Jennifer Lopez

WHY IS SHE FAMOUS

Jennifer Lopez is the multifaceted entertainment dynamo who is best-known for her seasoned dance skills as an In Living Color"Fly Girl," successful singing career from tracks like "If You Had My Love" and "Jenny From the Block" and a respectable film career that's included roles in Selena, Out of Sight, The Cell, and The Back-Up Plan. There's also the famous matter of her billion-dollar booty.

While J.Lo (as she prefers not to be called anymore) has shown staying power in an industry that prefers overnight success to long-term success, the disaster of Bennifer and a little bomb calledGigli almost ruined it for her. With the release of her seventh studio album, Love?, and a collaboration with Will Smith that is sure to be sentimental to audiences, Jennifer Lopez remains a triple threat in film, music and bootyliciousness, which pop culture continues to embrace. 

Jennifer Lopez Quote

"I could serve coffee using my rear as a ledge."

92 SEX APPEAL

Like a fine wine, Jennifer Lopez seems to get curvier and better with age. With the most famous rear curves in show business, she's a living example of the "back" that Sir Mix-A-Lot used to rave about and she's made it more than cool (and actually red hot) for women to have splendid junk in the trunk. The only woman so far to top the list of FHM's "100 Sexiest Women" on two different occasions, Lopez is still the most recognizable and most worshiped Latin American celebrity on the planet, whether she's walking toward you or walking away.

In the arena of celebrity relationships, Jennifer Lopez is right up there with classic dame Elizabeth Taylor when it comes to love, marriage and drama. After a brief marriage to Miami waiter Ojani Noa that ended in 1998, Lopez hooked up with Sean Combs, only to get mixed up in a nightclub shooting and subsequent criminal trial.

The marriage bolt struck again between Jennifer Lopez and one of her dancers, Cris Judd, but that, too, ended in failure, which led her into the arms of Ben Affleck and one of the most talked-about celebrity relationships -- "Bennifer." A relationship that promised marriage and ended in heartbreak, it was a coupling that put a serious dent into both of their respective careers (Gigli anyone?) until they broke up and the media frenzy moved on to "Brangelina." Now married with children to singer Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez appears to have settled down for good… maybe. 

91 SUCCESS

Where Latin Americans in entertainment are concerned, Jennifer Lopez has the market cornered. Named the wealthiest Latin American in Hollywood by Forbes and featured as one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" by People en Espanol, she has a personal fortune in excess of $100 million and has commanded acting paydays of over $15 million per film. Though she's never had a film earn over $100 million in North American box office dollars, Jennifer Lopez has had enough critical (Selena, Out of Sight) and commercial success (Maid in Manhattan, The Back-Up Plan) to offset the wounds from disappointments like Angel Eyesand outright bombs like Gigli.

A two-fold entertainment star in the same way that athletes are two-sports stars, Jennifer Lopez has seven studio albums to her credit (including her latest, Love?), two American Music Awards and global album sales in excess of 25 million. While there's nothing especially fancy about her musical style, her music continues to be catchy to its intended demographics, so there's no reason for her to stop now.

Also a fashion designer and a part-owner of the Miami Dolphins, Jennifer Lopez nearly added American Idol judge to her credits, but it appears that this further stamp on pop culture may not be in the cards after all.

JENNIFER LOPEZBIOGRAPHY

In her hometown of The Bronx, the early influences for Jennifer Lopez were song and dance. Determined to be famous in both areas from the time she turned 4, she became a regular dance student at the Bronx Boys and Girls Club before moving on to stage productions and performances as a teenager at Preston High School, an all-girls Catholic school. Following her graduation, Lopez also experimented with acting by gaining a small role in the 1986 film, My Little Girl.

Jennifer Lopez And In Living ColorAt this point in her early career, music was still the driving force for Jennifer Lopez. After finding work in clubs, she earned a pair of high-profile gigs as a chorus member in a production of Synchronicity in Japan and as a dancer in Europe for Golden Musicals of Broadway. From there, she landed her first big break in 1990, when Rosie Perez picked her over 2,000 competing dancers to be a "Fly Girl" on the comedy show, In Living Color, which also launched the career of Jim Carrey.

The opportunity to invade the dance floor between comedy sketches led to other opportunities on Yo! MTV Raps and with the New Kids on the Block -- the boy band of the moment -- for whom she danced at the 1991 American Music Awards. One of the crowning moments in the dancing career of Jennifer Lopez came when she was chosen to back up Janet Jackson in the "That's the Way Love Goes" music video. 

Having established herself in the professional dancing arena, Jennifer Lopez gravitated toward acting and the possibility to be front and center under the spotlight. Television roles came first through TV movies like Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7and in series such as Second Chances, Hotel Malibu and South Central.

Jennifer Lopez Hits The Big ScreenAfter a role in the low-budget, critically acclaimed 2005 film, Mia Familia, Jennifer Lopez remained on the big screen as the eye candy stuck between "brothers" Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson in the heist drama, Money Train, a teacher to a prematurely aged Robin Williams in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 film, Jack, and as a companion to Jack Nicholson in Blood and Wine.

Jennifer Lopez In SelenaIn 1997, Jennifer Lopez' acting career went to new heights when she was cast in Selena, as the titular slain pop singer. In a performance that was equal parts radiant and sympathetic, Lopez struck an emotional chord with audiences and came away with her first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress -- Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Later that year, she enjoyed two more wildly different roles -- as a filmmaker who comes face-to-face with an Amazon monster in the guilty pleasure Anaconda and as a sexpot who gets under the skin of drifter, Sean Penn, in U Turn.

After pairing up with George Clooney as the sexiest of couples in Steven Soderbergh's 1998 film noir, Out of Sight, Jennifer Lopez returned to music, but in a singing capacity. Her debut album, On the 6 (named for her childhood subway line), was released in 1999 and spawned the top 10 hits, "If You Had My Love" and "Waiting for Tonight," as well as a pair of Grammy nominations.

After chasing a serial killer through his own mind in the twisty 2000 thriller, The Cell, Jennifer Lopez prepared her second album, J.Lo, which earned a release in 2001 and included the hits "Love, Don't Cost a Thing," "Ain't It Funny" and "I'm Real." The album was timed to hit stores at the same time that her new film, The Wedding Planner, hit theaters, and the dual success of both only increased the status of Jennifer Lopez as an equal power player in music and film.

Jennifer Lopez Stars In Monster-In-Law And Releases Love?2002 brought with it the release of Maid in Manhattan, Jennifer Lopez's biggest box office hit to date (opposite Ralph Fiennes), and This is Me… Then, her latest album that featured the autobiographical single, "Jenny from the Block" along with other hits like "All I Have," "Baby I Love U!" and "I'm Glad,"

Just when it seemed like Jennifer Lopez could do no wrong, the curse of Bennifer hit her hard. After initially going into a frenzy over her new relationship with Ben Affleck, the pop culture perception began to sour on them and the release of their film,Gigli, only made it worse. A bomb of mammoth proportions, the film's failure was followed by the cancellation of their wedding, an inevitable breakup and a backlash against all things Bennifer.

Jennifer Lopez And The End Of BenniferFollowing the Bennifer debacle, Jennifer Lopez attempted career resuscitation by starring with some of Hollywood's most celebrated names. Richard Gere, Jane Fonda and Robert Redford starred with her in their respective films, Shall We Dance?, Monster-in-Law and An Unfinished Life. While critical reaction wasn't always in her favor, the first two films provided enough box office punch to rekindle the fire under Lopez's post-Gigli career. On the music front, Lopez also had a successful comeback with the 2005 album,Rebirth, which offered up the smash hit, "Get Right."

Jennifer Lopez Stars In The Back-Up Plan And Releases Love?In 2007, Jennifer Lopez went in a different creative direction by producing her own album, Como Ama una Mujer, completely in Spanish. Created with the help of her husband, Marc Anthony, the album sold well in Latin markets and later earned her kudos at the American Music Awards for Favorite Latin Artist. An English-language album, Brave, which was released in the same year, unfortunately fizzled.

Jennifer Lopez took a break from acting and music to concentrate on new twin additions to her family before returning in 2010 with a new film and music projects. After a guest spot on TV's How I Met Your Mother, her romantic comedy, The Back-Up Plan, was her return to film and thanks to the film's healthy box office take, any signs of lingering Gigli fever appeared to be over. She followed the film with the release of her new album, Love?, and whispers that she would join American Idol as the replacement for Ellen DeGeneres. When contract talks stalled, she resumed her next project, Overboard, a Will Smith-produced remake of the Kurt Russell-Goldie Hawn comedy.

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