Jennifer Lopez was born in the Bronx of New York on July 24, 1970. Lopez was the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, computer operation specialist, David, and kindergarten teacher, Guadalupe. She has two sisters – Lynda and Leslie. Lynda, 27, is now a DJ for WKTU in New York and a VJ for VHI, while Leslie is a music teacher.
Since early childhood, she always knew she wanted to be a performer and began to pursue a career as a musical theater actress. She started her entertainment career by appearing in Hinton Battle’s Synchrocinicity in Japan, and also, later appeared in a European tour of The Golden Musicals of Broadway, along with regional productions of Oklahoma and Jesus Christ Superstar. Lopez made her first film debut in 1986 at the age of 16 with a bit part in My Little Girl.
Her big break came when she was selected as one of choreographer Rosie Perez’s “Fly Girls,” after she won a national competition beating out two thousand other contestants. Lopez’s hip-hop dance numbers on FOX’s In Living Color parlayed her new visibility into roles on various TV series and movies.
While she was shaking her notorious backside for In Living Color, the husband of one of her co-worker’s was writing and producing South Central for FOX. She suggested Lopez for a part, who was then cast in the recurring role of Lucy, and the show, which was pretty much DOA, led her into two more short-lived television series. One of these was CBS’s Second Chances, and although the show never lasted, Lopez’s “Melinda Lopez” character was so popular that it was continued on Aaron Spelling's series, Hotel Malibu. Lopez refused the development deal offered by CBS, because she wanted a film career. She even turned down a chance to go on Janet Jackson’s tour as one of the backup dancers (although she did appear in her video for “That’s the Way Love Goes”). The call of big screen could be ignored no longer.
In 1995, Lopez appeared in Gregory Nava’s critically acclaimed movie My Family/Mi Familia, which focused on the lives of Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles from the 1930s to the present. Lopez introduced her talent to top filmmakers with this movie. Following this movie, she jumped on Joseph Ruben’s Money Train as “Grace Santiago.” Lopez then appeared as Robin Williams’ Latina teacher in Francis Ford Coppola’s Jack.
Gregory Nava asked Lopez to audition for the lead role in Selena, a movie about the life of slain Tejano singer, Selena Quintanilla Perez. No stranger to the pressures of auditioning, the former singer/dancer came in and won the role, for which her performance soon thrust her into the spotlight and increased her Hollywood stock considerably. The similarities between Lopez and Perez, who was poised for stardom at the time of her death, were unmistakable. Lopez became the highest-paid Latina actress in history commanding $1 million for her portrayal of Selena Quintanilla Perez.
Shortly after the completion and release of Selena, the 5’6” Lopez married long time boyfriend Ojani Noa in early 1997. The couple divorced after a year of marriage.
In the spring of 1997, Lopez released the box office smash, Anaconda, and followed that up with her critically-acclaimed performance as Jack Nicholson’s Cuban mistress in Bob Rafelson’s dark film Blood & Wine. That fall, Lopez appeared opposite Sean Penn in Oliver Stone’s U-Turn. Soon after, she beat out a throng of A-list actresses and landed the role of a US marshal taken hostage by George Clooney in the box-office smash, Out Of Sight. She was next featured in Antz, a star-loaded animated film.
Even after all her film success, Jennifer Lopez felt a pull back toward her musical roots, especially after her role as Selena. She decided to make some musical contacts, and after an intense bidding war, Lopez signed a lucrative deal with Sony Music. She released her multiplatinum album, On the 6, in 1999. For her album, Jennifer gathered an extraordinary line up of collaborators, including Marc Anthony, Emilio Estefan, Jr., Bad Boy Entertainment’s Sean "Puffy" Combs (Jennifer's current love interest), and Rodney Jerkins. The album was named after the No. 6 subway Lopez used to take in her younger days from the Bronx to Manhattan for her dance lessons and auditions. The first single, "If You Had My Love," hit number one on the Billboard’s Pop Chart. Lopez recently stated that she would like to record a Spanish album for her follow-up.
As far as her movie career, Jennifer fans need not worry. Her next two films, the Cell and The Wedding Planner, are set to be released in next to no time. This stunning, curvaceous, Latina actress, with her ever-growing popularity, will be around for a long time.
