Matinee Classics - Rita Moreno Biography & Filmography

Rita Moreno ACTOR

PHOTOS

RITA MORENO BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Rita Moreno was born on December 11th, 1931 in Humacao, Puerto Rico with the birth name Rosita Dolores Alverio, born to Rosa Maria and Paco Alverio. Her mother re-married Edward Moreno and at the age of five they relocated to New York City.

She began taking dance lessons from a young age and as a teenager she began a career in the entertainment industry. By the age of eleven she worked on her first film dubbing Spanish-language versions of American films and she then began working on Broadway when she was only fourteen years old.

Soon Hollywood began to take notice of her and she was cast in the films, "The Toast of New Orleans" (1950) and the Academy Award winning film "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. It would take twenty years before she returned back to working on Broadway.

By the mid 50's she was working more regularly in the film industry adding such credits to her resume as, "Father Knows Best" (1954), the Oscar winning movie "The King and I" (1956) starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr and Academy Award winner for Best Picture "West Side Story" (1961) starring Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Russ Tamblyn and Richard Beymer, a role for which she won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, making her the first Hispanic woman to win this award.

It took some time, despite winning this award for her to get away from the typical type casting roles for Hispanics. She did finally make a comeback with her appearance in the films, "Carnal Knowledge" (1971) and she won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress for her role in the musical, "The Ritz" (1976).

As her career progressed she remained working in the film industry as well as numerous television appearances and never neglected her love of performing live on stage. Some of her television credits include appearances on, "Father Knows Best", "Empty Nest", "The Golden Girls", "The Electric Company", "The Rockford Files", "The Love Boat", "Miami Vice", "The Cosby Show" and "Nine to Five".

Moreno has also added such stage credits to her resume as, "The Glass Menagerie", "The Rose Tattoo", "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers", "Gantry" and "The Odd Couple".

More recently she has appeared on the television series, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2006-2007), "Happily Divorced" (2011-2012), "In Plain Sight" (2010) and "Special Agent Oso" (2011).

Rita Moreno has married only one time to Lenny Gordon whom she wed in 1965 and they had one child together and remained married until he passed away in 2010. In 2011 she took on a new project performing solo at the Berkley Theater an autobiographical show titled, "Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup".

Filmography

2011-2012 Happily Divorced

2011 Special Agent Oso

2010 In Plain Sight

2007 Cane

2006-2007 Law & Order: Criminal Intent

2007 Ugly Betty

2007 George Lopez

2006 Play It by Ear

2006 Lolo's Cafe

2005 Wanted

2005 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit