Rosa Dolores Alverío may have been a small child, but in no time at all she became Rita Moreno, the star who conquered Broadway and Hollywood.
The actress, singer, and dancer is currently the only Latina among 12-strong esteemed “EGOT” winners circle – those who have bagged each an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award.
At 86, she exudes vitality, grace, and elegance but has never forgotten the racism and sexism she suffered for decades.
“Discrimination, that’s my life since I was a young woman!” she said at an interview shortly before receiving an Ellis Island medal of honour at a gala dinner honouring successful immigrants.
“Racial bias, sexual harassment was all over the place when I was a young woman on film.”
Her incredible life includes a fiery and toxic eight-year romance with Marlon Brando that pushed her into a suicide attempt, as well as flings with Elvis Presley, Dennis Hopper, and Anthony Quinn.
In the end, she married an affable cardiologist from New York, with whom she had a daughter. Their 46-year marriage ended only with his death in 2010.
In a recent interview on Ellis Island, in front of the Statue of Liberty and the spot where 12 million immigrants disembarked in the first half of the 20th century, Moreno says her life is better than ever.
“This is the best time in my life,” she enthuses. “I have a book out about my life, I have an album in Spanish… I have a career that’s ongoing… I am very, very fortunate.”
Her hair now silver, Moreno easily looks a generation younger – her face youthful, her mind quick and mischievous, and still with a dancer’s poise, dressed in a pastel blue dress and white gloves.
Asked about the secret of eternal youth, she grins.
“We carry our age very well in my family,” she said on the sidelines of the gala dinner, culminating with spectacular fireworks.
Moreno, who says she was harassed as a teenager by a former studio head, is thrilled with the #MeToo movement since the downfall of Harvey Weinstein.
“I think it’s a movement that’s going to grow more and more and more,” she said. After her first role on Broadway at age 13 came small “ethnic” roles on film – playing Indian, Arab, and Polynesian parts, and performing in the 1952 movie “Singin’ in the Rain” with Gene Kelly.
At 17 she signed a contract with MGM, and in 1962 became the first Latina to win an Oscar for acting for her role as the sexy Anita in 1961’s “West Side Story”, which narrates the rivalry between two New York gangs and is based on a Broadway musical inspired by “Romeo and Juliet.”
However, her career soon stalled. “After I won my Oscar, nobody came to me,” she said. “I was absolutely heartbroken,” she added.
“Apparently, I had finally played the definitive Hispanic character… Nobody could see me as somebody else. It was awful.”
“I was offered a couple of gang movies, and I thought ‘I am not going to do this again,’ and I did not do a film for seven years,” she said.
Nevertheless, she won a Grammy in 1972, a Tony in 1975, and two Emmys in 1977 and 1978. She currently plays a sensuous Cuba-born grandmother in the hit “One Day at a Time” – a Netflix remake of a TV classic.
But still, she is not always recognised. The New York Times courted a storm of controversy earlier this year by identifying her in a photo caption from the Golden Globes as “a guest.”
She is anxiously awaiting Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake, which has already advertised for Latino actors.
“I am very curious to see what he does with it. I am nervous about it. Listen, we did very clichéd things in ‘West Side Story’, but I am sure he’s going to avoid that because times have changed,” she said.
There are also talks, a cabaret tour, and hopes of a documentary in her future.
“I am always busy,” she smiles.