But offstage, her night was only getting started: After accepting the award from Hudson, she ran into Joan Crawford backstage, who was there to present the best actor award and, as Moreno put it, “drunk as a skunk on vodka.” “She hugged me so hard she covered my face entirely,” Moreno said.

What did Joan Crawford do?

Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? – May 10, 1977) was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925.

What did Rita Moreno do when she was a kid?

She later began using her stepfather's surname, Moreno. As a youth, she took dance lessons, and she later dubbed voices for American child stars in films released to Spanish-speaking countries. In 1945, at age 13, she made her Broadway debut in Skydrift. Her first big-screen appearance was in So Young, So Bad (1950).

What did Joan Crawford do to Christina?

As chronicled in Mommie Dearest, Crawford slapped, kicked, punched and tried to strangle her daughter, while subjecting her to a severe schedule of cleaning and other household chores, driven by the movie star's alcoholism and who knows what else. “We didn't have a language for it,” says Christina.

Why did Rita Moreno change her name?

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.

Rita Moreno's Memorable Moment with Joan Crawford at the Oscars

Did Rita Moreno have a child with?

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.

What is a famous quote from Rita Moreno?

Bigger than life is not difficult for me. I am bigger than life.

How accurate was the movie Mommie Dearest?

Christina has repeatedly stated that the film is highly inaccurate, and that the portrayal of her mother in the film is nothing like the real Joan Crawford, emphasizing that she never wrote in her book that Joan chopped down a tree with an axe, or beat her with a wire hanger as depicted in the film.

Did Joan Crawford adopt from Georgia Tann?

Notable personalities who used Tann's services included actress Joan Crawford (twin daughters, Cathy and Cynthia were adopted through the agency while daughter Christina Crawford and son Christopher were adopted through other agencies).

How many times has Rita Moreno been married?

Rita Moreno does not currently have a husband. Her late husband, her only husband, was Leonard Gordon. Gordon was a cardiologist and internist before retiring from medicine to become his wife's manager.

How long did Rita Moreno live in Puerto Rico?

Given the nickname “Rosita,” when she was young, Moreno's birth name was Rosa Dolores Alverío. 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.

What are 5 facts about Rita Moreno?

What was Joan Crawford's last words?

Don't you dare ask God to help me”….. to her housekeeper who began to pray aloud.

Why does Joan Crawford look so different?

One of the reasons Joan Crawford looked so different in the 1930s from the 1920s was that she had her front teeth capped, which made her lips look fuller, her teeth longer and whiter, and helped give her a "femme fatale" smile.

Who was the baby in Mommie Dearest?

Mara Hobel: Christina Crawford (Child)

Why weren t the twins in Mommie Dearest?

Crawford's children don't all agree with the legacy of Christina's tell-all book, and because of that family feud, Joan Crawford's twins, Cathy and Cindy, have stayed largely out of the spotlight.

Is Mommy Dearest a true story about Joan Crawford?

Mommie Dearest is a memoir and exposé written by Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of Academy Award winning actress Joan Crawford.

How many biological children did Joan Crawford have?

As Charlotte Chandler writes in her biography of Crawford, Not the Girl Next Door, Crawford was unable to have kids, so she adopted five: a girl, Christina, in 1940; a boy, Christopher, in 1942, who was reclaimed by his birth mother soon after; a second boy, also named Christopher, in 1943; and twin girls, Catherine ( ...

What did Rita Moreno say about her husband?

"My husband was a terrific man, just not a good husband. He was a controller." Moreno added that she would never have shared these feelings publicly while Gordon was alive — much less in a documentary. "I would never have talked about him without his permission.

Why is Rita Moreno so important?

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 ...

What does Rita Moreno mean by I was the house ethnic?

"I became the house ethnic," Moreno told NPR in 2013 about her early days in the movies. "And that meant I had to play anything that was not American.