It dawned on Moreno that although she has a loving network of friends and family — including her daughter and two grandsons — they're not all near by. “So when we make plans to see each other, we have to make plans, they can't just kind of drop by,” she explains.
What is the most interesting fact about Rita Moreno?
Rita Moreno's extensive career in music, film and dance ranges from her Academy-Award winning performance as Anita in the 1962 motion picture "West Side Story" to her two Emmy Award-winning performances on "The Muppet Show." She is the only female performer to win all four of the entertainment industry's most ...
“I have many hobbies that help me unwind,” Rita divulges. “I take enormous joy in feeding the little birds in my area. I have a big, beautiful patio with bird feeders everywhere. I love, love hearing music, so I play music in my house all day long, and I'm also a news junkie.
The West Side Story star shares daughter Fernanda Luisa Gordon with her late husband Leonard Gordon. Moreno and Leonard, a former doctor who later managed Moreno's career, got married in 1965 and welcomed Fernanda a year later. Leonard died in June 2010 at 90 years old.
She spent much of her childhood on a Puerto Rican farm until she was five years old. Her mother saved enough money for them to move to New York, but Moreno's little brother Francisco had to be left behind.
Rita Moreno had a tumultuous eight-year on-and-off relationship with actor Marlon Brando. During that time, she became pregnant, however, Brando arranged for her to have an abortion. The procedure was botched and ended up threatening her life as she bled for days after.
As an outspoken advocate for racial and gender equality, childhood education, immigrant families, relief for her homeland of Puerto Rico, and many other causes for which she is impassioned, Rita is a shining example of what can happen when you show up, shake things up, and give back to your community.
When she was 11 years old, she lent her voice to Spanish-language versions of American films. She had her first Broadway role, as "Angelina" in the 1945 production of Skydrift, by the age of 13, which caught the attention of Hollywood talent scouts. Moreno said she was raped by her agent while she was a teen actor.
But in what would be her first clear experience of how little power she had in that era, the teenager known as Rosa Dolores Alverio was forced to change her name. "They didn't know what to do with me because of my name," she says. "I didn't like the name Rita but they chose it because I liked the actress Rita Hayworth.
Her Sagittarius traits are apparent in her personality as she is known for being enthusiastic, optimistic, and adventurous. She has an infectious sense of humor and a lively spirit that makes her a joy to be around.
What are some fun facts about Rita Moreno for kids?
From 1971 to 1977, Rita starred in a children's television series called The Electric Company. In 1972, she was given a Grammy Award for the show's soundtrack. In 1975, a few years after winning her Grammy, she starred in the Broadway production of The Ritz as Googie Gomez.
At 91, Hollywood legend Rita Moreno is working as much as she ever has, with prominent roles in films like the recent 80 For Brady and the upcoming Fast X.
Around the age of 6, Moreno began taking Spanish dance lessons from Paco Cansino, the teacher and uncle of Rita Hayworth. At the age of 9, Moreno had her first performance dancing at a nightclub in Greenwich Village. Throughout her early teens, she would perform at clubs around New York, often going by herself.
In 1936, Moreno's mother, Rosa Maria, and wide-eyed 5-year-old Rosita, fled poverty in Puerto Rico to start a new life in New York– they landed in the Bronx. Rita Moreno: Or as we still call it "The Brong." Here she first encountered the sting of racism.
Rita Moreno was hooked when she was tapped to play a ghost in the television comedy "Lopez vs. Lopez," starring comedian George Lopez and his daughter, Mayan Lopez.
