Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, known the world over as Chita Rivera was born January 23, 1933, in Washington D.C., the daughter of Katherine (Anderson), a government clerk, and Pedro Julio Figueroa del Rivero, a clarinetist and saxophonist for the United States Navy Band. She is best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in West Side Story, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and the title role in Kiss of the Spider Woman. Ms. Rivera is a Broadway star.

An accomplished and versatile actress/singer/dancer, who has won two Tony Awards as Best Leading Actress in a Musical and received eight additional Tony nominations for an exceptional 10 Tony nominations.  

One of the musicals she received a Tony award for was the original Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie (early 1960s), opposite Dick Van Dyke (“Albert”).  In 2005 she was the subject of Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, a retrospective of her career, opened on Broadway for which she was nominated for another Tony.  

On television Ms. Rivera was in the filmed-for-television version of the musical Pippin, also appearing on variety shows like The Hollywood Palace, The Carol Burnett Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. She also guest-starred in a 2005 episode of Will & Grace and in the Disney Channel’s Johnny and the Sprites as Queen of All Magical Beings.

In 2009 Ms Rivera was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President Barack Obama. In 2018, she received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement; and in 2019, Time Out New York named her “one of the best Broadway divas of all time.” 

In 2020, Ms. Rivera  was one of the three Latina Grand Marshals in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, joining actresses Rita Moreno and Gina Torres.

She was the first ever Latina to ever receive the Kennedy Honors Award.

— Latin Heat News Service

Featured Photo: Chita Rivera publicity photo

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