George Lopez

George Lopez
Name:	George Lopez
Born:	April 23, 1961
Occupation:	comedian, actor, talk show host
Years active:	1983-present
Known for:	his hit ABC Sitcom of the same name

George Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He is mostly known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations (including Mexican American culture). He was the host of the late-night talk show Lopez Tonight on TBS until its cancellation on August 12, 2011.

Early Life

Lopez was born on April 23, 1961 in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California of Mexican decent. He was deserted by his father when he was two month old and by his mother when he was 10 years old but was raised by his maternal grandmother, Benita Gutierrez, a factory worker and step-grandfather, Refugio Gutierrez, a construction worker. Lopez attended San Fernando High School graduating in 1979.

Career

Radio

In 1999, Lopez hosted a major morning radio show for Clear Channel Communications in Los Angeles. He was the first Latino to have headline the keystone morning radio slot on an English-language station in LA, the nation's top radio market.

Television

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 that starred Hispanic without being exclusively about the Hispanic American community. Long 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 the footsteps of Desi Arnez, Freddie Prinze and John Leguizamo. George Lopez is an American situation comedy that originally aired on ABC from 2002-2007. Lopez id the co-creator, writer, producer and star of the show.

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 cancelled after its sixth season. The show last aired on ABC September 7, 2007. The show also aired in syndication in the fall of 2007. Never a big Nielsen hit in prime-time, the show became a surprise success in syndication.

Lopez was a cast member and commentator for HBO's hit sports show Inside the NFL for the 2003-2004 football season.

Lopez guest starred as the mayor of Reno, Nevada in the fifth season of Reno 911! in 2008.

On March 28, 2009, it was announced that Lopez would be hosting his talk show on TBS. Lopez hosted a late-night talk show entitled Lopez Tonight on TBS Monday through Thursday at midnight Eastern Time. The show debuted in November 2009. In November 2010, the show moved back to midnight ET to accommodate a new show with former Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien. Lopez supported and even advocated for the move, making it different from the 2010 Tonight show conflict that saw O'Brien depart NBC after a proposal to push Tonight back 30 minutes for Jay Leno to return to the 11:35 p.m. slot. On August 10, 2011 Lopez received a cancellation notice from TBS. The Network decided not to renew Lopez Tonight for a third season.

On June 7, 2012, Lopez hosted a short-lived American version of Take Me Out on FOX based on the Australian dating game show Taken Out until its cancellation on July 26, 2012.

On April 18, 2013, it was announced that George Lopez will be starring in his own sitcom on FX called Saint George.

Film

Lopez earned praise for his performance in the HBO film 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 premier 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 Rodriguez-directed film The Adventures of Shark boy & Lava Girl, which opened in June 2005.

Brown is the new Green: George Lopez and the American Dream is a 2007 Documentary directed and produced by Philip Rodriguez.

In 2010, Lopez appeared in The Spy Next Door with Jackie Chan, starring as a villain name Glaze.

In 2011, Lopez reprised his role as Papi for Beverly Hills Chichuahua 2, and was the voice of a toco toucan, Rafael, in he box office animated hit Rio, alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, will.i.am and Jamie Foxx.

Books

Lope wrote an autobiography entitled Why You Crying, which was published by the Touchstone/Fireside division of Simon & Schuster and placed in the New York Times bestsellers top twenty. The book is co-written by Emmy Award winning writer and sportcaster Armen Keteyian.

Other Work

In January 2009, Lopez appeared in We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.

He is a two-time host of the Latin Grammy Awards and co-host of the Emmy Awards.

He also hosted a Season 9 elimination episode of American Idol after donating the most money on Idol Gives Back.

Politics

On December 21, 2010, Lopez announced on Good Day L.A. that he would run for mayor of Los Angeles in about eight years.

In an interview with Piers Morgan, Lopez stated that if Sarah Palin ever becomes the President of the United States, he would emigrate to Canada.

Personal Life

In 1993, Lopez married Ann Serrano. The couple have a daughter, Mayan Lopez. On September 27, 2010, Lopez announced that he and his wife had decided to end their marriage. Serrano filed for divorce on November 23, 2010, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on July 1, 2011.

In 2009, the results of a DNA test read that Mariah Carey on Lopez Tonight revealed to be of 55% European, 32% Natie American, 9% East Asian and 4% African decent. However, the test's accuracy is disputed by several genealogists.

On February 24, 2014, Lopez was arrested for drunkenness at a casino in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Health Problems

Lopez has a genetic condition that caused his kidneys to deteriorate. His doctors told him in April 2004 that he was going to require an organ transplant but he postponed the operation until finishing the fourth season of George Lopez. In 2005, his wife Ann donated one of her kidney's to Lopez. The transplant was successful, Lopez lost 45 lbs. after the operation due in part to the improvement in his health. He brought awareness to the issue of his show; his character's son Max was diagnosed with a similar illness.

Charity Work and Honors

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 tournament. Since 2006, Lopez has served as host of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. He is a member at Lakeside Country Club in Burbank, California and has a 13 handicap.

A native of Los Angeles who grew up in the San Fernando Valley's Mission Hills, Lopez devotes much time to the community. He heads his own charity, The Ann & George Lopez Foundation. He is a recipient of the Manny Mota Foundation Community Spirit Award and was named honorary Mayor of Los Angeles for his extensive fund-raising efforts benefitting earthquake victims in El Salvador and Guatemala. In February 2004, Lopez was presented the 2004 Artist of the Year and Humanitarian Award by the Harvard Foundation at Harvard University, presented by its president and dean for his artistic work and charitable endeavors.

Feuds

Jay Leno

Lopez criticized Jay Leno, someone he one 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 on TV". He also called him a back-stabber and said he is not a proficient interviewer.

Carlos Mencia

Lopez is known for his conflict with Carlos Mencia. In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Lopez accusing 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.

Erik Estrada

Lopez frequently mentions his dislike for Erik Estrada. According to Lopez, he met Estrada when he was a teenager and Estrada was the zenith of his career. Estrada refuses to shake the teenager's hand and Lopez has disliked him ever since. Lope related the story while guest-hosting The Jim Rome Show, then saying, "F**k that puto!" in his comedy special in his comedy special American's Mexican, Lopez uses this story to warn celebrities to always be good to your fans because they never known who their fans might grow up to be.

ABC Entertainment

After receiving the news that the show was cancelled in 2007, Lopez criticized president of ABC Entertainment Steve McPherson 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 the short-lived sitcom Cavemen, which was replacing George Lopez on the schedule. Cavemen garnered an sharply negative reception from critics and viewers, and was cancelled after 13 episodes. Lopez blamed ABC for causing over a hundred of his show's staff to become jobless.

Kirstie Alley

On March 24, 2011 George Lopez called Kirstie Alley a "pig" during her stint on Dancing with the Stars. Kristie responded on Twitter "Don't worry about George's comments...just remember what happens to the big bad drunk wolf...falls in a boiling pot of vodka. Piggy laughs". George later apologized on Twitter saying "I misjudged the joke. No malice was intended and I apologize to Kristie". After the apologize, Kristie fired back on Twitter "@georgelopez I don't need or want your apology...I want your kidney dude...on behalf of ur X and all of the women uv insulted...give it back".

Joe Arpaio

On July 14, 2012, during one of his HBO specials, Lopez went on diatribe against controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, in which Lopez ranted "Sheriff Joe in Arizona, f**k you, you f**king puto! You fat motherf**ker, f**k you!" Lopez took exception to Arpaio's endorsement of Arizona's anti-immigration policies, which has been widely criticized by the Hispanic community.

Show Hosted

Take Me Out

Link

His Official Website
His documentary special @ PBS