Movie Musings: Disney and More

Rita Moreno: Película-Musical Leyenda (Movie-Musical Legend)

She has performed on Broadway, Television, Film…and even at one of our nation’s presidential inaugurations. She has worked with the likes of Gene Kelly, Natalie Wood, Yul Brynner, George Chakiris, Leslie Nielsen and has appeared under the direction of Michael Curtiz, Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins, Stanley Donen, and Walter Lang. Rosita Dolores Alverio—whom we know better today as Rita Moreno—has had a career in the entertainment industry that has lasted for more than 70 years.

A native of Puerto Rico, Moreno was born on December 11th, 1931. She relocated with her mother to New York in 1936, at the age of 5. There she took up dancing lessons, and made her Broadway debut at the age of 13 in a show called Skydrift. Her performance in the show grabbed the attention of Hollywood talent scouts.

    Moreno made her film debut at the age of 19 in a dramatic film called So Young So Bad (1950). Two years after that, Gene Kelly cast her as Zelda Zanders in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), a film in which Kelly both acted opposite and directed Moreno (along with Stanley Donen). Not long after “Singin’ in the Rain,” production began on the film adaptation of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s The King and I (1956). When the film’s producers were casting for the role of Tuptim the slave in the film, Moreno went only for a test, but impressed the producers so much, that she wound up being cast in the part. Moreno said in a later interview, that France Nuyen was in consideration for the role, but didn’t get it because she wasn’t under contract to 20th Century Fox. (Interestingly, Nuyen wound up getting cast as Liat in the film of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s South Pacific (1958)). The same year as “The King and I,” Moreno starred in the movie-musical, The Vagabond King (1956) starring opposite Kathryn Grayson and Leslie Nielsen, and under the direction of Michael Curtiz (the Oscar-winning director of Casablanca (1942) and White Christmas (1956)). 

In 1961 was cast as Anita in West Side Story (1961)—Jerome Robbins’s and Robert Wise’s film adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s and Stephen Sondheim’s musical based on “Romeo and Juliet.” Chita Rivera had originated the role on Broadway. (Moreno was also in consideration for the role of Rosie DeLeon in Bye Bye Birdie (1963), a role that Chita Rivera had also originated on Broadway, but Janet Leigh was cast instead.) Moreno’s performance as Anita won her the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. (“West Side Story,” won a total of ten Oscars and three Golden Globes, including Best Picture of 1961 and Best Supporting Actor, George Chakiris, who played Moreno’s love interest, Bernardo).

Nine years after “West Side Story,” in 1970, Moreno returned to Broadway in a musical called Gantry, based on the 1927 book Elmer Gantry and the 1960 film Elmer Gantry. The show closed after one performance, but despite that, Moreno wounded up being cast in the play, The Ritz, in 1975, which won her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.        

For Disney/ABC Television, Moreno had bit parts in the series Zorro (1957-1959), The Golden Girls (1985-1992), and Grey’s Anatomy (2005-present). She also did additional voices for the Disney Channel Series Bonkers (1993-1994) and Raw Toonage (1992-1993), which was produced by Disney though it aired on CBS. She played Abuela in the Disney Channel Series Special Agent Oso (2009-2012) and made an Emmy-winning appearance as herself in an episode of The Muppet Show (1976-1981) as well as the television specials The Muppets Go Hollywood (1979) and Best Ever Muppet Moments (2006). She also appeared as herself in the Walt Disney World 4th of July Spectacular special which aired on television in 1988.

Moreno performed at former President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President George W. Bush in 2004.

Moreno is one of 13 performers in the entertainment industry to have won an Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Tony. Otherwise known as the EGOT Club, joining the likes of Mel Brooks, Richard Rodgers, and Audrey Hepburn. Moreno also won a Grammy Award in 1972 in the category of Best Album for Children for The Electric Company Album (1972), which was based on the television show in which she was a regular, The Electric Company (1971-1977).