Chita Rivera was a ten-time Tony Award nominee and a three-time Tony Award recipient, including one for Lifetime Achievement. She won Tonys for The Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Rink. She originated the iconic role of Velma in Chicago.
She was a genuine trailblazer -- the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, she also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her autobiography, Chita: A Memoir, was just published last year. Chita Rivera has died at 91, ending a career that spanned every decade from the 1950s into the 2020s.
In 1957, a then-25-year-old dancer named Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero landed her big break originating the role of Anita in West Side Story on Broadway. She then went on to recreate the role for the movies and then starred again in a supporting role in Steven Spielberg's most recent remake of West Side Story.
Her list of Broadway triumphs is nothing less than illustrious: Call Me Madam, Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Mr. Wonderful, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie (where she created the role of Rosie opposite Dick Van Dyke), Jerry's Girls, Chicago, The Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink, The Visit, Nine, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, among others.
She frequently appeared on numerous television variety shows, dramas and TV sitcoms and she remained active even as a nonagenarian.
Chita Rivera was simply an astonishing force of nature. She was born to perform and give joy to millions and she delighted in it with every breath she took. More than an indefatigable pro, she was a generous performer who shared the spotlight with others and mentored additional generations that followed her.
If you ever saw her perform live (and we have) you know that she had an inner glow that captured and enraptured every member of the audience!
Adiós, Chita. You will never be replaced!
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