Chita Rivera, revered and pioneering Tony-winning dancer and singer, dies at 91
NEW YORK
Chita Rivera — the dynamic dancer, singer and actor who garnered 10 Tony nominations, winning twice, in a long Broadway career that forged a path for Latina artists and shrugged off a near-fatal car accident — died Tuesday. She was 91.
Rivera’s death was announced by her daughter, Lisa Mordente, who said she died in New York after a brief illness.
Rivera first gained wide notice in 1957 as Anita in the original production of “West Side Story” and was still dancing on Broadway with her trademark energy a half-century later in 2015’s “The Visit.”
”I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t moving or telling a story to you or singing a song,” she told The Associated Press then. “That’s the spirit of my life, and I’m really so lucky to be able to do what I love, even at this time in my life.”
In August 2009, Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that the U.S. can give a civilian. Rivera put her hand over her heart and said she shook her head in wonderment as then-President Barack Obama presented the medal. In 2013, she was the marshal at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.
“She was a true Broadway legend,” playwright Paul Rudnick said on X, formerly Twitter. “She always delivered and audiences adored her. The moment she stepped onstage, the world became more exciting and glorious.”
Rivera rose from chorus girl to star, collaborating along the way with many of Broadway’s greatest talents, including Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Fosse, Gower Champion, Michael Kidd, Harold Prince, Jack Cole, Peter Gennaro, John Kander and Fred Ebb.
She rebounded from a 1988 car accident that crushed her right leg and became an indefatigable star on the road. She was on Broadway in a raucous production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” in 2012 and the chilly “The Visit” in 2014, earning another best actress Tony nomination.
“She can’t rehearse except for full-out,” said playwright Terrence McNally in 2005. “She can’t perform except for full-out, no matter what the size of the house.
She’s going to be there 101% for that audience.”
She won Tonys for “The Rink” in 1984 and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” in 1993. When accepting a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018, she said, “I wouldn’t trade my life in the theater for anything, because theater is life.”
She was nominated for the award seven other times, for “Bye Bye Birdie,” which opened in
1960; “Chicago,” 1975; “Bring Back Birdie,” 1981; “Merlin,” 1983; “Jerry’s Girls,” 1985; “Nine,” 2003; and “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life,” 2005.
“I don’t think we have enough original musicals,” she told The Associated Press in 2012. “I know I’m being old-fashioned, but the theater is the place where music, lyrics, words, scenery and stories come together. And I’ve been blessed enough to have done several shows when they really did. They take you places and they’re daring. That’s what we need.”
BORN IN D.C.
Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero was born Jan. 23, 1933, in Washington, D.C. Her Puerto Rican father, Pedro del Rivero, was a musician who played in the United
States Navy Band. He died when she was 7. Her mother was of Scottish and Italian descent.
Rivera married fellow “West Side Story” performer Tony Mordente in 1957. The marriage ended in divorce. Their daughter, Lisa Mordente, also became a performer who occasionally appeared on Broadway, garnering a Tony nomination in 1982 for “Marlowe.”
Among those honoring Rivera on social media were actor Jason Alexander, who said “she set the bar in every way,” and actor and dancer Debbie Allen, who wrote: “I will miss touching you, but I will forever hear your laughter and hold that baton of power you tossed my way.”