Chita Rivera, Broadway pioneer and the first Anita in 'West Side Story', dies at 91

Chita Rivera, singer, actress, dancer and star of the first Broadway, who filled the stage for seventy years and was nominated for a Tony Award 10 times (and won three times), has died.

She had turned 91 a week ago, on January 23.

The actress of Puerto Rican descent, a pioneer on stage and who gained fame in the United States for her role as Anita in the famous musical

, died this Tuesday in New York, where she lived since her youth, as announced. his daughter, Lisa Mordente, after a short illness.

Rivera—born in Washington to a Puerto Rican father, a saxophonist, and a mother of Irish and African-American descent, a janitor at the Pentagon—had her great moment of recognition on Broadway in 1957, precisely thanks to that role of Anita, which she would later take to the movies. in the 1961 adaptation, also Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno.

In her memoir,

, published last spring, the actress acknowledged that when she saw Moreno on the big screen she felt “a pang of resentment”: “But how dare he?

“That’s MY dress.”

However, Rivera's career continued strongly on stage in the '60s, playing Rose Alvarez opposite Dick Van Dyke in

.

Her career did not slow down until 2015, when she had her last role in the play

with which she earned her last Tony nomination.

She herself affirmed then that her life was on the table and that she did not intend to retire: “I wouldn't know what to do if I weren't moving or telling a story or singing a song.

"It's the spirit of my life, and I feel lucky to be able to do what I love, even at this time in my life."

She was scheduled to appear at the New York Public Library in September 2023, which she canceled due to testing positive for Covid-19.

After debuting

in 1950 , and in addition to

and

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson participated in dozens of musicals such as

,

,

and

.

She was part of the cast of the first

, where in 1975 she played Velma Kelly, who until then was a relatively secondary character, but with the arrival of Rivera she took on more weight, so much so that it earned her a Tony nomination in 1976. In the film 2002 Catherine Zeta-Jones won an Oscar for best supporting actress for that same role.

Later, in 2000, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the

, Rivera took the lead role, that of Roxie Hart, and took it to different stages around the world, such as Las Vegas, Toronto and London.

Chita Rivera collects her honorary Tony for her entire career in 2018. LUCAS JACKSON (REUTERS)

The actress began her career as a child, at just 11 years old, when her mother (who had been widowed with five children when Chita was only seven years old) saw that she was so restless and uncontrollable that she decided to enroll her in dance classes;

As a singer and actress she was self-taught.

Thanks to her immense charisma, when she was only 15, a scout signed her up to study with a scholarship in New York.

She was only 17 when she debuted, and 24 when she became Anita.

Furthermore, it was on the set of

where she met her only husband, the dancer Tony Mordente, whom she married on December 1, 1957 and had her only daughter, Lisa Mordente, now also an actress and singer. , on July 30, 1958. The couple divorced in 1966. In 1986 Chita Rivera had a traffic accident in New York when she collided with a taxi that left her seriously injured, especially in one leg: it was broken in 12 places , needed two surgeries, 18 screws and intense rehabilitation to dance again, and according to her she never fully recovered.

“I can't stretch at all, but I no longer have pain,” she assured

in 1993, seven years later, upon her return to the stage.

“The only problem is that my leg beeps at the airport metal detector,” she joked.

In a 2017 interview with

she was asked if she felt like a role model in terms of diversity, for being one of the first women of Puerto Rican descent to succeed on stage.

“Diversity is a wonderful thing, because we all have a lot to offer.

I was lucky enough to be in

.

I have also been lucky enough to play Greek and Italian roles.

Never pure Scandinavians or Caucasians.

Well, it's not true: I did the first performance of Marilyn Monroe.

With a blonde wig you can do wonders!

Which just proves that we are all pretty similar.”

In addition to thirty roles on Broadway, Rivera had an extensive career in film and television, with small roles and some cameos, as well as a multitude of documentaries.

She is the performer most nominated for a Tony Award thanks to her ten nominations (she ties with Julie Harris and Audra McDonald).

The three she achieved came thanks to various roles of hers.

The first, for acting alongside Liza Minelli in

in 1984, in a complex situation, because it was the time in which Minelli was immersed in her addictions.

The second, for her role as Aurora in

in 1993. The third, in 2008, was in recognition of her entire career.

Furthermore, in 2002 she received the Kennedy Center Honor in Washington, a recognition that not even she herself believed: “When they gave it to me, I couldn't believe it, I kept saying that they were wrong,” she admitted in an interview.

In August 2009, then-President Barack Obama awarded Chita Rivera the highest decoration that the United States can give to a civilian, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.