![]() ![]() She also appeared in several other films during the 1960s, including ‘Summer and Smoke (1961)’. She felt that most of her roles during this period were stereotypical, so she disliked most of her film work. ![]() Moreno appeared on the cover of Life magazine in March 1954, with the caption “Rita Moreno: An Actress’s Catalog of Sex and Innocence.” During that time, she would be plagued with the stereotype of the sexpot. Initially, she was credited as Rosita Moreno, but soon after, she took Rita’s name. Throughout the 1950s, she portrayed a variety of roles, usually small ones. Moreno made her big-screen debut with the movie ‘So Young, So Bad’ in 1950. She made her Broadway debut at 13 in the drama ‘Skydrift’ at the Belasco Theatre, co-starring with Arthur Keegan and a young Eli Wallach. She was a professional dancer in New York nightclubs. Moreno took up dancing when she was nine and recorded voices for US child stars in Spanish-language films. Additionally, she was the first Hispanic woman to receive an Oscar. She has also been awarded numerous other honors and recognitions, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in America. She has won four major entertainment awards with a career spanning over 70 years, including Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tony. ![]() These 14 quotes showcase the spirit that has made Moreno, now age 90, an inspiring and beloved performer for more than seven decades.Rita Moreno is an actress, dancer, and singer. She developed an unwavering self-respect, exceptional savvy, and a strategic tack of waiting - waiting for the right part, the right person to help her, the right moment. She overcame decades of racism, sexism, mental health struggles, and near-constant undermining of her talent due to her stunning looks and ethnicity. She played roles that subverted expectations on HBO’s Oz (1997-2003) and the beloved 2017 reboot of Norman Lear’s 1970s sitcom One Day at a Time.īut it’s not just her triumphant career that makes Moreno a legend. Her voice (“Hey, you guys!”) was as well known as her presence on The Electric Company, a show created by Jim Henson. When respectable Hollywood roles dried up, Moreno found success once again on the Broadway stage, and in television. Remarkably, she did not appear in a movie for seven years after that, because all the roles she was offered were what she called “island girl” parts - objectified, uneducated women with little backstory or purpose beyond the sexual gratification of the leading men. Instead, the triple threat broke barriers for Hispanic actresses in Hollywood, codifying her breakthrough when she became the first Latina to win an Academy Award, taking home Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in the 1961 film West Side Story (an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical). Her story is an immigrant story, but unlike many starlets who came before her (including her idol, Rita Hayworth), she didn’t lean away from Latina roles or her identity as Puerto Rican. She began doing voice-over work at age 11 and landed her first role on Broadway at 13 as Angelina in Skydrift. Moreno came to New York from Puerto Rico with her mother when she was a young child, and her talent was clear from the start. She has earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Golden Globe, a Peabody Award, and a National Medal of Arts, as well as receiving the Kennedy Center Honor and induction into the California Hall of Fame. The Puerto Rican actress, singer, and dancer is also the first Latina to win an EGOT - that is, an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award - and the list doesn’t end there. Rita Moreno is considered a living legend by many - including the Library of Congress, which bestowed its Living Legends award on her in 2000.
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