In the first two installments of our look at Mario Lopez, we got a taste of Mario’s roller coaster career and learned about “Chesthairgate”...Our guest blogger, Connie Wilson, examines the career of a young man who, as you will see, is truly one for all seasons.

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Mario's roller coaster career stated at a vey tender age. By the age of 10, he was already plucked from a talent competition and cast in the television series “AKA Pablo” on ABC (1984) opposite Paul Rodriguez. Rodriguez played a Mexican-American comedian whose assimilated parents disapproved of his Mexican-American humor. (Probably like Paul Rodriguez’ real parents, I’m thinking.) Mario played Paul’s younger brother Tomas.

Let’s not forget Mario’s guest appearance on “The Golden Girls.” Yes, that “Golden Girls.” As unlikely as it may seem, Mario was cast as a young student of Dorothy’s who writes an essay about how great it is to be living in America and gets deported as a result when it is discovered he is an illegal alien. (Or so it said on the brief blurb I read. You guys still think I’m making this stuff up, don’t you?)

Who can forget Mario’s feature film debut, a 1988 Dennis Hopper directed film called “Colors” about gang violence in East L.A. It featured Officer Danny McGavin (Sean Penn) and his older mentor Officer Bob Hodges (Robert Duvall) racing down a lot of alleys in pursuit of the bad guys. I remember it well. I really do. I just don’t remember Mario being in it. So I looked it up on IMDB. (International Movie Data Base).

When you take a close look at the cast list, you see Damon Wayans as “T-Bone,” Maria Conchita Alonso as Louisa Gomez, Don Cheadle as “Rocket”, Seymour Cassel as Officer Sullivan, Fred Asparagus (?) as “Cook” and…way down at the bottom of the IMDB list…a very young Mario Lopez listed as “Felipe’s friend.”

Before that, from 1984 to 1988, Mario appeared on Kids Incorporated alongside Fergie (aka, Stacey Ferguson). Fergie, he says, gave him his first kiss. In the June 30, 2008 issue of People magazine, Mario burbles, “I’m very proud of my first kiss! It was with Fergie! It’s very hard for me to call her Fergie. I call her Stacy. I was 10. She says there was no tongue!”

E.W.com on March 6^th of 2008 wrote “Lopez’s career has been all over the map for a while. Even when only in his early 20s, actor Mario Lopez successfully worked his way out of a career rut.” I’m not so sure he has worked his way out of a career rut or into a career rut. How do I count them? (Let me count some more ways)

One of the most hilarious clips I’ve seen in months surfaced on a website known as PopwatchBlog. Although Mario only has one line (“I used to be in Menudo”), the dance he performs looks like it’s taken straight from a Chippendale’s training video. It was actually a clip from his straight-to-video film “Husband for Hire.” However, even that cheesy clip didn’t have me laughing nearly as much as the entry written by a blogger called “Matt” on  regarding a Mattel/Toys ‘R Us event in Times Square in New York City.

If you want to really laugh, you’ll visit that blog and read Matt’s complete account of a personal appearance that involved Mario Lopez and Mattel. If not, stay tuned for the third installment that describes exactly what Mario does to earn a paycheck.

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Our previous posts on Mario are here and here. Stay tuned for our next insert as we go more in depth into the life of Mario Lopez...the star whose career has more twists and turns than Walt Disney's "scare coasters"...