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Most recently in the spotlight for her role as a judge for Season 10 of American Idol, Jennifer Lopez was born in New York City's Castle Hill section of the Bronx on July 24, 1970.

Jennifer Lopez began her career as a Fly Girl in the comedy series, In Living Color -- and appeared in music videos by Puff Daddy and Janet Jackson.

Her big break came in 1997 when she appeared in the title role of Selena, the story of the successful singer tragically murdered in 1995.

Her next major film role came in 1998, starring opposite George Clooney in Out of Sight. The successful thriller The Cell followed in 2000, and a year later she starred with Matthew McConaughey in the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner.

Her movie career has since taken a downturn, with a number of box-office failures including Angel Eyes, the revenge thriller Enough and Maid in Manhattan both released in 2002.

A major bomb awaited in 2003 with the release of Gigli in which she appeared with her real-life boyfriend at the time, Ben Affleck. The acting team was later reunited in the equally unsuccessful Jersey Girl and in 2004 Lopez starred opposite Richard Gere in Shall We Dance.

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony perform together for the first time at the 2005 Grammy Awards.

In 2004, Lopez created a tabloid frenzy with the announcement of her marriage to singer Marc Anthony in June of 2004. The couple later performed together in their world debut at the Grammy Awards in 2005.

That same year, J Lo starred Monster-in-Law as a young women having to contend with her future mother-in-law, played by Jane Fonda, and later appeared opposite Robert Redford in An Unfinished Life.

On the music scene, Lopez released her fifth album, Rebirth, in 2006.

In 2007, husband-and-wife Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony starred together in El Cantante, and made plans to tour together for the first time in concert later on in the year.

Baby News

Amid weeks-long rumors, Lopez and husband Marc Anthony finally announced on the last night of their concert tour in November that they were expecting their first baby together.

Insiders say that after trying unsuccessfully to have a baby the couple turned to in vitro fertilization with much apparent success. Jennifer Lopez gave birth to twins. a boy and a girl named Max and Emme on February 22, 2008.

Lopez later struck a $6 milliion deal for first photo publishing rights with People magazine, which published their highly-anticipated cover story in March 2008.

By 2009, Lopez was back on the movie set filming the romantic comedy, "The Back Up Plan" which opened to generally poor reviews but good notices for the singer actress herself. The following year, Lopez became the subject of speculation in the press that she would be a likely candidate to become a judge on the popular reality show American Idol in Season 10 following the departure of Ellen DeGeneres. The news was later announced that she would, indeed, be joining the cast as a regular reportedly scoring a $12 million contract.

Her most recent album, Love? was released in 2011 -- the same year that the star made tabloid headlines by announcing her divorce from her husband of seven years, Marc Anthony

In 2012, the couple were reunited professionally in Latin talent series called ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen following Lopez and Anthony as they travel across 21 countries to find new talent. Since it's premiere on Univision it has become a ratings hit, and is slated to next premiere in English on Fox.

Since her divorce, Lopez has been most often romantically linked with back-up dancer Casper Smart.

More about Jennifer Lopez around the Web:

Jennifer Lopez - The official site, with an extensive collection of video interviews, music files, photo gallery, blog, and info on film appearances.

Diva Jennifer Lopez - A major fan site with messageboard, tour dates, interview transcripts, song lyrics, hot picture gallery, bio and JLo e-cards.

Jennifer Lopez - Yahoo! Movies - A biography, photo galleries, film reviews, and links to related sites, groups and messageboards.

Jennifer Lopez Zone - Biography, news and updates on her latest films and projects, gossip & rumors, forum and chat, audio and video clips, lyrics, picture galleries, wallpapers and screensavers, and an online store.