| George Lopez |
 |
| Lopez at the Kids' Inaugural: We are the Future concert on January 19, 2009 |
| Born |
April 23, 1961 (1961-04-23) (age 48)
Mission Hills, California, U.S.[1] |
| Medium |
Stand-up comedy, Television, Film |
| Years active |
1983 – present |
| Genres |
Observational comedy, Satire |
| Subject(s) |
Mexican American culture, race relations, family |
| Influences |
Richard Pryor, Freddie Prinze, Cheech & Chong, Bill Cosby, Paul Mooney, Chris Rock |
| Influenced |
Carlos Mencia |
| Spouse |
Ann Serrano (1993-present) (1 child) |
| Notable works and roles |
George Lopez in George Lopez |
| Website |
GeorgeLopez.com |
George Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is a Mexican American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race relations and the Mexican culture within the United States.
Personal life
Lopez was born in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California. He was deserted by his dad at birth and was then deserted by his mother at the age of 10 years old but was raised by his maternal grandmother, Benita Gutierrez, a factory worker, and step-grandfather Refugio Gutierrez, a builder.[2][3] In 1993, Lopez married Ann Serrano. The couple has one child together (Mayan).
Lopez has a genetic condition that caused his kidneys to deteriorate; the congenital abnormality caused a narrowing of his ureters, the tubes through which urine travels from each kidney to the bladder. His doctors had told him in April 2004 that he was going to require an organ transplant but he postponed the operation until after finishing the 4th season of George Lopez so as not to hurt the 170 people who worked on his show. In 2005, his wife Ann donated one of her kidneys to Lopez. The transplant was successful; Lopez lost 45 lbs. after the operation due in part to having his health so vastly improved. He brought awareness to the issue on his show; his son, Max, was diagnosed with a similar illness.
Lopez was a featured celebrity golfer in The 2004 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the 2004 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Lopez and his pro partner finished third in the Pebble Beach event. George was the top ranking celebrity at completion of the golf tournament. Since 2006, Lopez has served as the host of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
A native of Los Angeles, who grew up in San Fernando Valley’s Mission Hills, Lopez devotes much time to the community. His own charity, The George & Ann Lopez-Richie Alarcon CARE Foundation. He has received the Manny Mota Foundation Community Spirit Award and was named Honorary Mayor of Los Angeles for his extensive fund-raising efforts benefiting earthquake victims in El Salvador and Guatemala. In February 2004, George was presented the 2004 Artist of the Year and Humanitarian Award by Harvard University, presented by its president and dean for his artistic work and charitable endeavors.[4]
Lopez has received several honors for his work and contributions to the Latino community. In September 2004, George was honored with the "Spirit of Liberty Award" presented by People for the American Way. In August 2005, Time magazine recognized George as one of "The 25 Most Influential Hispanics In America".[5]
Stand-up comedy career
George Lopez at his Walk of Fame star dedication ceremony on March 29, 2009
Much of Lopez's comedy is based on his experiences in childhood, and that of the Mexican-American community in general. He was greatly influenced by comedian Richard Pryor. He has released four albums of recorded stand-up comedy shows, the first of which was Alien Nation in 1996, as well as Right Now Right Now and Team Leader, which was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.[6] He released El Más Chingón in September 2006. On television, Lopez has appeared on The Latin Kings of Comedy, where he was a guest star along with other top Latino stand-up comedians. His first stand-up comedy special, George Lopez Why You Crying? premiered on Showtime. His second special, America's Mexican, was broadcast live on HBO on February 24, 2007; his third special, Tall, Dark, and Chicano, was broadcast live on HBO from the AT&T Center in San Antonio on August 8, 2009. Lopez also starred in the 2008 film Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
Lopez had made his mark as a comedian by performing at several clubs around the country and making appearances on television shows and comedy specials by the late 1980s. In the 1990s, Lopez made the transition to films with comedies such as Ski Patrol (1990) and Fatal Instinct (1993).
Despite his growing television career, Lopez continued to perform his stand-up comedy and recorded several comedy albums. He has headlined at various venues: The Don Haskins in El Paso, Las Vegas Hilton, Foxwoods Casino, ARCO Arena in Sacramento, the Town Hall in New York, the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Concord, CA, Next Stage in Dallas, AT&T Center in San Antonio, Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA, San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego,CA, Dodge Theater in Phoenix, San Jose State University Events Center in San Jose, CA, The Rosemont Theatre in Chicago, and has performed for the President at the historic Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C..
Television projects
In 1999, Lopez hosted a major morning radio show for Clear Channel Communications in Los Angeles. He was the first Latino to have headlined the keystone morning radio slot on an English-language station in LA — the nation’s top radio market.
In 2000, after several years of performing stand-up comedy, Lopez was approached by actress Sandra Bullock for Lopez to produce and star in a comedy. Bullock was concerned about the lack of Hispanic-oriented sitcoms on American television and pushed to get a sitcom on television that starred Hispanics without being exclusively about the Hispanic American community. ABC, who had been criticized by Hispanic American groups for lack of Latinos on their television shows, ABC quickly picked up the television series. In 2002, Lopez became one of the few Latinos to star in a television comedy series, following in the footsteps of Freddie Prinze and Desi Arnaz. The George Lopez show is an American situation comedy that originally aired on ABC from 2002 - 2007. Lopez is the co-creator, writer, producer, and star of the sitcom.
Lopez was a cast member and commentator for HBO’s hit sports show Inside the NFL for the 2003-2004 football season.
On March 8, 2007, it was announced that George Lopez would join the Nick at Nite lineup. It first aired on Nick at Nite on September 10, 2007. On May 15, 2007, ABC announced that the series would be canceled after its sixth season. The show last aired on ABC September 7, 2007. The show also entered syndication in the fall of 2007. Never a huge Nielsen hit in primetime, the show became a surprise success in syndication.
On March 24, 2009 it was announced that Lopez will be getting his own late night talk show on TBS.[7]
He wrote an autobiography entitled Why You Crying, which was released on the Touchstone/Fireside division of Simon & Schuster and entered in the New York Times Bestsellers top twenty. The book is co-written by Emmy Award winning writer and sportscaster Armen Keteyian.
Lopez has earned praise for his performance in the HBO Films drama, Real Women Have Curves, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received the 2002 Audience Award. Previously, Lopez was featured in the drama Bread and Roses. The film, directed by British filmmaker Ken Loach, received critical acclaim after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. He recently starred in the ABC Wonderful World of Disney Christmas film Naughty or Nice. Lopez also starred in the Robert Rodríguez-directed film The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl which opened in June 2005.
Lopez guest starred as the Mayor of Reno, Nevada in the fifth season of Reno 911! in 2008. In January 2009, Lopez appeared in the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. He is also noted for mentioning Dominicans in a good way, as if they were his "home-boys" in the Latino world.
He is a two-time host of the Latin Grammy Awards and a co-host of the Emmy Awards.
Lopez currently hosts a late night talk show entitled Lopez Tonight on TBS Monday through Thursday at 11pm EST. The show debuted in November 2009.
Feuds
Lopez criticized Jay Leno, someone he once considered a "close friend", during an interview on radio station WOMX-FM in Orlando, Florida on January 24, 2007, stating: "He's the biggest two-faced dude in TV." He also called him a back-stabber, and said he is not a proficient interviewer.[8][9]
Lopez is also known for his conflict with Carlos Mencía. In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Lopez accused Mencía of appropriating 13 minutes of his material in Mencía's HBO special. He also claimed he had a physical altercation with Mencía over the alleged appropriation.[10][11]
Lopez frequently mentions his hatred for Erik Estrada. According to Lopez, he met Estrada when he was a teenager and Estrada was in the zenith of his career. Estrada refused to shake the teenager's hand, and Lopez has hated him ever since. Lopez mentioned the story while guest-hosting The Jim Rome Show, and saying "Fuck that puto." In his comedy special America's Mexican, Lopez uses this as a warning to everyone that celebrities should always be nice to their fans as they do not know who they [the fans] will grow up to be.
After receiving the news that his show was canceled in 2007, Lopez criticized Steve McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, for using racially motivated reasons for his decision. The actor told the Los Angeles Times that "TV just became really, really white again," and lashed out against ABC by saying "So a Chicano can't be on TV, but a caveman can?" in reference to Cavemen, which was replacing George Lopez in the schedule. Cavemen got a horrible reception from critics and viewers and was canceled after just 13 episodes.[12] Lopez blamed ABC for causing over a hundred of his show's staff to become jobless.[13][14][15]
Filmography
References
External links
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