George Lopez

Mexican-American actor, stand-up comedian and former disc jockey on MEGA 92.3 in Los Angeles, best known for his TV sitcom “The George Lopez Show”(118 episodes 2002-2007). Only the fourth Latino ever to head an American TV sitcom, the first three were Desi Arnaz, Freddie Prinze and Paul Rodriguez. George’s comedy consists of family-based humor satirizing Mexican-American life and culture in the United States. In October 2003, he was one of the few comedians able to sell-out the historic Los Angeles Universal Amphitheater for three straight nights. Playing the “Low Rider” song (by the band War) before each performance has become his trademark. George has appeared on at least 15 talk shows since 2003 including “Jimmy Kimmel Live”, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “Last Call with Carson Daly” as well as numerous award shows. His first stand-up routine was in 1979 at his high school graduation ceremony. The experience was so terrifying that he didn’t do another stand-up show until four years later. From 1981-1983 George was an airplane parts factory manager. George was able to go full-time with his stand-up career in the mid-‘80s. His biggest break, however, came in 2001 from actress Sandra Bullock who has her own production company. She sent out a scout to check comedy clubs for Latino talent because there were no Hispanic sitcom shows on TV at the time. She saw and loved his comedy performances and by March 2002 the first George Lopez Show episode was being taped. The show was so successful that by March 2006 George had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His 2003 live comedy album “Team Leader” was nominated for a Best Comedy Album Grammy in 2004. George seems to have a talent for turning lemons into lemonade, considering the sad childhood he had to endure. In his autobiography “Why You Crying?: My long, hard look at Life, Love and Laughter”(published May 2004), Lopez recounts his childhood ordeals. Born an only child to an impoverished Roman Catholic family in the San Fernando Valley Mission Hills area, his father was a California migrant worker who abandoned the family when he was 2 months old, never to be seen again. He was told his father was dead. His mother re-married and when he was 10, she divorced the stepfather, took off with another man and left George to be reared by his maternal grandparents who “viewed love as a four-letter word.” George was then told that his father was in fact alive but probably living in Mexico. Lopez describes his grandmother as emotionally distant, abusive, a bully and describes his childhood years in general as “angry, alone, teased and tormented.” Neither the mother nor the grandmother ever thought of throwing him a birthday party, he says. George has left his early years behind him though he draws heavily from his grandmother and his childhood comedy idols Freddie Prinze and Richard Pryor for performance material and delivery style. George is married to Cuban-American producer Ana Serrano from September 18, 1993 to the present. They have a daughter, Pedra Marie Lopez, born in 1995. George suffers from a genetic kidney deterioration condition and on April 25, 2005 underwent a successful kidney transplant using a kidney donated by his wife. Lopez admits to bouts of depression and alcohol abuse until the birth of his daughter and credits his wife for saving him from himself and saving the marriage. Both he and his wife became spokespeople for the National Kidney Foundation after recovery from surgery. In his spare time Lopez is an avid golfer and fundraiser for various charitable causes including his own charity called “The George & Ann Lopez-Richie Alarcon CARE Foundation.” His foundation provides significant community and arts resources for education. In August 2005, Time Magazine recognized George as one of “The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in The World.” Link to Wikipedia biography