Broadway legend Chita Rivera, known from musicals such as “West Side Story” and “Chicago”, is dead. The singer, dancer and actress died on Tuesday at the age of 91 in New York after a short illness, as her daughter Lisa Mordente announced. The artist with Puerto Rican roots had been on stage for more than 60 years.
Rivera, born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in the US capital Washington in 1933, was nominated ten times for the Tony theater and musical award over the course of her career. She won the award for best leading actress in a musical twice and received a third Tony in 2018 for her life’s work. In 2009, she was honored by then US President Barack Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the US.
Rivera started dancing ballet at the age of eleven. At the age of 16, she applied to the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York and won a scholarship. She had her big breakthrough in 1957 with the role of Anita in the classic musical “West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein. When the musical was made into a film, Rivera came away empty-handed: the role of Anita was cast by actress Rita Moreno.
A similar fate befell Rivera after the success of the musical “Bye Bye Birdie”: in the 1963 film version, it was not she, but Janet Leigh who got the female lead. Rivera made a guest appearance in the 2002 Hollywood version of “Chicago” after appearing in the stage version of the musical. Rivera also appeared on stage in works such as “Sweet Charity”, “The Rink”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “Nine”.
