Rita Moreno made her film debut in 1950 in "So Young, So Bad" (1950) as Rosita Moreno. She changed her name to Rita Moreno for her second film, "Toast of New Orleans" (1950). Moreno remains tightlipped about her relationship with Marlon Brando, the breakup of which led to a 1961 suicide attempt.
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 was born on December 11, 1931 in Humacao, 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.
How Marlon Brando Love-Tortured Rita Moreno | Rumour Juice
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 ...
"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.
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.
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.
Born into poverty on a Puerto Rican farm, Moreno and her seamstress mother immigrated to New York City when Moreno was five years old. After studying dance and performing on Broadway, Moreno was cast as any ethnic minority the Hollywood studios needed filled: Polynesian, Native American, Egyptian and more.
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.
Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. She is noted for her work on stage and screen in a career spanning over seven decades.
With a career spanning nearly 80 years in the entertainment industry, Moreno is one of a few individuals to have won the four major annual American entertainment awards: an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony.
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.
Family is very important to Moreno; she also loves cooking, especially Puerto Rican and Cuban food. Her go-to dish is rice and beans with sweet plantains.
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.
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).
Did Rita Moreno have a relationship with Marlon Brando?
Moreno and Brando, who died in 2004, had a tempestuous relationship in the 1950s and 1960s that also included acting in multiple films together. The Puerto Rican actor was struggling with the stereotypical roles and predatory executives permeating Hollywood when she and Brando started dating.
