![]() ![]() Playing Anita had a lasting impact on Moreno. Moreno boycotted making movies after winning an Oscar Moreno was the first Latina performer to win, making her an icon and role model for her community. ![]() She won a Golden Globe Award and was surprised and delighted to receive an Academy Award. West Side Story became a huge success, and Moreno was lauded for her accomplished portrayal of Anita. However, this didn't keep her from turning in a believable and nuanced performance in a role she could finally fully relate to. Moreno pointed out that people in Puerto Rico had a variety of skin tones only to be accused of being racist. Moreno worked on her dancing and was thrilled to land the part.įilming had some problematic moments, as when the movie's Hispanic characters all had makeup applied to darken their skin to the same shade. She was up for Anita, the passionate and brave girlfriend of gang leader Bernardo. Moreno related to the struggles of Anita in 'West Side Story'įortunately, Moreno survived - and the determination she'd demonstrated for years finally paid off when she got the chance to audition for the film version of West Side Story. Rita Moreno as Anita in "West Side Story," 1961 Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images But her seemingly "dead-end" career in Hollywood was another factor. Her troubled and tempestuous relationship with Marlon Brando was one reason she tried to end her life. It is assumed that you can only speak with an accent." Yet most of the time Moreno continued to be consigned to one-note roles that made her "feel more and more and more diminished." As she explained in a 2014 interview, "here's a way of being racially insulting to someone without ever using the bad words. While at that studio she was given the role of Tuptim in the film version of The King and I (1956), though Moreno knew she wasn't the best choice to play a Burmese character. Moreno was also featured on the cover of Life magazine in 1954, which led to a contract with Fox. Zelda was a key role in the film, and wasn't an ethnic stereotype. Gene Kelly gave her the opportunity to play Zelda Zanders in Singin' in the Rain (1952). There were some highlights in Moreno's pre- West Side Story career. But she was sure she could do more - and that she'd get the opportunity to prove it: "I was determined that with perseverance and faith at some point someone would say, 'This girl has talent,' and would cast me in something meaningful." One-note roles made Moreno feel 'diminished' Though Moreno was, at least initially, happy to be working, this wasn't the career she'd hoped for. So I became this Gypsy girl, or I was a Polynesian girl, or I was an Egyptian girl." Another stock character she often appeared as was a Hispanic "spitfire" ( a word she came to despise). ![]() "And that meant I had to play anything that was not American. "I became the house ethnic," Moreno told NPR in 2013 about her early days in the movies. However, Moreno soon discovered that Hollywood "didn’t know what to do with a Latina girl." With no Latina role model in Hollywood, she decided to emulate Elizabeth Taylor, an approach that helped her land a contract with MGM at the age of 17. As her career began, Moreno 'became the house ethnic'Ī young Moreno (who started life as Rosa Dolores Alverio) knew she wanted to become an actress. Yet before playing Anita, Moreno had languished in Hollywood roles that relegated her to being a "resident utility ethnic." And her Oscar win didn't change this state of affairs, so Moreno refused to film movies for the next seven years because she wasn't willing to continue in demeaning roles. Being cast as Anita in 1961's West Side Story earned her an Academy Award, the first in a collection of laurels that would grow to include a Grammy, a Tony, two Emmys and a Peabody Award. After moving from Puerto Rico to New York City when she was five, she was on Broadway at the age of 13 and on her way to Hollywood by the time she was 17. At first glance, Rita Moreno's career appears to consist of triumph after triumph. ![]()
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