single, "Dance Again", in April. Lopez, at the time of the single's release, was unsure if it would be the lead single from a greatest hits album or her eighth studio album. The song was a moderate commercial success, peaking within the top ten in almost all of the countries where it was released. "Dance Again" and "Goin' In" both reached the top of theBillboard Hot Dance Club Songs, giving Lopez her twelfth and thirteenth number one on that chart, respectively. Additionally, "Goin' In" became her tenth consecutive number one on the chart, tying Katy Perry for having the most consecutive numbers one on the chart. In September, nuvoTV, a small English-language network aimed at Latino viewers, announced plans for a "marketing and programming partnership" with Lopez that will make her a part-owner of the channel. Lopez will produce programming for the network through her production company, Nuyorican Productions and will appear occasionally on-air. She will also act as a promotional ambassador for the network. In October, Lopez joined Beyonce Knowles, Eva Longoria, Olivia Wilde, Sheryl Crow, Julianne Moore, Jane Lynch and other female celebrities for a campaign video in support of Barack Obama's reelection campaign.