George Lopez
| George Lopez | |
|---|---|
 Lopez at the Kids' Inaugural: We are the Future concert on January 19, 2009 | |
| Born | April 23, 1961 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 |
| Spouse | Ann Serrano (1993-present) (1 child) |
| Notable works and roles | George Lopez in George Lopez |
| Website | GeorgeLopez.com |
George Lopez (pronounced "poo-feen-ger") is a Mexican American comedian and actor. He is mostly 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. He is currently the host of the late-night talk show Lopez Tonight on TBS.[2]
Personal life
George Lopez was born in 1961 in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California. He was deserted by his father at birth, but was raised by his maternal grandmother, Benita Gutierrez, a factory worker, and step-grandfather Refugio Gutierrez, a construction worker.[3][4] In 1993, Lopez married Ann Serrano. The couple has one child together, Mayan Lopez. A DNA test on Lopez Tonight revealed Lopez to be of 55% European, 32% Native American, 9% East Asian, and 4% African descent.[5]
Lopez has a genetic condition that caused his kidneys to deteriorate. 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. He is a member at Lakeside Country Club in Burbank, CA and has a 13 handicap.[citation needed]
A native of Los Angeles who grew up in San Fernando Valley’s Mission Hills, Lopez devotes much time to the community. He has 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.[6]
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".[7]
In an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Lopez mentioned that he is an avid golfer. When asked why golf was a favored pastime, Lopez responded "Any chance I can get to hit something that's white."
Film and 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. 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 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 Show.
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 28, 2009, it was announced that Lopez will be getting his own late night talk show on TBS.[8]
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 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.
In 2010, Lopez appeared in The Spy Next Door, with Jackie Chan, and starred as Glaze.
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.[9][10]
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.[11][12]
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 because they do not know who the fans will grow up to be.
Gabriel Iglesias mentions Lopez in his special Hot and Fluffy, stating that George Lopez does not like Iglesias' impersonation of him. Iglesias also does immitations of Paul Rodriguez as well as Mencia, both of whom view the impersonations more favorably (though he jokes that Mencia gets mad at him because his impersonation is not good enough).
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.[13] Lopez blamed ABC for causing over a hundred of his show's staff to become jobless.[14][15][16]
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Ski Patrol | Eddie Martinez | |
| 1993 | Fatal Instinct | Murder Investigator | |
| 2001 | Bread and Roses | Perez | |
| 2002 | Real Women Have Curves | Mr. Guzman | |
| 2005 | The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl | Mr. Electricidad/ Mr. Electric/Tobor | |
| 2006 | Balls of Fury | Ernie Rodriguez | |
| Tortilla Heaven | Everardo | ||
| 2008 | Swing Vote | John Sweeney | |
| Henry Poole Is Here | Father Salizar | ||
| Beverly Hills Chihuahua | Papi | ||
| 2009 | Shannon's Rainbow | Captain Martin | |
| Mr. Troop Mom | Eddie Serrano | ||
| 2010 | The Spy Next Door | Glaze | |
| Valentine's Day | Alfonso | ||
| The Toatally Unnormal Pastens | Bruce Pasten | Disney Channel Original Series | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | Fidel | Chucho Osorio | |
| The Brothers García | Mr. Fender | Episode "The Student Buddy" | |
| Curb your Enthusiasm | Himself | ||
| 2002–2007 | George Lopez | George Lopez | 119 episodes |
| 2004 | Naughty or Nice | Henry Ramiro | |
| 2006 | Freddie | George | "Freddie Gets Cross Over George" |
| 2007–2008 | The Naked Brothers Band | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | Reno 911 | Mayor of Reno | 3 episodes |
| 2009- | Lopez Tonight | Himself (Host) | |
| Stand up | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | Alien Nation | Himself | |
| 2001 | Right Now, Right Now | Himself | |
| 2002 | Team Leader | Himself | |
| 2006 | Why You Crying? | Himself | |
| El Mas Chingon? | Himself | ||
| 2007 | America's Mexican | Himself | |
| 2009 | Tall, Dark, & Chicano | Himself | |
References
- ^ http://www.biography.com/articles/George-Lopez-189160
- ^ http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/03/72151/
- ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/5/George-Lopez.html
- ^ http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/georgelopez.htm
- ^ http://www.lopeztonight.com/episode_recaps_and_highlights/dec_16_2009_recap_highlights.php
- ^ Harvard Gazette: Harvard Foundation names Lopez Artist of the Year
- ^ TIME.com: The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America - Page 1
- ^ Kate Ward, Entertainment Weekly
- ^ Topic Galleries - OrlandoSentinel.com
- ^ Topic Galleries - OrlandoSentinel.com
- ^ Goldyn, Debra (2007-05-02). "Is Carlos Mencia a thief?". Advocate. University of Colorado at Denver. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
- ^ Kozlowski, Carl (2007-03-29). "Carlos Mencia Just Said That". Los Angeles CityBeat. Retrieved 2007-07-14.
- ^ http://www.nypost.com/seven/10032007/tv/its_a_cave_in_.htm
- ^ Keller, Joel (2007-05-15). "George Lopez blasts ABC for cancelling his show". TV Squad. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ Fernandez, Marie (2007-05-15). "George Lopez lashes out at ABC". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ^ Fernandez, Marie (2007-05-14). "TV just got a lot 'whiter,' says a canceled George Lopez". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
External links
- Official website
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- The George Lopez Show official site
- George Lopez at NY Post
- Review of CD, "Tall, Dark & Chicano"