Mario Lopez, Jr. (born October 10, 1973) is an American television host and actor who has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is best known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on Saved By The Bell, who he also portrayed as a regular on Saved by the Bell: The College Years. 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 show Extra. He has also hosted America's Best Dance Crew for MTV, and as of 2012, he hosts the reality show of the U.S. version of the singing competition The X Factor, previously with Khloe Kardashian until 2013. Mario was brought back to host a 2nd season of the show slated to debut September 2013.
with Mark-Paul Gosselaar @ Saved By The Bell
Mario Lopez was born in San Diego, California in 1973 to Elvia, a telephone clerk, and Mario Sr., who worked for the municipality of National City. He graduated Chula Vista High School in 1991, he wrestled for Chula Vista at the weight class of 160 lbs placing 2nd in the San Diego Section and 7th in the state of California in 1991 as well. He was raised in a large Catholic family, of Filipino descent (Cebu City, Philippines) and Mexican descent (from Culiacan Sinaloa, Mexico).
Lopez's professional career began in 1984 when he appeared as younger brother Tomás in the short-lived ABC comedy series a.k.a. Pablo. That same year, he was cast as a drummer and dancer on Kids Incorporated. In March 1987, he was cast as a guest star on the popular sitcom The Golden Girls as a Cuban boy named Mario who faces deportation. In 1989, Lopez was cast as A.C. Slater in the popular television sitcom Saved by the Bell, a role which lasted five years
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. Lopez left the series after two seasons and 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. Later that year, he 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.
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.
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. Lopez is both the host (with Carmen Palumbo) and co-executive producer of Sí TV's Dating Factory. In November 2012, he co-hosted the Fox singing competition The X Factor along with Khloe Kardashian. He will return to the show as host in the new season which begins in September, but Kardashian was confirmed not to be returning. From 2002 – 2005, he was the host of the Animal Planet show Pet Star, despite some difficulty with an allergy to cats.
Lopez has also guest co-hosted The Wendy Williams Show, and MC'ed the gala benefit for the 2010 Pageant of the Masters arts festival in Laguna Beach, California. Starting in 2012 Mario Lopez began hosting his own Nationally Syndicated Radio Show 'ON With Mario Lopez' for Premiere Radio. It streams online daily on iHeartRadio.
Lopez made his Broadway debut on April 15, 2008, in the revival of the musical A Chorus Line in the role of Zach.
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). A cookbook, Extra Lean, with various recipes followed in early 2010 and became a New York Times bestseller. A third book, Extra Lean Family, was published in May 2012. 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 infant daughter Gia.
In 1993, Lopez was accused of date raping an 18-year-old woman, but prosecutors found no evidence to support the allegation, and indeed, multiple witnesses "contradicted the woman's account of her encounter" with Lopez.
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. Two weeks later, their marriage was annulled. In a 2011 interview, Lopez admitted that the split occurred after Landry discovered Lopez had been unfaithful to her days before the wedding at his bachelor party. Lopez subsequently dated professional dancer Karina Smirnoff, his Dancing with the Stars partner, from 2006 to June 2008.
In the fall of 2008, Lopez began dating Broadway dancer Courtney Mazza. Lopez and Mazza became engaged over the 2011-2012 New Year's weekend, and married in Mexico on December 1, 2012. They have a daughter, Gia Francesca (born September 2010), and a son, Dominic (born September 2013).
In a 2009 interview, Lopez stated that he is Catholic and goes to church every week.
Lopez is a big proponent of health and fitness and was the cover feature for the November 2013 issue of FitnessRX For Men magazine.
@ Ellen DeGenneres Show
Filmography
1984–1986
Kids Incorporated (Seasons 1-3) as Himself (Dancer/Drummer)
1986
Chartbusters
The Deacon Street Deer as Hector
1987
The Golden Girls as Mario
Superman as the return of the boy wonder
1988
Colors as Felipe's Friend
1989–1993 (87 episodes)
Saved by the Bell as A.C. Slater
1992
Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style as A.C. Slater
1993
Saved by the Bell: The College Years as A.C. Slater
1994
Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas as A.C. Slater
1995
Saved by the Bell: The New Class as A.C. Slater
1996
Depraved as Jessie Mata
Fever Lake as Steve
Saved by the Bell: The New Class as A.C. Slater
El Cóndor de oro as Bodyguard 2
1997
Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story as Greg Louganis
The Journey: Absolution as Ryan Murphy
Killing Mr. Griffin as Dave Ruggles
1999
Eastside as Antonio Lopez
2000
A Crack in the Floor as Lehman
Big Brother Trouble as Coach
2002
Outta Time as David Morales
King Rikki as Juan Vallejo
2002–2005
Pet Star as Host
2004
The Soluna Project as Antonio
2005
Aloha, Scooby-Doo! as Manu Tuiama/Mainland Surfer (Voice)
2006
Unaccompanied Minors
2006–2010
Nip/Tuck as Dr. Mike Hamoui
2007
George Lopez as Police Officer Sanchez
Holiday in Handcuffs as David Martin
2008
Husband for Hire as Marco
2009
The Dog Who Saved Christmas as Zeus the Dog (voice)
2008–2012
America's Best Dance Crew as Himself
MTV
2008
Robot Chicken as A.C Slater (voice)
2010
Get Him to the Greek as Himself
2010–2011
Mario Lopez: Saved By the Baby as Himself
VH1 (reality show)
2010
The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation as Zeus the Dog (voice)
2011
Honey 2 as Himself
H8R as Himself
The Talk as Himself
2011–present
Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade as Host
Extra as Host
2012
Sesame Street as Himself
Extra Sesame Street reporter ("The Veggie Monster")
Are You There, Chelsea? as Himself
2012 – Present
The X Factor as Host
2013
The Smurfs 2 as Social Smurf (voice)
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