George Lopez Biography
Summary
"George Lopez" (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor, best known for starring in his own produced television sitcom show called George Lopez.
Biography
Early life
George Lopez, was born in Mission Hills, which is located in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. He was abandoned by his father as an infant and by his mother when he was ten years old, and was subsequently raised by his maternal grandmother, Benita, a factory worker, and maternal step-grandfather Refugil Gutierrez, a builder. He was raised in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
Career
Lopez became a popular stand-up comedian among the Latino community by using his Mexican-American heritage as an attraction to Mexicans. Much of his comedy is based on the experiences growing up and that of the Mexican-American community in general. 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. He released "El Mas Chingon" in September of 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.
Lopez starred on the television situation comedy George Lopez from 2002-2007. He was also the show's co-creator, writer, and producer. The show featured a majority Hispanic cast and is the second longest running network sitcom to feature at least one major Hispanic character, after 'I Love Lucy'.
Lopez also appeared in an episode of the hit series 'The Naked Brothers Band'.
Personal life
Lopez is Roman Catholic and married Ana Serrano in 1993. Their daughter, Mayan, was adopted in 1995. In April 2005, his wife transplanted a kidney to him. An episode of "George Lopez", and The Naked Brothers Band was based on this. It is also mentioned briefly in a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode, where Larry David seeks inside information from George Lopez about the 'kidney consortium'. Lopez's Favorite food is menudo topped with cilantro, lemon juice and green onions.
Controversy
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. 'He's the biggest two-faced dude in TV.' He also called him a back-stabber and said he is not a proficient interviewer.
Lopez is also known for his conflict with Carlos Mencia. In an interview on "The Howard Stern Show", Lopez accused Mencia of appropriating 13 minutes of his material in Mencia's HBO special. He also claimed he had a physical altercation with Mencia over the alleged appropriation. The joke that Lopez specified was stolen and used on Mencia's HBO special was a Taco Bell joke.
Lopez had some choice words when told that 'George Lopez' was being canceled despite decent-to-good ratings. He alleged that race was a factor (although ABC continues to air the small Latino-casted sitcom Ugly Betty), as well as his show's production by Disney rival Warner Brothers. He stated:
In popular culture
Lopez is mentioned in 'Scrubs', when Elliot says, 'Like remember when Carla was pregnant and we all told her how beautiful she was, even though she looked like George Lopez?'
Lopez was once mentioned by the character Rosalina on the "Naked Brothers Band" TV series. He made an appearance on an episode of "Punk'd".
Awards and recognition
2003 - Imagen Vision Award
2003 - Latino Spirit Award for Excellence in Television
National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Award
2004 Spirit of Liberty Award
2005 - Recognized by Time as one of 'The 25 Most Influential Hispanics In America'.
Films
"Balls of Fury" (2007)
"Brown is the New Green: George Lopez and the American Dream" (2007)
"The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D" (2004)
"Real Women Have Curves" (2002)
"Fidel" (2002)
"Bread and Roses" (2000)
"Fatal Instinct" (1993)
External links
(The George Lopez Show official site)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about George Lopez.
