Mario Lopez

Mario Lopez Jr. (born October 10, 1973[2]) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on Saved by the Bell, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, and the 2020 sequel series. He has appeared in numerous projects since, including the third season of Dancing with the Stars and as host for the syndicated entertainment news magazine shows Extra and Access Hollywood. He has also hosted America's Best Dance Crew for MTV. In 2012, he co-hosted the second season of American version of The X Factor with Khloé Kardashian, and was the sole host for the third and final season.

Mario Lopez
Lopez in 2016
Born	Mario Lopez Jr.[1] October 10, 1973 San Diego, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor television host
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Ali Landry ​ ​ (m. 2004; ann. 2004)​ Courtney Mazza ​ ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	3
Relatives	Kailee Wong (brother-in-law)

Early life

Lopez was born on October 10, 1973, in San Diego, California, the son of Elvira, a telephone company clerk, and Mario Sr., who worked for the municipality of National City.[3] He has a younger sister named Marissa, who is married to NFL Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans linebacker Kailee Wong. Lopez was raised in a large Catholic family of Mexican descent (from Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico).[4] Lopez was a child prodigy and started to dance at age three, training in tap and jazz.[5] He also did tumbling, karate and wrestling at his local Boys and Girls Club when he was 7 years old,[6] which he excelled at as well as other things his mother put him in.[7] During his acting career, he was an amateur wrestler for Chula Vista at the weight class of 160 lbs, and was also in his high school wrestling team, placing 2nd in the San Diego Section and 7th in the state of California in his senior year while attending Chula Vista High School, where he graduated in 1991.

Career

Early career

Lopez was discovered by a talent agent at a dance recital when he was 10 years old. He got into local ads and commercials before making TV appearances.[8]

Acting

Lopez began acting in 1984 when he appeared as younger brother Tomás in the short-lived ABC comedy series a.k.a. Pablo.[9] That same year, he was cast as a drummer and dancer on Kids Incorporated from three seasons. In March 1987, he was cast as a guest star on the sitcom The Golden Girls as a Latino boy named Mario who faces deportation. He was cast in a small part in the movie Colors (1988) as Felipe's friend. In 1989, Lopez was cast as A.C. Slater in the television Saturday-morning series sitcom Saved by the Bell (1989–1993), and its spinoff Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993–1994), a role which lasted five years.[10]

In 1997, Lopez starred as Olympic diver Greg Louganis in the television movie Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story. The following year, he was cast as Bobby Cruz in the USA Network series Pacific Blue for two seasons before it was cancelled after the fifth season; he then went on to guest star on Resurrection Blvd., Eve, and The Bad Girl's Guide. In March 2006, Lopez joined the cast of the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful playing the role of Dr. Christian Ramirez. On July 18, 2006, he was released from his B&B contract.[11] Later that year, Mario guest-starred as a plastic surgeon who drives Christian Troy to jealousy when he sees him naked in the shower in an episode of FX Network's Nip/Tuck during the show's fourth season, which began in Fall 2006. He also made an appearance on George Lopez as a police officer in late 2006. Lopez also guest-starred as a reporter for Extra Sesame Street in the Sesame Street episode "The Veggie Monster" in 2012.

Lopez and Courtney Mazza have a reality show on VH1 called Mario Lopez: Saved by the Baby which premiered on November 1, 2010.[12]

On February 4, 2015, Lopez reunited with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Dennis Haskins and Tiffani Thiessen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where they appeared in a Saved by the Bell sketch with Fallon.[16] In 2020, Lopez reprised the role of A.C. Slater in Peacock's sequel series, Saved by the Bell.[17] In December 2020, Lopez starred as Colonel Sanders in A Recipe for Seduction, a short film from Lifetime and KFC.[18][19]

Dancing with the Stars

In the fall of 2006, Lopez signed on as a contestant on the third season of Dancing with the Stars on ABC with professional partner and then-girlfriend Karina Smirnoff who was making her series debut. They finished in second place, losing to the team of Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke.

Hosting duties

Lopez at the 81st Academy Awards, February 20, 2009

In 1992, he hosted his first series on NBC, called Name Your Adventure. He hosts the serial tabloid Extra, as well as the MTV reality shows America's Best Dance Crew and MTV's Top Pop Group. In the 1995–96 season, he hosted the second season of Masters of the Maze on what was then The Family Channel. Lopez is both the host (with Carmen Palumbo) and co-executive producer of Sí TV's Dating Factory. From October to December 2012, he co-hosted the Fox singing competition The X Factor along with Khloe Kardashian.[20] In September 2013, Lopez returned to the show as sole host for season 3 after Kardashian was not asked back as co-host.[21] The X Factor was cancelled on February 7, 2014.[22] From 2002 to 2005, he was the host of the Animal Planet show Pet Star, despite some difficulty with an allergy to cats.[23] Lopez hosted the Miss America pageant in 2007, 2009, and 2010.

Lopez has also guest co-hosted The Wendy Williams Show,[24] and MCed the gala benefit for the 2010 Pageant of the Masters arts festival in Laguna Beach, California.[25]

Starting in 2012, Lopez began hosting his own nationally syndicated radio show, ON With Mario Lopez, for Premiere Radio. It streams online daily on iHeartRadio and airs on selected CHR and Hot AC stations (particularly on KBIG-FM/Los Angeles) throughout the U.S.

In August 2014, Lopez began hosting the Hot AC edition of the iHeartRadio Countdown.

In July 2019 it was reported that Lopez would be leaving his duties hosting Extra in order to host rival program Access Hollywood.[26] In November 2019 Lopez was the Grand Marshal of the Hollywood Christmas Parade.

Stage career

Outside of TV, Lopez made his Broadway debut on April 15, 2008 in the revival of the musical A Chorus Line as Zach.[27][28]

Books

Lopez has published three non-fiction books. The first, Mario Lopez Knockout Fitness, was published in 2008 and written together with Jeff O'Connell (who had previously written a fitness book with LL Cool J).[29] His book Extra Lean followed in early 2010 and became a New York Times bestseller.[30] Extra Lean Family was published in May 2012.[31] He released a children's book entitled Mario and Baby Gia by Celebra Children's Books (a division of Penguin Books), on September 27, 2011. The book is about Lopez and his daughter.[32][33]

Personal life

According to Lopez, Fergie was his first kiss and the two were involved briefly while they were both on the show Kids Incorporated.[34]

In 1993, Lopez was accused of date rape,[35] but prosecutors found no evidence to support the allegation, and multiple witnesses "contradicted the woman's account of her encounter" with Lopez.[36]

After six years of dating, Lopez married actress Ali Landry on April 24, 2004, in a Catholic ceremony at the Las Alamandas resort outside Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,[37] but their marriage was annulled two weeks later.[37] In a 2011 interview, Lopez admitted that the parting transpired after Landry discovered Lopez had been unfaithful to her days before the wedding at his bachelor party.[38] Lopez dated professional dancer Karina Smirnoff, his Dancing with the Stars partner, from 2006 to June 2008.[39]

In the fall of 2008, Lopez met Broadway dancer, actress and producer Courtney Mazza on A Chorus Line on Broadway in New York.[40] They married in Punta Mita, Mexico on December 1, 2012.[41] They have a daughter (born in 2010)[42][43] and two sons (born in 2013 and 2019).[44][45]

Lopez has stated that he is Catholic and goes to church every week.[46] In March 2018, he underwent baptism by immersion at the Jordan River, which was administered by a Catholic priest.[47]

He is a proponent of health and fitness, and was the cover feature for the November 2013 issue of FitnessRX For Men magazine.[48] To complement his fitness regime, Lopez is a boxer and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; he began training in early 2017[49] and received his blue belt in February 2018 under Professor Robert Hill of Gracie Barra Glendale.[50]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Chartbusters	N/A	Direct-to-video film
1988	Colors	Felipe's Friend
1996	Depraved	Jessie Mata
1996	Fever Lake	Steve	Direct-to-video film
1996	El Cóndor de oro	Bodyguard 2
1997	The Journey: Absolution	Ryan Murphy
1999	Eastside	Antonio Lopez
2000	A Crack in the Floor	Lehman
2000	Big Brother Trouble	Coach
2002	Outta Time	David Morales	Alternative titles: The Courier, Out of Time
2002	King Rikki	Juan Vallejo	Alternative title: The Street King
2005	Aloha, Scooby-Doo!	Manu Tuiama/Mainland Surfer	Direct-to-video film; voice role
2006	Unaccompanied Minors	Substitute Minors watcher
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Himself	Cameo
2011	Honey 2	Himself
2013	The Smurfs 2	Social Smurf	Voice role[51]
2014	The Dog Who Saved Easter	Zeus the Dog	Direct-to-video film; voice role
2015	The Dog Who Saved Summer	Zeus the Dog	Direct-to-video film; voice role
2016	Get Smurfy	Social Smurf	Voice role[51]
2016	Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping	Himself
2019	Fantastica: A Boonie Bears Adventure	Briar	English version; voice role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	a.k.a. Pablo	Tomas Del Gato	Main role
1984–1986	Kids Incorporated	Himself	Dancer/Drummer (seasons 1–3)
1986	The Deacon Street Deer	Hector	Television movie
1987	The Golden Girls	Mario	Episode: "Dorothy's Prized Pupil"
1989–1993	Saved by the Bell[52]	A.C. Slater	Main role
1992	Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style	A.C. Slater	Television movie
1993–1994	Saved by the Bell: The College Years	A.C. Slater	Main role
1994	Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas	A.C. Slater	Television movie
1994	Bill Nye the Science Guy	Himself	Communication cameo
1995–1996	Saved by the Bell: The New Class	A.C. Slater	Episodes: "Goodbye, Bayside Part 2", "Fire at the Max Part 2"
1995–1996	Masters of the Maze	Himself	Host (season 2)
1997	Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story	Greg Louganis	Television movie
1997	Killing Mr. Griffin	Dave Ruggles	Television movie
1999	Pacific Blue	Bobby Cruz	Main role (seasons 4–5)
2001–2003	The Other Half	Himself	Host
2002–2005	Pet Star	Himself	Host
2004	The Soluna Project	Antonio	Television movie
2006	The Bold and the Beautiful	Christian Ramirez	Contact role, 46 episodes
2006	Dancing with the Stars	Himself	Contestant (season 3)
2006–2010	Nip/Tuck	Dr. Mike Hamoui	Recurring role, 8 episodes
2007	George Lopez	Police Officer Sanchez	Episode: "George Can't Let Sleeping Mexicans Lie"
2007	Holiday in Handcuffs	David Martin	Television movie
2008	Husband for Hire	Marco	Television movie
2008	MTV's Top Pop Group	Himself	Host
2008–2012	America's Best Dance Crew	Himself	Host
2008	Robot Chicken	A.C Slater	Voice role; episode: "Boo Cocky"
2008–2019	Extra	Himself	Host
2009	The Dog Who Saved Christmas	Zeus the Dog	Television movie; voice role
2010–2011	Mario Lopez: Saved by the Baby	Himself	Lead role
2010	The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation	Zeus the Dog	Television movie; voice role
2011	H8R	Himself	Host
2011–2012	Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade	Himself	Host
2012	Sesame Street	Himself (reporter)	Episode: "The Veggie Monster"
2012	Are You There, Chelsea?	Himself	Episode: "Dee Dee's Pillow"
2012–2013	The X Factor	Himself	Co-host (season 2)
2012–2013	The Chica Show	Stitches	Voice role
2015–2016	Nashville	Himself	Episodes: "I've Got Reasons to Hate You", "The Trouble with the Truth"
2015	Major Crimes	Himself	Episode: "Reality Check"
2015	Dinner at Tiffani's	Himself	Episode: "Come in For Comfort Food"
2016	Grease: Live	Vince Fontaine	Television movie
2016	Almost Royal	Himself	1 episode
2016	NCIS: New Orleans	NOPD Officer Hernandez	Episode: "Man On Fire"
2017	Candy Crush	Himself	Host[53]
2017	A Very Merry Toy Store	Will DiNova	Television Movie
2018	Elena of Avalor	Cruz	Recurring voice role; 7 episodes
2018	Jane the Virgin	Himself	Episode: "Chapter Seventy-Nine"
2019	Brooklyn Nine-Nine	Himself	Episode: "Four Movements"
2019	The Rookie	Himself	Episode: "GreenLight”
2019–present	Access Hollywood	Himself	Host
2020	The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia	Nico	Recurring role, 5 episodes; also co-creator and executive producer
2020	Feliz NaviDAD	David	Television movie
2020	Saved by the Bell	A.C. Slater	Main role
2020	A Recipe for Seduction	Harland Sanders	Short television movie[18][19]

Awards

Year	Group	Award	Role	Result	Refs
1990	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast	Saved by the Bell	Nominated
1991	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Actor Starring in an Off-Primetime Series	Saved by the Bell	Nominated
1992	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Actor Starring in an Off-Primetime or Cable Series	Saved by the Bell	Nominated
1993	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Hosts for a Youth Magazine, News or Game Show	Name Your Adventure	Won
1993	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Actor in an Off-Primetime Series	Saved by the Bell	Won
1994	Young Artist Awards	Best Youth Actor in a TV Mini-Series, M.O.W. or Special	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Nominated
1994	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Youth Host in a TV Magazine, News or Variety Show	Name Your Adventure	Won
1998	ALMA Awards	Outstanding Individual Performance in a Made-for-Television Movie or Mini-Series in a Crossover Role	Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story	Nominated
1999	ALMA Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Pacific Blue	Nominated
2006	Imagen Foundation Awards	Best Supporting Actor	The Bold and the Beautiful	Nominated
2009	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Personality	Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew	Nominated
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Personality	Himself	Nominated
2011	ALMA Awards	Favorite TV Reality, Variety, or Comedy Personality or Act	Mario Lopez: Saved By the Baby	Nominated
2011	Young Artist Awards	Mickey Rooney Award	Himself	Won

References

1. "The Birth of Mario Lopez". californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
2. "Celebrity Central: Mario Lopez". People.com. n.d.
3. "Mario Lopez Biography (1973–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
4. Quirk, Mary Beth (October 13, 2010). "Mario Lopez & His Bundle of Joy !". OK!. Retrieved October 16, 2010. "I come from a small, fat Mexican Catholic family," Mario tells OK!.
5. "Mario Lopez flashes back to his disco days with hilarious retro photo". TODAY.com.
6. Lopez, Mario; Santagati, Steve (2014). Just Between Us. Penguin. ISBN 9780698158870.
7. "Raising Mario Lopez | Mom Tells All". August 30, 2017.
8. Lopez, Mario; Santagati, Steve (2014). Just Between Us. Penguin. p. 47. ISBN 9780698158870. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
9. Allis, Tim (November 30, 1992). "Saturday's Star". People. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
10. "Mario Lopez". Biography.
11. Kroll, Dan J. (July 2, 2006). "Lopez's B&B Stay Over". Soapcentral. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
12. "Mario Lopez Gets VH1 Reality Show". TVGuide.com.
13. "Watch a Glorious Saved by the Bell Reunion Courtesy of Jimmy Fallon". Time. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
14. "Jimmy Fallon assembled the cast of 'Saved by The Bell' for an epic reunion". Business Insider. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
15. "Jimmy Fallon reunites most of the 'Saved by the Bell' cast". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
16. [13][14][15]
17. "The Saved By the Bell Revival Finally Has a Premiere Date". E! Online. September 29, 2020. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
18. https://deadline.com/2020/12/mario-lopez-stirs-up-a-recipe-for-seduction-as-kfcs-colonel-sanders-in-new-lifetime-mini-movie-1234651880/
19. https://global.kfc.com/press-releases/kfc-and-lifetime-heat-up-the-holidays-with-a-first-of-its-kind-lifetime
20. Khloe Kardashian and Mario Lopez will join the payroll of "X Factor". TMZ.com. October 2, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
21. Emma Ledger (April 23, 2013). "Khloe Kardashian gets axed by X Factor USA after just one series – 3am & Mirror Online". mirror. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
22. Nellie Andreeva. "Fox's 'The X Factor' Cancelled After Three Seasons – Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
23. "Mario Lopez's Cat Dilemma". contactmusic.com. September 5, 2004. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
24. "Mario Lopez showed off his abs and sexy underwear range 'RatedM' on The Wendy Williams Show". Unreality TV. February 6, 2012. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
25. Chang, Richard. Mario Lopez hosts gala for Pageant of the Masters. Orange County Register. August 29, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
26. "Mario Lopez Named New Host of Access Hollywood After Exit from Extra". People. July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
27. "PHOTO CALL: Mario Lopez Honored with Painting at Tony's Di Napoli". Playbill News. Archived from the original on August 2, 2008.
28. "Mario Lopez Joins 'A Chorus Line' on April 15". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
29. "Jeff O'Connell". hachette book group. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
30. Schuessler, Jennifer (June 6, 2010). "Bestseller New York Times – Hardcover Advice & Misc. – 06/06/10". The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
31. "Extra Lean Family: Get Lean and Achieve Your Family's Best Health Ever". Amazon. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
32. "Mario Lopez To Release Children's Book In September". inquisitr.com. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
33. "Mario Lopez Uses Baby Gia As Inspiration For New Book". celebritybabyscoop.com. July 10, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
34. "Mario Lopez: Fergie Was "My First Kiss"".
35. "Woman, 18, Accuses TV Actor of Rape". latimes.com. May 11, 1993. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
36. "CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF: SAN DIEGO: Rape Claims Called Unfounded". Los Angeles Times. June 18, 1993.
37. Mark Armstrong, Ulrica Wihlborg (May 12, 2004). "Landry, Lopez Split After 2-Week Marriage". People. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
38. "Mario Lopez: I Cheated on Ex Ali Landry Days Before Wedding". Us Weekly. February 11, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
39. "Mario Lopez and Karina Smirnoff Split". People. June 5, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
40. "The Story of How We Met and Fell in Love | Mario and Courtney Lopez". April 26, 2017.
41. "Mario Lopez Weds Courtney Mazza". People. December 1, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
42. "It's a Girl for Mario Lopez & Courtney Mazza". People.com. September 12, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
43. "Mario Lopez and Courtney Mazza Welcome a Baby Girl!". ExtraTV.com. September 12, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
44. "Mario and Courtney Lopez Welcome Son Dominic". People. September 10, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
45. "Baby No. 3! Mario Lopez's Wife Courtney Mazza Gives Birth". Us Weekly. July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
46. "Q&A: Mario Lopez Suits Up in Women's Lingerie". Newsweek. October 14, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2010. Do you go to church? "Every week. Nice Catholic boy."
47. Parke, Caleb (March 27, 2018). "'Hallelujah': Mario Lopez gets baptized in the same river as Jesus". Fox News. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
48. "Get Leaner, Stronger and Faster!". Fitness Rx. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
49. "Mario Lopez Does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu". Jiu-Jitsu Times. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
50. "Actor And Host Mario Lopez Is Now A Blue Belt In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu". Jiu-Jitsu Times. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
51. "Pic! Introducing Mario as Social Smurf". ExtraTV.com. April 22, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
52. "Mario Lopez Can Teach You Something about Enjoying Family, Food and a Few Other 'Fs'". Swagger Magazine. October 30, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
53. Goldberg, Leslie (March 23, 2017). "Mario Lopez to Host CBS' 'Candy Crush'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 23, 2017.

External links

• Mario Lopez at IMDb
• Mario Lopez at the Internet Broadway Database