(born July 24, 1969, Bronx, New York, U.S.) is a global superstar known to fans as simply “J.Lo.”
She built a massively successful triple-threat career as an actress, dancer, and musician.
She began appearing in films in the late 1980s and quickly became one of the highest-paid Latina actresses in the history of Hollywood.
She later found crossover success in the music industry with a series of pop albums, garnering on the way both admiration and notoriety for her multiple entrepreneurial projects and her romances with other big names in the entertainment industry.
As she famously declared in her 2002 hit song “Jenny from the Block,” Lopez comes from humble roots, having been born in the Bronx into a family of Puerto Rican descent.
Her mother, Guadalupe (“Lupe”) Lopez (née Rodriguez) was a teacher, and her father, David Lopez, was a computer specialist.
The middle child of three daughters, Jennifer Lopez shared a bed growing up with her elder sister, Leslie Ann, and younger sister, Lynda, in the family’s modest-sized home.
Lopez took dance lessons throughout her childhood and from an early age had aspirations of fame.
She performed internationally in stage musicals, and at age 16 she made her film debut with a small role in My Little Girl (1986), a drama about a wealthy socialite (played by Mary Stuart Masterson) who takes a job in a center for troubled teen girls.
Lopez’s television break came in 1990 when she was cast as one of the “Fly Girls,” hip-hop dancers who appeared on the comedy show In Living Color.
After she left the show, she turned her focus to acting, first in several short-lived television series
Film success came quickly, and by the mid-1990s Lopez was appearing with such notable actors as Robin Williams (Jack, 1996) and Jack Nicholson (Blood and Wine, 1997).
Lopez still remained somewhat on the periphery of the public vision, however, until she landed the lead role in Selena (1997), a biopic of the murdered Tejano singer.
Lopez’s immersive performance as Selena earned her rave reviews and a Golden Globe nomination.
She went on to star in a number of thrillers and action dramas, including Anaconda (1997), U Turn (1997), Out of Sight (1998), and The Cell (2000), and she gained widespread praise for The Wedding Planner (2001), her successful first attempt at romantic comedy.
That release was quickly followed by the romantic drama Angel Eyes.
These films paired her with many of the most bankable and respected leading actors of the 1990s and early 2000s, including George Clooney, Sean Penn, and Matthew McConaughey.