George Lopez: Putting On a Happy Face

The indomitable actor’s scrapping instincts have been put to the test — during its run ABC moved the show a half dozen times. But he faced his biggest test in 1999 when he was diagnosed with congenital kidney disease, which had made him ill since childhood.

His work ethic kept him on the show and silent about his surgery until the last possible moment — when his kidney function dropped to 18 percent. His wife donated one of her kidneys to him in 2005. It wasn’t long before he was kidding about the surgery. “Tension creates humor as well as honesty,” he says. But kidney disease is more than just new material for his act. It’s a matter of life-or-death education.

Wrapped in acidic humor, Lopez’s health lessons really reach his audience, says labor leader Dolores Huerta, who has known him for years. One show that addressed how diabetes can lead to amputations convinced one of Huerta’s newly diagnosed friends to improve his diet. “[Lopez] isn’t lecturing,” says Huerta. “He’s putting himself in the role of someone who’s going through that.”

Lopez and his wife have now become spokespersons for the National Kidney Foundation, and he speaks at hospitals and camps for children with kidney disease. He also works with The First Tee, related to his other love, golf. The group coaches kids through golf, which, he says, “teaches patience and temperament. It’s about people, and you can also do it alone.”

Golf has also fostered friendships with, among others, golfer Lee Trevino and actors Cheech Marin and Samuel L. Jackson. This year Lopez served as host of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, conferring on Lopez the unofficial title of golf’s comedic ambassador.

Lopez finds being on the green as liberating as comedy. “A sense of humor has been a constant in my life and helped me become free,” he says. And free to hit holes-in-one in his work, community service, and home.