Profile Text
Lopez in 2010, kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Jennifer Lynn Lopez
Place of Birth: The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: July 24, 1969
Ethnicity: Puerto Rican [Spanish, likely Taíno and African]
Jennifer Lopez, also known as J.Lo, Jennifer Affleck, and Jennifer Muñiz, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, producer, and television personality. Her roles include the films My Family , Money Train , Jack (1996), Blood and Wine , Selena , Anaconda , U Turn (1997), Out of Sight , Antz (1998), The Cell (2000), The Wedding Planner , Angel Eyes (2001), Enough (2002), Maid in Manhattan , Gigli , Jersey Girl , Shall We Dance? (2004), Monster-in-Law , An Unfinished Life , El Cantante , Bordertown (2007), The Back-up Plan , What to Expect When You’re Expecting , Ice Age: Continental Drift , and its sequel, Ice Age: Collision Course ; Parker (2013), The Boy Next Door , Lila & Eve , Home (2015), Second Act , Hustlers (2019), Marry Me , Shotgun Wedding (2022), The Mother (2023), Atlas , Unstoppable (2024), and Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025); the shows In Living Color , Second Chances , Hotel Malibu , South Central , Will & Grace , Shades of Blue ; and the made-for-tv movie Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7 . She co-created reality shows DanceLife and South Beach Tow ; was a judge on American Idol and World of Dance ; and starred in the music documentaries Jennifer Lopez: Dance Again , Jennifer Lopez: Halftime , and This Is Me… Now: A Love Story , the latter of which she co-wrote.
She is the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, Guadalupe Rodríguez, a salesperson and kindergarten teacher, and David López, a computer technician. Her sister is journalist and author Lynda Lopez. Jennifer has two children with her former husband, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor Marc Anthony , who is also Puerto Rican.
A picture of Jennifer with her parents can be seen here .
Jennifer’s maternal grandfather was named José Julio Rodríguez y Febres (the son of a father surnamed Rodríguez, and of Justina Febres).
Jennifer’s maternal grandmother was Julia Rivera y Rosado (the daughter of Vicente Rivera y Rivera and María Rosado y Rodríguez). Julia was born in Jayuya, Jayuya, Puerto Rico. Vicente was from Ponce, the son of Valentín Rivera y Rivera and Narcisa Rivera y Rivera. Valentín and Narcisa were born with the same paternal and maternal family names. Jennifer’s great-grandmother María was the daughter of Antonio Rosado and Rodulfa Rodríguez.
Source: Genealogy of Jennifer Lopez (focusing on her mother’s side) – http://www.geni.com
Lopez in 2008, photo credit: Urbanworld Film Festival