![]() ![]() And that meant I had to play anything that was not American.” She was passed over for substantive or complex lead characters and instead cast as stereotypical Hawaiians, Native Americans, Egyptians, Filipinas and, in The King and I, a Burmese concubine - plus what she calls all the “Spanish spitfire” characters. Moreno told NPR in 2013 that after winning her Oscar, “I became the house ethnic. ![]() It's hard to imagine Latina celebrities like Jennifer Lopez (51), Gloria Estefan (63) and Salma Hayek (54) having the robust careers they do without Moreno breaking ground first - not only with her bevy of “first” and “only” award wins, but also with her refusal to play stereotypes. She's been a pioneer for the Latinx community. Watch: The complete series of Oz on HBO Max - but don't say we didn't warn you about the content! 7. On the opposite end of the spectrum, she played Sister Peter Marie “Pete” Reimondo, a nun and psychologist who develops romantic feelings for a serial killer, in the very adult, very violent, very sexual HBO prison drama Oz. Her voice may be equally recognizable to the next generation of children: She played the title role of the international thief on Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? (1994-1999). Television fans will recognize Moreno from her widely divergent small-screen roles, starting with her Grammy-winning turn on the 1970s’ The Electric Company. Watch: 39 episodes of One Day at a Time on Netflix 6. Later this year, she returns in another much-anticipated remake, Steven Spielberg's West Side Story, in which she'll appear as Valentina - a gender-swapped version of Doc, the owner of the corner store where Tony works. Produced by Norman Lear (now 98), and Gloria Calderón Kellett, the new version followed L.A.'s Cuban-American Alvarez family, with Moreno stealing scenes as the feisty, joke-cracking matriarch, Lydia. Her career has spanned decades.Ī full 67 years after her movie debut in S o Young, So Bad, Moreno started a four-season run on a remake of the classic sitcom One Day at a Time(2017-2020). Watch: Clips from Moreno's very first film, 1950's So Young, So Bad, about a reform school for girls 5. Soon she was dubbing Spanish-language versions of American films and, at 13, made her Broadway debut in Skydrift. After moving to New York from Puerto Rico at age 5, she took dance lessons with the uncle of Rita Hayworth - who inspired the young Rosa Dolores Alverío's new stage name - and danced professionally in a Greenwich Village nightclub by age 9. Hollywood history is littered with sad tales of young stars who couldn't cope with fame and were chewed up and spit out by the studio machine. She started as a child star who beat the odds. Watch: Her appearance on The Muppet Show on Disney+Ĥ. As a cherry on top, she nabbed another Emmy the following year for her three-episode guest stint on The Rockford Files. After her 1975 supporting-actress Tony for The Ritz, she won a 1977 Emmy for her guest performance on The Muppet Show, famously singing “Fever” while being accompanied by Animal on the drums. She started with a supporting actress Oscar in 1962 for West Side Story, followed by a 1972 Grammy for best recording for children for The Electric Company. In 1977, Moreno became the third person in history - after composer Richard Rodgers and actress Helen Hayes - to achieve the grand slam of performing awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. She's one of only 16 performers to be in the EGOT club. Her life, talent and career is a master class in the American dream.” Here are eight reminders of Moreno's artistic greatness that you can brush up on before watching the film. As the film's executive producer Lin-Manuel Miranda says, “Rita is La Reina. It's no exaggeration to say that Moreno ranks among the greatest entertainers of the 20th century. (And don't miss Moreno's AARP interview.) After premiering to rave reviews at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It hits theaters on June 18 and features interviews with the likes of Norman Lear (98), Chita Rivera (88) and Morgan Freeman (84). En español | This December, Rita Moreno turns the big Nine-Oh and, like Fred Rogers and Ruth Bader Ginsburg before her, she's getting the documentary treatment.
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