Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera was born in Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States on January 23rd, 1933 and is the Stage Actress. At the age of 91, Chita Rivera biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, movies, and networth are available.
At 91 years old, Chita Rivera has this physical status:
Chita Rivera (born January 23, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her appearances in musical theatre.
She is the first Latino woman to be named as a Kennedy Center Honors recipient (December 2002).
In 2009, she was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Early life and education
Rivera was born in Washington, D.C., and Pedro Julio Figueroa del Rivero, a clarinetist and saxophonist for the United States Navy Band. Her father was Puerto Rican, and her mother was of Scottish and Italian descent. Rivera is one of five children. When Rivera was seven years old and began working at The Pentagon, she was widowed and went to work at The Pentagon.
Rivera's mother enrolled her in Ballet at Jones-Haywood School of Ballet (now called the Jones Haywood School of Dance) in 1944. Rivera was one of two students selected to audition in New York City later that year when she was 15, and she was accompanyed by Doris Jones, one of the Jones-Haywood School of American Ballet's founders. Rivera's audition was fruitful, and she was accepted into the school and given a scholarship.
Personal life
Rivera married fellow West Side Story dancer Tony Mordente on December 1, 1957. Her appearance was so vital to the show's success that the West Side Story production was postponed until Lisa, the couple's daughter, was born in 1958. They were divorced in 1966 and are now divorced.
She is Roman Catholic.
Career
Rivera joined a friend to the audition for Call Me Madam's touring company in 1951, where she went on to win the role for the first time herself. She continued to perform in other Broadway productions, including Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Mr. On The Maurice Chevalier Special in 1956, there was a wonderful performance starring Sammy Davis, Jr. and Seventh Heaven. The firebrand Anita in West Side Story, a 1957 actress, was cast in the role that was bound to make her a Broadway celebrity.
Rivera was nominated for a Tony Award in 1960 for her role in Bye Bye Birdie, opposite Dick Van Dyke. She appeared on three occasions on The Ed Sullivan Show and gained raves for her appearance on Broadway and in London opposite Peter Marshall, but she was disqualified for the film version, where Janet Leigh played the role. Rivera appeared on The Judy Garland Show in 1963 and was opposite Alfred Drake in Zenda. The Broadway-bound musical came to an end, but Rivera's 1964 return to Broadway in Bajour and television in The Outer Limits opened in New York.
Rivera appeared in many national tours, including Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity, portraying Nickie in the film version of Sweet Charity (1969). Rivera appeared on The Hollywood Palace three times, twice on The Carol Burnett Show (which also appeared on February 22, 1971) and twice on The New Dick Van Dyke Show (between 1973 and 1974). In 1975, Rivera was nominated for a Tony Award for the first cast of the musical Chicago, directed by Bob Fosse. Rivera cites Leonard Bernstein and Verdon, who appeared in Chicago, as essential to her success, in addition to her ballet teachers. In the 2002 film version, she made a cameo appearance. She appeared in a filmed-for-television version of the musical Pippin in 1981, and she was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk awards for Bring Back Birdie (1981) on Broadway, as Fastrada.
Rivera appeared in the Kander and Ebb musical The Rink in 1984 with Liza Minnelli and received her first Tony and Drama Desk accolades for her role as Anna. Rivera was in a serious crash on West 86th Street in Manhattan in 1986, when she received a Tony Award nomination for her appearance in Jerry Herman's Girls. The breaking of her left leg in twelve places required eighteen screws and two braces to mend. Rivera continued to perform on stage after recuperation. In 1988, she returned to Can-Can and became involved in a restaurant venture in collaboration with novelist Daniel Simone. After she was founded on 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, she was dubbed "Chita's" after her. It was soon a hit among the after-theater crowds, and it was open until 1994.
Rivera received Tony and Drama Desk awards for her two performances of Aurora and Spider Woman in Kander and Ebb's musical Kiss of the Spider Woman. Rivera appeared in the long-running revival of Chicago, this time in the role of Roxie Hart. Rivera appeared in the Goodman Theatre's production The Visit (also by Kander and Ebb) as Claire Zachanassian in 2001. In 2002, she became a Kennedy Center Honoree. Rivera returned to Broadway in 2003 as Liliane La Fleur's eighth Tony Award nomination (Best Featured Actress in a Musical) and her fourth Drama Desk Award nomination (Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical). She appeared with Antonio Banderas. She appeared on the revival's cast album later.
In a February 2005 episode of Will & Grace, she appeared alongside Michele Lee, and Chita Rivera: A Reflection of her Work opened on Broadway in December. She has been nominated for her self-portrayal by Tony for her second time. Despite being scheduled to reprise her role in a Signature Theatre production of The Visit in fall of 2007, she was postponed to the following season. Instead, she appeared at the Regency supper club in New York for two weeks and, later in 2008, she appeared in a reimagined version of The Visit at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, co-starring George Hearn. Rivera appeared on Disney Channel's Johnny and the Sprites as the Queen of All Magical Beings. The episode debuted on March 15, 2008.
Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Barack Obama in August 2009. Chita Rivera: Get Me To The Church On Time and Now I Sing were two albums released by Rivera in the 1960s. In February 2013, Stage Door Records reissued these early 1960s albums on CD. Rivera's third solo album, And Now I Swing, was released in November 2008. On November 30, 2011, Rivera appeared in a staged concert of The Visit as a benefit at the Ambassador Theatre. Rivera appeared in "Princess Puffer" in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Studio 54 in 2012. On June 9, 2013, she was the Grand Marshal of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.
In The Visit, the last musical composed by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Terrence McNally, Rivera returned to Broadway. On March 26, 2015, the Lyceum Theatre opened on March 26, 2015, and on June 14, 2015. Roger Rees, co-starring John Doyle, was filmed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele. Rivera was lauded for her performance and was nominated for a Tony Award for her Best Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award. In 2017, the Astaire Awards for Dance and Choreography were rebranded The Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography. In 2018, she was given a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. Time Out New York named her "one of the best Broadway divas of all time" in 2019. She was one of the two Grand Marshalls in Pasadena, California, on January 1, 2020.