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.
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 on West Side Story, Donald Trump & Playing a Sexual Grandma
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.
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 ...
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.
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.
Moreno was a guest star on the George Lopez Show in 2007, playing his mother, Luisa Diaz. Which is the first place she met Mayan, who is now 26. “It's a wonderful set. Everybody seems to be like a family, which is the best thing you can say for a cast on a comedy show.
From the time she was eleven Moreno was the Spanish-speaking voice of such performers as Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland in dubbed movies. Moreno attended Public School 132 in Brooklyn during this time. She dropped out of high school at age sixteen.
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.
Crawford had a heart attack on May 10, 1977, and died in her apartment in Lenox Hill, New York City. Her age was reported as 69. On May 6, 1977, Crawford had given away her Shih Tzu, Princess Lotus Blossom, because she was too weak to continue to care for her.
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.
Rita's professional career began before she reached adolescence. From the age of nine, she performed as a professional dancer in New York night clubs. At age 11, she landed her first movie experience, dubbing Spanish-language versions of US films.
