Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera , actually Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero , (born January 23, 1933 in Washington, DC ) is an American actress and dancer .
Life
Chita Rivera is the daughter of a Latin American musician and began taking ballet lessons at the age of eleven . When the family moved to New York City , the teenager took lessons from choreographer George Balanchine . At the age of seventeen, Rivera appeared in a musical on Broadway .
Her big breakthrough came when she played the role of Anita in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story . It stayed on Broadway and never made the leap to Hollywood . In the film version of West Side Story took Rita Moreno its role and won an Oscar .
Rivera only appeared in major film roles twice, in 1969 in Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity alongside Shirley MacLaine and in Chicago in 2002 . The latter role, however, was intended more as an homage to her, as she had played the main role in the stage version of the play in the 1970s.
Chita Rivera has won three Tony Awards over the course of her long career . She was with the actor, dancer, choreographer and director Tony mordents married, in the stage version of West Side Story to A-Rab played and in the film version of the role of the Action took over. In 1958 their daughter Lisa Mordente was born, who is now a well-known dancer and choreographer.
Major Broadway productions
- 1956: Mr. Wonderful (music: Jerry Bock - with Sammy Davis Jr. )
- 1957: Shinbone Alley (music: George Kleinsinger - Rivera as a replacement for Eartha Kitt )
- 1957: West Side Story (Music: Leonard Bernstein)
- 1960: Bye Bye Birde (Music: Charles Strouse )
- 1975: Chicago (Music: John Kander , Direction: Bob Fosse - Rivera as Velma Kelly )
- 1982: Merlin (music: Elmer Bernstein , director: Ivan Reitman )
- 1984: The Rink (music: John Kander - with Liza Minnelli )
- 1985: Jerry's Girls (Music: Jerry Herman )
- 1993: Kiss of the spider woman (music: John Kander - with Rivera as spider woman)
- 2003: Nine (music: Maury Yeston - with Antonio Banderas )
Filmography
- 1964: The Outer Limits (TV series, episode)
- 1969: Sweet Charity
- 1973: Mission in Manhattan ( Kojak , TV series, an episode)
- 1973–1974: The New Dick Van Dyke Show (TV series, eight episodes)
- 1977: Once Upon a Brothers Grimm (TV movie)
- 1978: Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- 1981: Pippin: His Life and Times (TV movie)
- 1982: Strawberry Ice (TV movie)
- 1982: Love, Lie, Passion ( One Life to Live , TV series)
- 1987: Mayflower Madam (TV movie)
- 1997: Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (TV series, one episode)
- 2002: Chicago
- 2003-2004: Dora ( Dora the Explorer , TV series, two episodes, voice)
- 2005: Will & Grace (TV series, episode)
- 2006: Kalamazoo?
- 2011: Submissions Only (TV series, one episode)
Web links
- Official website
- Chita Rivera in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Chita Rivera in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
- Chita Rivera in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rivera, Chita |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Figueroa del Rivero, Dolores Conchita (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American actress and dancer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 23, 1933 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Washington, DC , United States |