George Lopez

This article is about the comedian. For the sitcom starring the comedian, see George Lopez (TV series).

George Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian/actor, one of the more prominent Mexican-Americans from within the Latino communities to be recognized in mainstream North American popular culture. Lopez was born on April 23, 1961 in Mission Hills, California and by the age of ten, he was abandoned by both of his parents at which point his grandmother became his sole guardian. Lopez’s difficult childhood however, served as the basis on which he would build a career by finding the humor in his experiences and in the Mexican-American community in general. These experiences would be transformed into material that Lopez would soon use for his stand up comedy acts. Lopez currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and family. He is perhaps best known for starring in his own produced television sitcom show entitled George Lopez.

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Biography

Early life

According to an interview with Larry King, Lopez was born in General Hospital (LAC / USC Medical Center), in Boyle Heights, a district of Los Angeles, CA. He and his family later moved to 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.^[1][2] He was raised in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.

Career

Lopez became a stand-up comedian using his Mexican-American heritage as an attraction to Mexicans. Much of his comedy is based on his experiences in childhood, 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.^[3] 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 had made his mark as a comedian, performing at several clubs around the country and even making appearances on television shows and comedy specials by the late 1980s. In the 1990s, Lopez made the transition to films with comedies such as Ski Patrol (1990) and Fatal Instinct (1993). Despite his growing television career, Lopez continued to perform his stand-up comedy and recorded several comedy albums.

Lopez was recently a cast member and commentator for HBO’s hit sports show Inside the NFL for the 2003-2004 football season. He is a two-time host of the Latin Grammy Awards and a co-host of the Emmy Awards. 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.

Health

In 2005 Lopez faced some health challenges as he suffered from a genetic disorder, which caused his kidneys to deteriorate. That same year, he received a kidney transplant from his wife Ann. 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". Since then, the couple has become spokespeople for the National Kidney Foundation.

George Lopez, The television series

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 but wasn't exclusively about the Hispanic American community. ABC, who had been criticized by Hispanic American groups for lack of Latinos on their television shows, 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 to 2007. As of 2007, it is the second-longest running sitcom in television history of those that have starred Hispanic actors, after I Love Lucy.^{[citation needed]} Lopez is the co-creator, writer, producer, and star of the sitcom.

On March 8, 2007, it was announced that George Lopez would join the Nick at Nite lineup and it was first aired on September 10, 2007. On May 15, 2007, the series was cancelled by ABC. It was replaced by a new sitcom, Cavemen, inspired by the cavemen in the Geico commercials.

When told that despite decent-to-good ratings, George Lopez was being cancelled, Lopez shot back at ABC. 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. "I get kicked out for a caveman and shows that I out-performed because I’m not owned by ABC? So a Chicano can't be on TV but a caveman can? And a Chicano with an audience already? You know when you get in this that shows do not last forever, but this was an important show and to go unceremoniously like this hurts. One hundred seventy people lost their jobs. TV just became really, really white again".^{[citation needed]}

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, stating "He's the biggest two-faced dude in TV." He also called him a back-stabber^[4] and said he is not a proficient interviewer.^[5]

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.^[6] The joke that Lopez specified was stolen and used on Mencia's HBO special was about entrepreneur George Zimmer.^[7]

Charity work

A native of Los Angeles who grew up in San Fernando Valley’s Mission Hills, George devotes much time to the community. His own charity, The George & Ann Lopez-Richie Alarcon CARE Foundation, provides significant community and arts resources for education. 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.

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.”

Awards and recognition

One of Lopez’s comedy albums, Team Leader, was released to great public acclaim^{[citation needed]} and was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. He also 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. His previous best-selling CD Right Now Right Now was released in 2001. The book is co-written by Emmy Award winning writer and sportscaster Armen Keteyian.

Maintaining an extremely active schedule as a stand-up comedian, George is a sell-out attraction coast to coast and has headlined concerts at various venues: Las Vegas Hilton, Foxwoods Casino, ARCO Arena in Sacramento, the Town Hall in New York, the Shoreline Amphitheater in San Francisco, Next Stage in Dallas, SBC Center in San Antonio, Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA, Dodge Theater in Phoenix, San Jose Sate University Events Center in San Jose, CA, and has performed for the President at the historic Ford Theatre in Washington, DC. In December 2004 George set an attendance record at Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles with seven consecutive sold-out performances and over 42,000 in total attendance.^{[citation needed]} Lopez’s live comedy concert Why You Crying? debuted on Showtime, Memorial Day weekend in 2004.

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 premier at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2001, Lopez hosted a major morning radio 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. Lopez received the 2003 Imagen Vision Award, 2003 Latino Spirit Award for Excellence in Television, and the National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Award.

George was a featured celebrity golfer in The 2004 Chrysler Bob Hope 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.

Below is a list of his awards and accomplishments:

• 2003 — Imagen Vision Award^[3]
• 2003 — Latino Spirit Award for Excellence in Television
• National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Award
• 2004 — Spirit of Liberty Award
• 2005 — Recognized by Time magazine as one of "The 25 Most Influential Hispanics In America".

Films

• 1990 Ski Patrol
• 1993 Fatal Instinct
• 2000 Bread and Roses
• 2002 Real Women Have Curves
• 2005 Yours, Mine & Ours
• 2005 The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl
• 2007 Balls of Fury
• 2007 Tortilla Heaven
• 2008 South of the Border
• 2008 Swing Vote
• 2008 Henry Poole is Here

Discography

• 1996 Alien Nation
• 2001 Right Now Right Now
• 2002 Team Leader
• 2006 Mas Chingon
• 2007 America's Mexican

References