Maria Isabel Lopez

Lopez was born in Cagayan de Oro to Benjamin Lopez and Crescencia Pagunsan. Before joining beauty pageants, she worked as a fashion designer at The SM Store and Rustan's department store. She also modeled for various fashion salons, including that of designer Rodolfo Fuentes (1950–2011), who encouraged her to join Binibining Pilipinas. In 1982, at age 24, she joined the pageant as candidate number #15 and won the Binibining Pilipinas Universe title.

She was almost dethroned of her title because of her previous work as a lingerie model in a Girard Peter fashion show, which violated an immorality clause set by Miss Universe Philippines director Stella Araneta. Lopez maintains that she was pressured to resign but she refused to do so. Lopez further gained notoriety when she was asked mistakenly about virginity by Philippine judge and actress Rita Gomez (1935–1990) during the national competition. The question was actually meant for Janet Sales of Manila. During her national competition, she was asked by American drummer Alphonse Mouzon regarding the independence of women. At her coronation night, her name was initially mispronounced as Maricar Isabel Lopez, but was later corrected.

Lopez became controversial when she appeared in highly sexualized roles in movies, which was not usually expected of a beauty queen titleholder. Her first movie Sana, Bukas Pa ang Kahapon (English: "Hoping that tomorrow is still what passed") in 1983, starred Hilda Koronel, Lorna Tolentino, Dindo Fernando, and Jay Ilagan, and was directed by Romy Suzara. She was in the original cast of Working Girls (1984), a comedy film directed by National Artist Ishmael Bernal, where she starred as a young office worker who entered sex work at night to gain more income. In 1988, Lopez was hired as a commercial sexy model for White Castle Whiskey.

During the height of her popularity, Lopez appeared in more sexual and romantic movies, including the following:

• Silip: Daughters of Eve — by Elwood Perez (1985)
• Isla (English: "Island") — by Celso Ad Castillo (1985)
• Hubo sa Dilim — (English: “Naked in the Darkness”) (1985)
• Mga Nakaw Na Sandali — (English: “Stolen Moments”) (1986)
• Dingding Lang ang Pagitan — (English: “Only thin walls that separate”) (1986)

She won the Golden Screen Award Best Supporting Actress Award for Kinatay (English: “Butchered”) (2009). Lopez walked the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival in France for Brilliante Mendoza's award-winning film, Kinatay (2009). Lopez again walked the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival in France for Brilliante Mendoza's award-winning film, Ma'Rosa (2016).

Lopez was the line producer for Tulak (2009), and HIV: Si Heidi, Si Ivy at Si V (2010). She was cast again in the 2010 remake of Working Girls, produced by GMA Films under the helm of Jose Javier Reyes. Lopez was one of the castaways in GMA Network's Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown (2011–2012), in tandem with her daughter, Mara Lopez, who was also an actress. She played the mother of Sid Lucero in GMA-7's prime time series, Legacy (2012).

In 2009, Lopez became the center of controversy when she was not given a complimentary ticket for the Binibining Pilipinas 2009 pageant, an oversight she strongly resented. She was not allowed to sit in the box allotted to former beauty titleholders.

In 2010, Lopez became involved in a conflict with various Philippine journalists, including Ricky Lo, who implied that Lopez strongly desired the passing of Stella Araneta. Lopez vehemently denied the allegation, but maintained the accusation that Araneta is an elitist who refuses to address people of impoverished backgrounds due to her grandiose ego.[3] Lopez maintains that Araneta has never forgiven her for making sexualized films after her reign as Miss Philippines 1982.[4]

In 2016, Lopez gained notoriety for a green pageant gown she wore in the 2015 Cannes Film Festival because she compared her evening gown to the one used by Pia Wurtzbach.

In January 2017, Lopez revealed on the morning show Unang Hirit the strong discrimination against dark-skinned contestants during her time as a beauty queen. She noted that during the Miss Universe 1982 visit at the Presidential Palace in Peru, the first lady Pilar Nores de García was dismissive of the dark-skinned contestants, namely Miss Papua New Guinea and Turks and Caicos.

In November 2017, Lopez was penalized for removing traffic cones and illegally driving on the lane reserved for the delegates of the 31st ASEAN Summit that was hosted in the Philippines. She posted her actions on Facebook, which prompted the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to recommend to the Land Transportation Office to suspend or cancel her driver's license.[5][6][7] Lopez later claimed that seeing other vehicles using the ASEAN lane prompted her to drive on it as well.[8] The office later revoked her license and barred her from reapplying and reacquiring her license for the next two years.[9] She was also fined ₱8,000 (US$160) for ignoring traffic signs, reckless driving, and violating the Anti-Distracted Driving Act.[10] Lopez accepted the charges and issued a public apology.

Lopez married Hiroshi Yokohama, a former DHL executive in 1990. The couple lived in Tokyo, Japan then later moved to the Philippines. They separated in 2006 due to claims of abuse and infidelity. They have two children, Mara Lopez, an actress, and Kenyo "Ken" Yokohama, a civil engineering graduate of De La Salle University. On 9 June 2019, Lopez married a Jewish American Jonathan D. Melrod. They live in Sebastopol, California.

Lopez studied Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman and is a member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. She served as Secretary of the Committee on Visual Arts in 2011–2013. Lopez also completed art classes in the Chicago Mosaic School and the Institute of Mosaic Art in Berkeley, California. In 2015, she toured UNESCO Italian mosaics in Ravenna, Italy as part of her interest in mosaics.

• Binibining Pilipinas
• Miss Universe 1982
• Philippines at major beauty pageants

• Maria Isabel Lopez at IMDb
• "Former Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Maria Isabel Lopez attacks BPCI head"
• "Maria Isabel Lopez admits past relationships with politicians and lesbians"
• "Maria Isabel Lopez's career blooms anew after Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown"