Moreno, Rita (1931—)

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Puerto Rican singer, dancer, and actress Rita Moreno lives in the collective memory of moviegoers as Anita, dancing up a storm and singing "I like to be in America, all right with me in America" in the 1961 screen version of West Side Story. She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance, the first Hispanic actress to do so but, more significantly, the film brought this uniquely dynamic, fiery, and talented performer wide recognition in America and abroad, and led to a greater awareness of the talent that existed in the Hispanic community.

Born Rosita Dolores Alverio in Humacao, Puerto Rico, in 1931, Moreno was raised in a New York City tenement by her divorced mother, a seamstress, and despite not having much money the child was able to take dance lessons with Paco Cansino, uncle of Rita Hayworth, who soon had her performing in the children's theater at Macy's department store, and at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Initially using the name Rosita Moreno, she first worked on Broadway at age 13 in a musical called Skydrift and continued on from there, performing on stage and in nightclubs in Boston, Las Vegas, and New York. At 14, she went to Hollywood and had a tiny role in a movie called A Medal for Benny (1945). Louis B. Mayer put her under contract, but her film career lay dormant until 1950 when she made appearances in So Young, So Bad, The Toast of New Orleans and Pagan Love Song. Most of the film roles offered to the talented performer were stereotypical and sometimes demeaning and between film work she returned to the stage where she hoped for better opportunities to use her many substantial gifts. Indeed, she played several distinguished roles on stage, including a dramatic role in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, and was the first Hispanic actress to win a Tony Award—for best supporting actress—presented for her performance in the Broadway production of the musical The Ritz, which ran for more than 400 performances in 1975.

With its score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story (1957) broke new ground in the development of the Broadway musical—not least in being the first mainstream production to have a Hispanic theme and to showcase the talents of Hispanic actors and dancers, some of whom, notably, Chita Rivera, went on to make important contributions to stage and film. Rita Moreno had originally been offered, and had turned down, the role of Maria in the stage production, but she got her chance to shine in a role more suited to her strong personality when the film was made. Several of the films in which Moreno played prominent roles are indicative of Hollywood's stereotyped perception of Hispanics including The Ring (1952), a low-budget programmer about a young Mexican prizefighter attempting to win respect for his people; or Popi (1969), an ethnic comedy-drama set in New York's Puerto Rican ghetto. Throughout her career Moreno fought against typecasting to get roles commensurate with her talent—she was touching as the Siamese slave girl Tuptim in The King and I (1956), and among many other less distinguished films, she had featured roles in Summer and Smoke (1961), Carnal Knowledge (1971), the film version of her stage success The Ritz (1976), and Alan Alda's The Four Seasons (1981).

Moreno has also left her mark on television, acting in a variety of series and shows. She won her first Emmy Award for her guest appearances on The Muppet Show in 1977, and her second for an episode of The Rockford Files in 1978. Her vocalizations for the Electric Company television program's album for children won her a Grammy Award in 1972. Her hard work and enormous talent set a record for Rita Moreno as the first-ever female artist to hold the Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Academy Awards.

Rita Moreno, foreground, in West Side Story.

Kanellos, Nicolás. Hispanic American Almanac. Detroit, Gale Research, 1997.

Telgen, Diane, and Jim Kamp. Latinas! Women of Achievement. Detroit, Gale Research, 1996.