| Rita Moreno | |
|---|---|
Rita Moreno, January 2008 |
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| Born | Rosita Dolores Alverío December 11, 1931 Humacao, Puerto Rico |
| Occupation | Actress, singer, dancer |
| Years active | 1950–present |
| Spouse | Leonard Gordon (1965-2010; his death); 1 child |
Rita Moreno (born December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award.[1]
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Moreno was born Rosa Dolores Alverío in Humacao, Puerto Rico, to Rosa María, a seamstress, and Paco Alverío, a farmer.[2] She moved with her mother to New York City at the age of five, and took the surname of her stepfather, Edward Moreno.[2]
She began her first dancing lessons soon after arriving in New York from a friend of her mother, a Spanish dancer called Paco Cansino, who was the uncle of Rita Hayworth.[3] When she was 11 years old, she lent her voice to Spanish language versions of American films.
She had her first Broadway role — as "Angelina" in Skydrift — by the time she was 13, which caught the attention of Hollywood talent scouts. She appeared in small roles in The Toast of New Orleans[4] and Singin' in the Rain, in which she played Zelda Zanners.
In March 1954, Moreno was featured on the cover of Life Magazine with a caption “Rita Moreno: An Actresses' Catalog of Sex and Innocence.” [5][6]
In 1956, she had a supporting role in the film version of The King and I as Tuptim, but disliked most of her other work during this period.[7]
| External audio | |
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| You may listen to Rita Moreno sing the song "America" in a scene from "West Side Story" here | |
In 1961, Moreno landed the role of Anita in Robert Wise's and Jerome Robbins' film adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's and Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking Broadway musical, West Side Story, which was played by Chita Rivera on Broadway. Moreno won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for that role.[8]
After winning the Oscar, Moreno thought she would be able to continue to perform less stereotypical film roles, but was disappointed.
"Ha, ha. I showed them. I didn't make another movie for seven years after winning the Oscar.... Before West Side Story I was always offered the stereotypical Latina roles. The Conchitas and Lolitas in westerns. I was always barefoot. It was humiliating, embarrassing stuff. But I did it because there was nothing else. After West Side Story, it was pretty much the same thing. A lot of gang stories."[9]
Moreno went on to be the first actress (and the first Hispanic) to win an Emmy (1977), a Grammy (1972), an Oscar (1962) and a Tony (1975). In 1985, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago.[8]
Besides appearing in Singin' in the Rain, The King and I, Summer and Smoke (1961), West Side Story, The Night of the Following Day (1968) and Carnal Knowledge in (1971),
Moreno appeared on the PBS children's series The Electric Company in the 1970s, most notably as Millie the Helper. In fact, it was Moreno who screamed the show's opening line, "HEY, YOU GUYS!" She also had roles as the naughty little girl Pandora, and as "Otto", the very short-tempered director. Moreno appeared in the family variety series The Muppet Show, and she made other guest appearances on television series such as The Rockford Files, The Love Boat, The Cosby Show, George Lopez, The Golden Girls, and Miami Vice. She was also a regular on the short-lived sitcom version of Nine to Five (based on the film hit) during the early 1980s.[7]
Moreno's Broadway credits include The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Gantry, The Ritz, for which she won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress, and the female version of The Odd Couple.[7] In 1993 she was invited to perform at President Bill Clinton's inauguration and later that month was asked to perform at the White House.[1] During the mid 1990s, Moreno provided the voice of Carmen Sandiego on the animated Fox show Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?[10] In 1995, she co-starred with Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Deborah Winters and Peter Graves in the Warren Chaney docudrama, America: A Call to Greatness.[11]
In the late 1990s, she gained exposure to a new generation of viewers when she played Sister Pete, a nun trained as a psychologist in the popular HBO series, Oz. She made a guest appearance on The Nanny as Coach Stone, Maggie's (Nicholle Tom) tyrannical gym teacher, whom Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) also remembered from her school as Ms. Wickavich.[12]
Moreno continues to be active on stage and screen. In 2006, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in Berkeley Repertory Theatre's revival of The Glass Menagerie. She was seen on Law and Order: Criminal Intent as the dying mother of Detective Goren. She was a regular on the short-lived TV series Cane, which starred Jimmy Smits and Hector Elizondo. In 2011 she accepted the role of the mother of Fran Drescher's character in the TV sitcom Happily Divorced.[13]
In September 2011, Moreno began performing a solo autobiographical show at the Berkeley Rep (theater) in Berkeley, California, Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup written by Berkeley Rep artistic director Tony Taccone after hours of interviews with Moreno. [14]
Moreno dated Marlon Brando for 8 years, and attempted suicide in his home in 1962.[15]
On June 18, 1965, Moreno married Leonard Gordon, a cardiologist who was also her manager. He died on June 30, 2010.[16] They have one daughter, Fernanda Luisa Gordon-Fisher,[8] and two grandsons, Justin and Cameron Fisher.[17]
Among Moreno's awards and recognitions are the following:
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | So Young So Bad | Dolores Guererro | as Rosita Moreno |
| 1950 | The Toast of New Orleans | Tina | |
| 1950 | Pagan Love Song | Terru | |
| 1952 | The Ring | Lucy Gomez | |
| 1952 | Singin' in the Rain | Zelda Zanders | |
| 1952 | The Fabulous Señorita | Manuela Rodríguez | |
| 1952 | Cattle Town | Queli | |
| 1953 | Fort Vengeance | Bridget Fitzgibbon | |
| 1953 | Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation | Soubrette | uncredited |
| 1953 | Latin Lovers | Christina | |
| 1953 | El Alaméin | Jara | |
| 1954 | Jivaro | Maroa | |
| 1954 | The Yellow Tomahawk | Honey Bear | |
| 1954 | Garden of Evil | Cantina Singer | |
| 1955 | Untamed | Julia | |
| 1955 | Seven Cities of Gold | Ula | |
| 1956 | The Lieutenant Wore Skirts | Sandra Roberts | |
| 1956 | The King and I | Tuptim | |
| 1956 | The Vagabond King | Huguette | |
| 1957 | The Deerslayer | Hetty Hutter | |
| 1960 | This Rebel Breed | Lola Montalvo | |
| 1961 | West Side Story | Anita | |
| 1961 | Summer and Smoke | Rosa Zacharias | |
| 1963 | Cry of Battle | Sisa | |
| 1968 | The Night of the Following Day | Vi | |
| 1969 | Popi | Lupe | |
| 1969 | Marlowe | Dolores Gonzáles | |
| 1971 | Carnal Knowledge | Louise | |
| 1976 | The Ritz | Googie Gomez | |
| 1977 | Voodoo Passion | ||
| 1978 | The Boss' Son | Esther Rose | |
| 1980 | Happy Birthday, Gemini | Lucille Pompi | |
| 1981 | The Four Seasons | Claudia Zimmer | |
| 1991 | Age Isn't Everything | Rita | |
| 1993 | Italian Movie | Isabella | |
| 1994 | I Like It Like That | Rosaria Linares | |
| 1995 | Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business | Herself | documentary |
| 1995 | Angus | Madame Rulenska | |
| 1995 | America: A Call to Greatness | Herself | docudrama |
| 1998 | Slums of Beverly Hills | Belle Abromowitz | Nominated — ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film in a Crossover Role |
| 1999 | Carlo's Wake | Angela Torello | |
| 1999 | The Puerto Ricans: Our American Story | Herself | documentary |
| 2000 | Blue Moon | Maggie | |
| 2001 | Piñero | Miguel's Mother | |
| 2003 | Casa de los Babys | Señora Muñoz | |
| 2003 | Beyond Borders: John Sayles in Mexico | Herself | documentary |
| 2004 | King of the Corner | Inez | |
| 2006 | Play It By Ear | Ruth |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Father Knows Best | Chanthini | Episode: Fair Exchange (24 November 1958)[20] |
| 1971–77 | The Electric Company | Carmela Otto The Director Pandora the Little Girl, Millie the Helper |
780 episodes |
| 1974 | Dominic's Dream | Anita Bente | |
| 1974 | Out to Lunch | Various | Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music |
| 1976 | The Muppet Show | Herself |
|
| 1978 | The Rockford Files | Rita Capkovic |
|
| 1979 | Anatomy of a Seduction | Nina | |
| 1979 | The Muppets Go Hollywood | Herself/Host | Special |
| 1981 | Evita Perón | Renata Riguel | |
| 1982–83 | 9 to 5 | Violet Newstead | |
| 1982 | Working | Waitress | |
| 1982 | Portrait of a Showgirl | Rosella DeLeon | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1986 | Golden Girls | Renee | Episode: "Empty Nest" |
| 1987 | The Cosby Show | Mrs. Granger | Episode: "You Only Hurt the One You Love" |
| 1989–90 | B.L. Stryker | Kimberly Baskin | 2 episodes |
| 1994 | The Nanny | Miss Wickervich/Mrs. Stone | Episode: "The Gym Teacher" |
| 1994–98 | Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? | Carmen Sandiego | voice |
| 1994–95 | The Cosby Mysteries | Angie Corea | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | The Wharf Rat | Mom | |
| 1997–2003 | Oz | Sister Peter Marie Reimondo |
|
| 1998 | The Spree | Irma Kelly | |
| 1999 | Resurrection | Mimi | |
| 2004 | Copshop | Mary Alice | |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Mildred Quintana | Episode: "Night" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Mildred Quintana | Episode: "Day" |
| 2006–07 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Frances Goren | 3 episodes: "Endgame"; "The War at Home" and "Brother's Keeper" |
| 2007 | The George Lopez Show | Luisa Diaz | Episode: "George Testi-Lies for Benny" |
| 2007 | Ugly Betty | Aunt Mirta | Episode: "A Tree Grows in Guadalajara" |
| 2007 | Cane | Amalia Duque | 13 episodes |
| 2011 | Happily Divorced | Dori |