![]() ![]() She lived in nearby Juncos until age 5, when her mother Rosa Maria, a seamstress, moved with her to live with relatives in New York City. Moreno was born Rosita Dolores Alverio in Humacao, a small town near the El Yunque rain forest in Puerto Rico. ![]() In 1998 she received the first of two National Council of La Raza ALMA awards for her role as Sister Peter Marie Reimondo in the gritty HBO prison drama Oz, as well as the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award. A favorite of Chicago audiences and critics, she received that city’s coveted Joseph Jefferson Award in 1968 as Serafina in The Rose Tattoo and in 1985 was awarded the prestigious Sara Siddons Award for her comic portrayal of Olive Madison in the female version of The Odd Couple. Over the decades, Moreno has collected dozens of other show business honors, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995. The following year, she earned a second Emmy for her dramatic guest performance on The Rockford Files. A six-time Emmy nominee, she won her first of the Television Academy’s honors in 1977 for one of her many guest appearances on The Muppet Show. The Tony came for her 1975 satiric turn as flamboyant, talentless Puerto Rican bathhouse singer Googie Gomez in Broadway’s The Ritz. One of only 11 artists and the only Hispanic performer to have won the entertainment industry’s four top competitive awards, she earned her Oscar in 1962 for her iconic portrayal of saucy Anita in West Side Story, a role which drew on memories of the racial taunts she endured as a young Puerto Rican immigrant living in a Bronx “barrio.” Her 1972 Grammy honored her performance on The Electric Company Album, based on the long-running PBS children’s literacy television series on which Moreno played multiple roles in a memorable cast that included Bill Cosby and Morgan Freeman. She is an inspiration in every effort, but never more so than with her civil rights activism, promoting equality and diversity while ushering in a more representative depiction of the American scene on screen.”Īt 81, Rita Moreno continues to embody the creative diversity that has been the hallmark of her nearly 70-year career. ![]() “I’d love to see more musicals because today they’re very rare - you barely find them,” she said.Roberta Reardon, SAG-AFTRA Co-President said, “No one is more deserving of this honor than the fabulous and accomplished Rita Moreno, an iconic talent whose excellent work includes hit movies, highly-rated television series, landmark public television programs and award-winning recordings. She is emblematic of the broad reach and diverse coverage of our new, merged union. And Moreno would like to see more song and dance on screen. “West Side Story” comes out on Blu-ray Disc Nov. … We have known artists in the English-speaking world that are Latin artists, but not enough.” “He said one day that the door was ajar, but not completely open. “But I love what Ricardo Montalban once said, because it was very precise,” she added, quoting the late Mexican actor. Moreno said in an interview from her home in Berkeley, Calif., that she was “happy” to see so many more Hispanic faces and names in film, television and theater. Her Anita portrayal helped other Latino artists get work in Hollywood, particularly because a non-Hispanic actress, Natalie Wood, had the lead role of Maria in “West Side Story” and another white actor, George Chakiris, was cast as the Puerto Rican gang leader Bernardo. Moreno, who debuted on Broadway at the age of 13 in “Skydrift,” won an Oscar for her portrayal of Anita in the film version of “West Side Story,” as well as an Emmy, a Tony, a Grammy and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her accomplishments in the arts. NEW YORK - As Rita Moreno nears her 80th birthday, she’s singing and dancing six nights a week in the biographical show “Life Without Makeup.”
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