>> BIOGRAPHY
Jennifer Lopez has broken many records and proved many wrong. She is hollywood's most talented triple threat -- a actress, singer, and dancer. She is also the FIRST Latina actress to be paid more than a million dollars per movie.
Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24, 1969 in the Castle Hill section of The Bronx, New York. The 2nd daughter to Guadalupe Rodriguez Lopez, a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer operator specialist. Jennifer has 2 older sisters, Leslie and Lynda. In the Lopez household, music from many genres was always playing. Jennifer was even enrolled in dance classes since the tender age of 5.
Jennifer always wanted to be a performer, and she started her career by appearing in the chorus of Hinton Battle's "Synchronicity" musical in Japan. She then appeared in "Golden Musicals of Broadway" on a European tour, and later regional productions of "Oklahoma" and "Jesus Christ Superstar". As a teenager, she began her career as a dancer in stage musicals, touring Europe & Japan. At age sixteen, she appeared in the movie, My Little Girl.
Jennifer graduated in 1987 from Preston High School, and she enrolled at Baruch College in New York City, but dropped out after one semester. Later, when she read about a scholarship to a dance school in Manhattan, she jumped at the opportunity. Jennifer then landed a role dancing as one of "The Fly Girls" on a production of "In Living Color". She was still living in New York and had to move to LA for the role, but the show's producer Keenan Ivory Wayans advised her she would have more money and more experience if she stuck with the show.
While Jennifer was working on "In Living Color", one of her coworkers husbands was writing and producing Fox's "South Central", and she suggested Jennifer for a part. Jennifer got the recurring role on the show as Lucy, who worked in the co-op market. While the show was short lived, it helped Jennifer get some recognition, and work in two more, but short lived series.
Subsequently, she gained ground in her next film, "The Money Train", with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. Jennifer's next role as Selena, would launch her into the public eye, with her dancing and vocal talent. This led to Jennifer being picked as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. A few more major roles followed with the modern film "Blood and Wine" and "U-Turn", which secured her star status.
In 1998, Jennifer proved that she could hold her own against a powerful leading man when she starred opposite George Clooney in "Out of Sight". Jennifer is the only Latin actress in history to demand a $1 million salary. When she released her album entitled 
"On the 6", the album was so well received that it bumped Ricky Martin from the top of the charts.
The public and critical recognition was tempered with some sordid front-page news.Ý Lopez was nabbed and jailed along with rap artist Sean "Puffy" Combs in an alleged gun possession incident at Club New York in New York City.Ý Although locked up for 14 hours, Lopez was released without being charged.
On January 23, 2001, the much anticipated album "J.Lo" hit the streets and debuted on the Billboard Charts in many countries at number 1! This occurred in that same week her romantic comedy "The Wedding Planner" was released in theaters and snatched the number one position at the box office.Ý Jennifer beecame the first entertainer to have her an album and a movie debut at number one in the same week.
Fall 2001, her clothing line named "J.Lo." Her perfume line would release the fragrances "Glow" and "Still." She would soon venture even further to release a lingerie branch of her clothing line. Her fragrance "Glow" was on of the top 10 selling fragrances by a celebrity.
Jennifer Lopez has proved to be an unstoppable entrepreneur and an incredibly versatile entertainer. Her style has been emulated but none have climbed to the infamous status Hollywood's brightest star.
