The singer, actress and dancer Chita Rivera (1933-2024) is dead. According to consistent media reports, the Broadway legend has died at the age of 91. “It is with great personal sadness that I announce the death of the beloved Broadway icon Chita Rivera. My dear friend of more than 40 years, was 91 years old,” the US magazine “People” quoted her agent Merle Frimark as saying.
Her daughter, actress Lisa Mordente (65), also confirmed Rivera’s death. Rivera died in New York “after a short illness”. In addition to her daughter and her siblings Julio, Armando and Lola, she leaves behind many nephews and nieces, according to the statement. The funeral will be private and a date for a memorial service will be announced in due course.
Chita Rivera was born in Washington, D.C. in January 1933. was born and found her way to a ballet school at a young age. In her decades-long stage career, she was awarded the prestigious Tony Award twice – in 1984 for the musical “The Rink” and in 1993 for “Kiss of the Spider Woman – The Musical”. In 2018 she also received the Tony Special Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater.
Rivera took on the leading role of Velma Kelly in the premiere of the musical “Chicago” in 1975. Rivera appeared in a cameo in the 2002 musical film adaptation of the same name with Renée Zellweger (54) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (54). She also appeared in the musical “West Side Story” on Broadway in the 1950s.
In 2002, Rivera was also awarded the Kennedy Prize, which is awarded for outstanding contributions to US culture – alongside actor James Earl Jones (93), singer Paul Simon (82), actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) and Conductor James Levine (1943-2021).
