Jennifer Lopez was born on July 24, 1969, the middle of three
girls, to David and Guadalupe Lopez, a computer technician and kindergarten
teacher. Jennifer was born in the Castle Hill section, specifically Blackrock
Avenue, of Bronx, New York. Her parents were both born in Puerto Rico, but they
met in New York City. Jennifer Lopez began singing and dancing lessons at age
five. She attended Catholic grade school and an all-girls Catholic high school
where she participated in the softball, tennis, and gymnastics teams.
Jennifer Lopez left home at 18 to begin her career in show
business, a career to which her parents were opposed. She attended dance classes
at Baruch College in New York and supported herself by working in a law office.
She then started her career off as a fly dancer for In Living Color and
later worked as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson. Her first breakthrough
success in acting came when she landed the part of Selena Quintanilla in the
movie Selena (1997). Jennifer Lopez has succeeded as an actress and
vocalist as well as an entrepreneur. Besides her movies and music albums, she
has her own perfumes, as well as clothing lines for men and women. Twice voted
the sexiest woman in the world by FHM, she is rumored to have insured her body
for $1 billion and her rear is protected with a $300 million policy.
Jennifer's first marriage to boyfriend and waiter Ojani Noa
ended in divorce in 1998 after only 21 months. In 1999-2000, Lopez dated
musician P. Diddy until they were both arrested in connection with a nightclub
shooting, where police found them with a stolen gun. The charges against Lopez
were dropped; P. Diddy was eventually tried and acquitted. Jennifer's brief
second marriage, 2001-2002, was to Cris Judd, her former backup dancer. After
her second divorce, Lopez then became engaged to Ben Affleck and planned a
wedding for September 2003 which was called off shortly before the event and
they split in January 2004. After a four-month courtship, Jennifer Lopez
secretly married Marc Anthony on June 5th 2004. They recently purchased their first home together, a $9.9 million penthouse apartment in the new Icon Building
in South Beach.
