George Lopez’s wife sacrificed an organ for her famous husband

Being married to a Hollywood star can be tough, but some manage to make it work.

Ann Serrano, however, gave everything — including one of her organs — for her famous husband, only to be betrayed.

Ann Serrano may not be a name that jumps out at you right away, but she certainly shouldn’t be known just as ”the wife of a celebrity.” Ann’s made a name for herself as both an actress and a producer. Some of you might recognize her from Arrested Development, and she even appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Beyond her career, she’s also a devoted mom to a daughter she shares with a well-known and groundbreaking actor. The couple met during a casting for a movie, it was Ann’s first casting job. They clicked and married in September 1993. Three years later, they welcomed a beautiful daughter, Mayan.

For a long time, their high-profile marriage seemed solid, but everything changed in the early 2000s when her famous husband received a devastating diagnosis.

Doctors told him his kidneys were failing due to a genetic condition, and he needed a transplant to survive. Timing was critical, but he delayed the surgery for a year, consumed with fear that the truth about his condition would leak to the press. He didn’t want their then 9-year-old daughter reading about it in the tabloids.

Despite being a public figure, he managed to keep the illness a secret for quite some time. But eventually, it was clear he needed help. That’s when Ann stepped in, offering something extraordinary — her own kidney.

For her, it was an easy decision, as she once said in an interview.

”It’s amazing to be able to help another human being in this way. You’re giving the gift of life,” she said.

The surgery was a success, and the iconic actor was lucky that his body accepted the new organ. To top it off, he even lost 45 pounds as his health improved. Thanks to Ann’s generosity, they looked forward to more happy years together. But that wasn’t how things turned out.

So, who was this man? None other than George Lopez, best known for starring in his hit sitcom The George Lopez Show. Today, he has grown into one of our most beloved comedians and in 2005, he was named one of ”The Top 25 Hispanics in America” by Time magazine.

Abandoned by his parents
Born in 1961 in Los Angeles to a Mexican migrant worker, George Lopez had anything but an easy start in life. Abandoned by his father when he was just two months old and later left by his mother at the age of 10, George was raised by his grandmother.

A shy and introverted child, he spent much of his time lost in daydreams. No one could have predicted he would one day become a Hollywood star, but George turned his challenging upbringing into comedic brilliance, transforming pain into punchlines that resonated with audiences everywhere.

”I started to find my comedic voice in the early ’90s, and it revolved around my grandmother as kind of a muse,” George once shared.

”She was really something. No cars could go from zero to 60 as fast as my grandmother could go from calm to upset.”

Discovered by Sandra Bullock
It wasn’t long before George was approached by Sandra Bullock, who was frustrated by the lack of Hispanic representation on TV.

ABC agreed, and in 2002, George became one of the few Latinos to star in a sitcom. The show was a hit, watched by nearly 10 million viewers during its first season. George was the co-creator, writer, producer, and star.

Despite its success, the show was canceled in 2007, and George wasn’t happy. He famously told the Los Angeles Times, ”TV just became really, really white again.”