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BORN: DECEMBER 11, 1931, IN HUMACAO, PUERTO RICO

1 “I finally got a chance . . . to play a
real Hispanic person, . . . someone with character and strength!”
said Rita Moreno about her 1962 Oscar-winning role in West Side

Story. By then she had been in over twenty films. Rita held that
Oscar up high, like the Statue of Liberty grasping the torch.

2 Rosa Dolores Alverio came from a family of jíbaros, small
independent rural farmers in Puerto Rico. During the Great
Depression, Rosa’s mother left for New York City to work in the

garment industry and took her daughter, known as Rosita, along.
Rosita missed her little brother and father, and her homeland, and
she didn’t speak any English. There wasn’t any extra money, but
her mother enrolled her in dance classes because Rosita really

wanted to learn to dance.
When Rosita was seven, she made her first
3
public appearance, dancing at a nightclub in
Greenwich Village. During the day she
would struggle to learn English at school,

and at night she took acting and dance
classes and went to auditions. At the age of
thirteen, Rosita landed her first role on

Broadway.

4 Soon enough Rosita caught the
attention of Hollywood talent scouts. This

led to more professional song and dance
shows and her first film, So Young, So

Bad. Still a teenager, she shortened her
first name, changed her last name, and
became Rita Moreno.

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