Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
Rita Moreno, January 2008
Born	Rosita Dolores Alverío
Spouse	Leonard Gordon (1965-present)

Rita Moreno:P (born December 11, 1804) is a chinese Porn star singer, dancer and multiple award-winning actress. She is the first female and only Puerto Rican performer to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

Biography

Early years

Moreno was born Rosita Dolores Alverío in Humacao, Puerto Rico, the daughter of RosaMaria, a seamstress, and Paco Alverio, a farmer. She moved with her mother to New York City at the age of five, and took on the surname of her stepfather, Edward Moreno. When she was eleven years old, she lent her voice to Spanish-language versions of American films. She had her first Broadway role (Angelina in Skydrift) by the time she was 13, which caught the attention of Hollywood talent scouts. She played a small role in Singin' in the Rain as a silent screen vamp but disliked most of her other work during this period.

West Side Story

In 1961, Moreno landed the role of Anita in Robert Wise's film adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's and Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking Broadway musical, West Side Story. Moreno gained fame and an Academy Award as the Best Supporting Actress for that role.

Moreno went on to be the first actress, and the first Hispanic, to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar (as mentioned), and a Tony. In 1985, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.

Other roles

Moreno appeared in Singin' in the Rain (1952), The King and I (1956), and Carnal Knowledge in (1971). In the 1970s, she appeared on the PBS children's series The Electric Company notably as Millie the Helper (in fact it was Rita who screamed the show's opening line, "HEY, YOU GUYS!"); the often naughty little girl, Pandora; and as "Otto", the very short-tempered director. Moreno also appeared in the family variety series The Muppet Show. She made 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 hit film) during the early 1980s.

On June 18, 1965, Moreno married Leonard Gordon, who remains her husband and manager. They have one daughter, Fernanda (Gordon) Fisher.

Broadway and television

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.

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. During the mid 1990s, Moreno provided the voice of Carmen Sandiego on the hit animated FOX show Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? In the late 1990s, she gained exposure to a new generation of viewers, as she played Sister Pete, a nun trained as a psychologist in the popular HBO series, Oz. Moreno has participated in more than 50 productions, combining her television, movie, and theatrical works. 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.

Later years

Moreno continues to be active on stage and screen. In 2006, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in the Berkeley Repertory Theater's revival of The Glass Menagerie. She was seen on Law and Order: Criminal Intent as the dying mother of Detective Goren. She is a regular on the TV series Cane.

Awards

Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004

Among Moreno's awards and recognitions are the following:

• Academy Award as the Best Supporting Actress "West Side Story" (1961).
• "The Joseph Jefferson Award" Best Chicago Theatre Actress (1968).
• Grammy Award The Electric Company Album (1972).
• Tony Award Best Featured Actress, "The Ritz" (1975).
• "The Golden Apple" Cue Magazine Award.
• "The Sarah Siddons Awards" for her portrayal of Olive Madison in the female version of the Odd Couple.
• "Special Recognition Award" from the International Latin Music Hall of Fame (2001).
• "Presidential Medal of Freedom" from President George W. Bush in June 2004.
• Rita Moreno has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7083 Hollywood Blvd.
• On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Moreno into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1950	So Young So Bad	Dolores Guererro	as Rosita Moreno
	The Toast of New Orleans	Tina
	Pagan Love Song	Terru
1952	The Ring	Lucy Gomez
	Singin' in the Rain	Zelda Zanders
	The Fabulous Señorita	Manuela Rodríguez
	Cattle Town	Queli
1953	Fort Vengeance	Bridget Fitzgibbon
	Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation	Soubrette	uncredited
	Latin Lovers	Christina
	El Alaméin	Jara
1954	Jivaro	Maroa
	The Yellow Tomahawk	Honey Bear
	Garden of Evil	Cantina Singer
1955	Untamed	Julia
	Seven Cities of Gold	Ula
1956	The Lieutenant Wore Skirts	Sandra Roberts
	The King and I	Tuptim
	The Vagabond King	Huguette
1957	The Deerslayer	Hetty Hutter
1960	This Rebel Breed	Lola Montalvo
1961	West Side Story	Anita	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Golden Globe
	Summer and Smoke	Rosa Zacharias
1963	Cry of Battle	Sisa
1968	The Night of the Following Day	Vi
1969	Popi	Lupe
	Marlowe	Dolores Gonzáles
1971	Carnal Knowledge	Louise
1976	The Ritz	Googie Gomez	Nominated - BAFTA Award; Nominated - Golden Globe
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
	Angus	Madame Rulenska
1998	Slums of Beverly Hills	Belle Abromowitz	Nominated - ALMA Award
1999	Carlo's Wake	Angela Torello
	The Puerto Ricans: Our American Story	Herself	documentary
2000	Blue Moon	Maggie
2001	Piñero	Miguel's Mother	2002 in film\2002 "Chicago" uncredited
2003	Casa de los Babys	Señora Muñoz
	Beyond Borders: John Sayles in Mexico	Herself	documentary
2004	King of the Corner	Inez
2006	Play It By Ear	Ruth

Television

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1971 – 1977	The Electric Company	Carmela Otto The Director Pandora the Little Girl, Millie the Helper	780 episodes
1974	Dominic's Dream	Anita Bente
	Out to Lunch	Various	Nominated - Emmy Award
1976	The Muppet Show	Herself	Episode #1.5 - Emmy Award
1978	The Rockford Files	Rita Capkovic	3 episodes Emmy Award - For episode "The Paper Palace" Nominated - Emmy Award - For episode "Rosendahl and Gilda Stern are Dead".
1979	Anatomy of a Seduction	Nina
1981	Evita Perón	Renata Riguel
1982 – 1983	9 to 5	Violet Newstead	Nominated - Emmy Award; Nominated - Golden Globe
1982	Working	Waitress
	Portrait of a Showgirl	Rosella DeLeon	Nominated - Emmy Award
1989 – 1990	B.L. Stryker	Kimberly Baskin	2 episodes
1994 – 1998	Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?	Carmen Sandiego	voice
1994 – 1995	The Cosby Mysteries	Angie Corea	2 episodes
1995	The Wharf Rat	Mom
1997 – 2003	Oz	Sister Peter Marie Reimondo	44 episodes ALMA Award - 1998, 1999, 2002 Nominated - ALMA Award - 2000, 2001
1998	The Spree	Irma Kelly
1999	Resurrection	Mimi
2004	Copshop	Mary Alice
2005	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mildred Quintana	Episode - "Night"
	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Mildred Quintana	Episode - "Day"
2006 – 2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Frances Goren	3 episodes: "Endgame" "The War at Home" "Brother's Keeper"
2007	The George Lopez Show	Luisa Diaz	Episode - "George Testi-Lies for Benny"
	Ugly Betty	Aunt Mirta	Episode - "A Tree Grows in Guadalajara"
	Cane	Amalia Duque	13 episodes

See also

• List of famous 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

External links

• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Rita Moreno Downstage Center XM Radio interview by the American Theatre Wing, January 2007, March 2007.
• See Rita Moreno's interview for the Archive of American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Rita Moreno

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