N o w - H o l l y w o o d . b l o g s p o t .c o m

mario lopez

mario lopez

Melvin Van Peebles aka Mario lopez once told his son that Hollywood wasn't predominantly black or predominantly white: it was predominantly green. With that in mind, young Mario got a B.A. in economics from Columbia University, and then got a job with a film investment firm, before pursuing a career in the more glamorous end of show business. He'd actually made his screen debut in the opening scene of his father's 1971 feature Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song but now, considerably more mature, he earned parts in such films as Heartbreak Ridge (1986, for which he won an NAACP Image Award), and Jaws The Revenge (1987), and such TV movies as Children of the Night (1985) and Blue Bayou (1990).
He got his first chance to direct on his own starring series, "Sonny Spoon" (1988), and went on to direct episodes of "Wiseguy," "21 Jump Street," and others, including an after-school special, "Malcolm Takes a Shot," in which he also appeared
In 1990 he collaborated with his father on a poorly received comedy feature, Identity Crisis (serving as writer, unofficial codirector, and coproducer), but it was 1991's New Jack City that really launched Mario's career behind the camera. This hyperkinetic, melodramatic antidrug movie certainly won Van Peebles notice as a novice director; he followed it with the black-themed Western Posse (1993), in which he also starred, then directed his father's script Panther (1995). In 1994 he starred in Gunmen and appeared in Highlander 3
Filmography
10,000 Black Men Named George (2002) (TV) .... Totten
Ali (2001) .... Malcolm X
Guardian (2000) .... John Kross
Sally Hemings: An American Scandal (2000) (TV) .... James Hemings
"Rude Awakening" (1998) TV Series .... Marcus Adams (2000-)
Blowback (1999) .... Inspector Don Morrell
Judgment Day (1999) (V) .... Payne
Raw Nerve (1999) .... Detective Blair Valdez
Love Kills (1998) .... Poe Finklestein
Valentine's Day (1998) (TV) .... Jack Valentine
... aka Protector (1998/II) (TV) (USA)
Killers in the House (1998) (TV) .... Rodney Sawyer
Mama Flora's Family (1998) (TV) .... Luke
Crazy Six (1998) .... Dirty Mao
Los Locos (1997) .... Chance
... aka Los Locos: Posse Rides Again (1997)
Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (1997) (TV) .... Interviewee:Actor/director
Stag (1997) .... Michael Barnes
Riot (1997) (TV) .... Turner
... aka Riot in the Streets (1997) (TV) (video title)
Gang in Blue (1996) (TV) .... Michael Rhoades
Solo (1996) .... Solo
Panther (1995) .... Stokely Carmichael
In the Living Years (1994)
Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994) .... Kane
... aka Highlander 3: The Final Conflict (1994) (Europe: English title)
... aka Highlander III (1995) (France)
... aka Highlander: The Final Dimension (1994)
... aka Highlander: The Magician (1994)
Gunmen (1994) .... Cole Parker
Full Eclipse (1993) (TV) .... Max Dire
Posse (1993) .... Jessie Lee
Real Malcolm X, The (1992) (TV) .... Himself (actor)
In the Line of Duty: Street War (1992) (TV) .... Raymond Williamson
... aka Urban Crossfire (1992) (TV)
Stompin' at the Savoy (1992) (TV) .... Walter
Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story, A (1991) (TV) .... Ricky Bell
New Jack City (1991) .... Stone
Blue Bayou (1990) (TV) .... Jay Filley
Identity Crisis (1989) .... Chilly D
"Sonny Spoon" (1988) TV Series .... Sonny Spoon
Child Saver, The (1988) (TV)
Jaws: The Revenge (1987) .... Jake
... aka Jaws 4 (1987) (USA)
Facts of Life Down Under, The (1987) (TV) .... David Johnson
Hotshot (1987)
3:15 (1986) .... Whisperer
... aka 3:15 a Time to Die (1986) (UK: video title)
... aka 3:15 the Moment of Truth (1986)
Last Resort (1986) .... Pino
... aka She Knew No Other Way (1986)
Heartbreak Ridge (1986) .... Cpl. 'Stitch' Jones
"L.A. Law" (1986) TV Series .... Andrew Taylor (1986)
L.A. Law (1986) (TV) .... Andrew Taylor
Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts (1985) (TV)
... aka American Masters: Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts (1985) (TV) (USA)
Rappin' (1985)
South Bronx Heroes (1985) .... Tony
... aka Revenge of the Innocents (1985)
... aka Runaways, The (1985)
Children of the Night (1985) (TV) .... Roy Spanish
Delivery Boys (1984) .... Spider, the gangster wannabe
Cotton Club, The (1984) .... Dancer
Exterminator 2 (1984) .... X
"One Life to Live" (1968) TV Series .... Doc Gilmore (1982-1983)
... aka "One Life to Live: The Summer of Seduction" (1968) (USA)
Sophisticated Gents, The (1981) (TV) .... Nicholas
Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song (1971) (as Mario Peebles) .... Kid
Crosscurrent (1971/I) (TV) .... Raphael
... aka Cable Car Murder, The (1971) (TV)
Television Guest Appearences
"Martial Law" (1998/I) playing "Jake Cord" in episode: "Deathfist 5: Major Crimes Unit" (episode # 2.15) 2/12/2000
"Outer Limits, The" (1995) playing "William Clark" in episode: "Bodies of Evidence" (episode # 3.16) 6/20/1997
"Strangers" (1996/I) playing "Mac" in episode: "Leave" (episode # 1.3) 1996
"Living Single" (1993) playing "Cole Front" in episode: "Likes Father, Likes Son" (episode # 3.15)
"In Living Color" (1990)
"21 Jump Street" (1987) playing "Dancer" in episode: "Eternal Flame" (episode # 4.3) 10/2/1989
"21 Jump Street" (1987) in episode: "High High" (episode # 3.16) 4/23/1989
"Arsenio Hall Show, The" (1989) playing "Himself"
"Teen Summit" (1989) playing "Himself"
"L.A. Law" (1986) playing "Andrew Taylor" in episode: "Raiders of the Lost Bark" (episode # 1.6) 11/7/1986
"L.A. Law" (1986) playing "Andrew Taylor" in episode: "Slum Enchanted Evening" (episode # 1.5) 10/31/1986
"L.A. Law" (1986) playing "Andrew Taylor" in episode: "Those Lips, That Eye" (episode # 1.1) 10/3/1986
"L.A. Law" (1986) playing "Andrew Taylor" in episode: "Pilot" (episode # 1.0) 9/15/1986
"Cosby Show, The" (1984) playing "Garvin" in episode: "Clair's Sister" (episode # 2.9) 11/21/1985