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Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July
24, 1970. Her parents came to New York from Ponce,
Puerto Rico. She is the middle of three sisters. At
the age of 7, young Jennifer went on her first tour
- around New York City with her dance class.At the
age of 16 Jennifer got a little break with a bit
part in the film ''My Little Girl'' (starring Mary
Stuart Masterson). But Jennifer's first love was
still dance, and when she read about a scholarship
to a dance school in Manhattan, she went down and
grabbed the opportunity. At this time she was taking
a full time course load at Baruch, working in a law
office and taking her dance classes. Eventually this
would lead to a falling out with her mother, who
didn't want Jennifer to pursue dance as a career.
When her mother gave her the ever popular ''you live
by my rules as long as you live under my roof''
speech Jennifer took that as her cue to break out on
her own. Not having anywhere else to live, she took
up residence in the building where she took her
dance classes. A yea
r and a half of auditioning with no success brought
Jennifer to the verge of a breakdown. But salvation
would come in the form of a tour that sent her
dancing across Japan. Before this, she had
auditioned to be a ''Fly Girl'' for the show ''In
Living Color'' but she had been turned down.
Upon returning from Japan, she received a call from
''In Living Color'' asking her to audition again.
This time she made the cut and it was off to
Hollywood. She didn't really enjoy her time on ''In
Living Color'', as she longed for an acting career
that would put her in the spotlight. Her first
television job as an actress, on the Fox series ''South
Central'' came her way because the producer of the
show was married to one of the other fly girls, and
he took notice of Jennifer during a special Fox
aired about the Fly Girls. ''South Central'' only
survived one season, but she quickly resurfaced on
television screens appearing as ''Melinda Lopez''
first in the short lived ''Second Chances'' series,
then ''Hotel Malibu.'' In 1995 she jumped onto the
big screen in her first major role, opposite Wesley
Snipes and Woody Harrelson in ''Money Train.'' She
would go on to work opposite such talents as Robin
Williams and Jack Nicholson, but it was her work
with Gregory Nava, who directed her in ''My Family,
Mi Familia'
' that would lead her to the role that would make
her a star.
After an extensive nationwide search, Jennifer was
chosen to play Selena Quintanilla Perez, in the
official biopic of the life of the fallen Tejano
star. Taking part in the production of ''Selena''
would impact Jennifer's life in many ways. On the
personal side, Jennifer's fiancéé, Ojani Noa,
proposed to her at the wrap party for Selena. The
couple had met in Miami while Jennifer was filming
''Blood And Wine'' with Jack Nicholson. Ojani, a
Cuban immigrant, was an aspiring model working as a
waiter at Gloria Estefan's restaurant, Larios On The
Beach. They were married in Miami on February 22,
1997, after knowing each other less than a year.
Jennifer's sudden rise to fame with the release of
''Selena'' the following month would put an
excessive strain on the marriage, and the couple
filed for divorce just a little over a year after
they were married.
After news of the divorce made headlines, the gossip
papers quickly had her romantically linked to the
likes of rap impresario Sean ''Puffy'' Combs, Sony
Music President Tommy Mottola and Salsa singer Marc
Anthony. Jennifer herself remains tightlipped - and
rightfully so - on the subject of her personal life
(although she has recently admitted that she is in
fact having a relationship with Puffy). Back on the
professional level, her role as Karen Sisco in
1998's ''Out Of Sight'', opposite George Clooney,
has brought her into the major leagues, making her
the highest paying Latina actress in history.
Playing Selena also brought back Jennifer's
interests in being the ''all around'' entertainer,
and she decided to record a demo of her singing,
completely in Spanish. After a bidding war among a
number of record companies, Jennifer was signed to
Sony Music's Work Group label. Her first CD, a pop
album with a Latin flavor (although mostly in
English) was released June 1, 1999. Working with the
likes of Emilio Estefan, Rodney Jerkins and Sean ''Puffy''
Combs, the music world is buzzing that Jennifer is
''the next Gloria Estefan'' set to become the
mainstream Latin crossover star Selena herself
surely would have been, had she been given the
chance. That early prediction seems accurate, as her
first single, ''If You Had My Love'' shot to 1 on
the Billboard chart, and has been certified platinum
(one million sales). |
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