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Jennifer Lopez, in full Jennifer Lynn Lopez, byname J.Lo, (born July 24, 1969, Bronx, New York, U.S.), American actress and musician who began appearing in films in the late 1980s and quickly became one of the highest-paid Latina actresses in the history of Hollywood. She later found crossover success in the music industry with a series of pop albums.

Lopez, who was born into a family of Puerto Rican descent, took dance lessons throughout her childhood and from an early age had aspirations of fame. She performed internationally in stage musicals, and at age 16 she made her film debut with a small role in My Little Girl (1986). Her television break came in 1990 when she was cast as one of the “Fly Girls,” dancers who appeared on the comedy show In Living Color. After she left the show, she turned her focus to acting, first in several short-lived television series and then in movie roles.

Film success came quickly, and by the mid-1990s she was appearing with such notable actors as Robin Williams (Jack, 1996) and Jack Nicholson (Blood and Wine, 1997). Lopez still remained somewhat in the periphery of the public vision, however, until she landed the lead role in Selena (1997), a biopic of the murdered Tejana singer. She went on to star in a number of thrillers and action dramas, including Anaconda (1997), U Turn (1997), Out of Sight (1998), and The Cell (2000), and she gained widespread praise for The Wedding Planner (2001), her successful first attempt at romantic comedy. That release was quickly followed by the romantic drama Angel Eyes in the middle of the year.

In 1999 Lopez added pop artist to her list of titles with the release of her debut album, On the 6. To the surprise of many critics, the album quickly went platinum and subsequently sold more than eight million copies worldwide. Her second album, J.Lo (2001), sold more than 270,000 copies in its first week. Lopez was involved in a series of high-profile relationships—first with rapper and producer Sean (“Puff Daddy”) Combs (later known as Diddy) and later with actor Ben Affleck—that subjected her to heavy scrutiny by the entertainment media. In 2003 she starred opposite Affleck in Gigli, which was widely panned by critics, and a number of her subsequent films were box-office disappointments. In 2004 Lopez married singer Marc Anthony, and the couple appeared in El Cantante (2006), the biopic of salsa musician Hector Lavoe. Her later albums included Rebirth (2005); the Spanish-language Como ama una mujer (2007), which reached the number one spot on Billboard’s Latin album chart; Brave (2007); Love? (2011), which featured the up-tempo hit “On the Floor”; and A.K.A. (2014). In 2020 Lopez and Shakira performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. The following year Lopez sang at the U.S. presidential inauguration of Joe Biden.

In February 2008 Lopez gave birth to twins, her first children and Anthony’s fourth and fifth. She returned to the big screen in The Back-up Plan (2010), a romantic comedy in which she starred as a single woman who finds Mr. Right after becoming pregnant through artificial insemination. Lopez later served (2011–12, 2014–16) as a judge on the television talent show American Idol. Although she and Anthony separated in 2011 (divorced 2014), they worked together as producers and hosts of the TV program ¡Q’Viva!: The Chosen (2012), a talent competition for Latin American performers. Lopez subsequently appeared in What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012), an ensemble comedy about parenting. In the thrillers Parker (2013) and The Boy Next Door (2015), she played, respectively, a divorced businesswoman who takes part in a heist and a woman who is drawn into a romance with a teenager who then begins stalking her. Lopez also provided voices for the animated films Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012), Home (2015), and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016).

Lopez assumed the starring role in the law-enforcement procedural Shades of Blue (2016–18), portraying a conflicted police officer. In Second Act (2018) she took a comedic turn as a woman who lands a covetable position at a Manhattan firm after her friends embellish her résumé. Lopez then joined a largely female cast in Hustlers (2019), about strippers who scheme against their wealthy clients. In 2022 she starred in the romantic comedy Marry Me, playing a pop superstar who, after discovering that her fiancé is cheating on her, marries a math teacher attending one of her concerts.

In 2021 Lopez and Affleck rekindled their relationship, and they were wed the following year. Also in 2022 the documentary Halftime, which focuses on her life and career, was released.

Courtesy -The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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