Rita Moreno facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rita Moreno
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Moreno in 2019
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| Born |
Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano
December 11, 1931 Humacao, Puerto Rico
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| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1943–present |
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Works
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Full list |
| Spouse(s) |
Leonard Gordon
(m. 1965; died 2010) |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Full list |
Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is an amazing American actress, dancer, and singer. She has been performing for over 80 years! She is one of the last famous stars from the "Golden Age of Hollywood".
Rita Moreno has won many special awards. She is one of the few people to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT). This means she has won the top awards in TV, music, movies, and theater! She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and the National Medal of Arts in 2009. These are some of the highest honors in the United States.
Moreno became very famous for her role as Anita in the movie West Side Story (1961). For this role, she won an Oscar. She was the first Latin American woman to win an Academy Award. She even appeared in the 2021 remake of West Side Story as a new character, Valentina.
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Early Life and Beginnings
Rita Moreno was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico, on December 11, 1931. Her birth name was Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano. When she was five years old, she moved to New York City with her mother.
Rita started taking dancing lessons very early. By the time she was 11, she was already lending her voice to Spanish versions of American movies. When she was just 13, she got her first role on Broadway, which is the famous theater district in New York City. This helped her get noticed by people in Hollywood.
A Star's Journey in Movies and TV
Early Film Roles
Rita Moreno began her movie career in the 1950s. She often played small parts. She appeared in the classic musical Singin' in the Rain (1952) as Zelda Zanders. She was happy that the director, Gene Kelly, chose her for a role that was not a typical "Latina" character.
She also had a supporting role in The King and I (1956). In this movie, she played Tuptim, a young woman brought to be one of the King's wives. This film was a big success and won many awards.
Becoming Famous with West Side Story
In 1961, Rita Moreno got the role that made her a superstar: Anita in West Side Story. Her performance was amazing, and the movie won ten Academy Awards. Rita won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. This was a huge moment, making her the first Latin American woman to win an Oscar.
After West Side Story, she continued to act in films like Popi (1969) and Marlowe (1969). She also performed in Broadway shows, winning a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1975 for The Ritz.
TV Success and the EGOT
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From 1971 to 1977, Rita Moreno was a main cast member on the children's TV show The Electric Company. She was famous for shouting the show's opening line, "Hey, you guys!" She played fun characters like Millie the Helper and Pandora.
In 1977, her appearance on The Muppet Show earned her an Emmy Award. This was very special because it meant she had won an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony, and an Emmy. This achievement is called an "EGOT". She won another Emmy in 1978 for her role on The Rockford Files.
In the 1990s, Rita Moreno voiced the character of Carmen Sandiego in the animated series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?. She also played Sister Pete, a nun who was a psychologist, in the HBO series Oz.
Recent Work and Continued Legacy
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Rita Moreno has continued to act in the 2000s and 2010s. She had a recurring role in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She also starred in the Netflix sitcom One Day at a Time, playing the grandmother of a Cuban-American family. This show was very popular with critics.
In 2021, she was both an actress and an executive producer for the new West Side Story movie. She played a new character named Valentina. Her presence in the new movie was a special link to the original film.
In 2023, Rita Moreno starred in the comedy movie 80 for Brady with other famous actresses like Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. She also appeared in Fast X, part of the Fast & Furious series, playing the grandmother of Vin Diesel's character.
Personal Life
In 1965, Rita Moreno married Leonard Gordon. They had one daughter, Fernanda Gordon Fisher, and two grandsons. They stayed together until Leonard's death in 2010.
Awards and Honors
Rita Moreno has received many important awards throughout her long career. She is one of the few people to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting" (winning an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony for acting) and the "EGOT" (winning an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony).
- Oscar: In 1962, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for West Side Story.
- Grammy: In 1972, she won a Grammy Award for her work on The Electric Company album.
- Tony: In 1975, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in The Ritz.
- Emmy: She won two Primetime Emmy Awards, one in 1977 for The Muppet Show and another in 1978 for The Rockford Files.
Besides these, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2004, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest award a civilian can get in the U.S. In 2009, President Barack Obama gave her the National Medal of Arts. In 2015, she was honored with a Kennedy Center Honors award for her contributions to American culture. She also received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2013.
See also
In Spanish: Rita Moreno para niños
- List of Puerto Ricans
- List of Puerto Ricans in the Academy Awards
- List of people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award
- List of Puerto Rican Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
- History of women in Puerto Rico
