00:00 Broadway star Chita Rivera has passed away. The legendary performer's rep confirms her
00:05 death to NBC News, while Rivera's daughter, Lisa Mordente, tells the outlet in a statement
00:11 that her mother died on Tuesday, January 30th in New York after a "brief illness." The statement
00:17 adds that Rivera's funeral will be private and a memorial service will be announced at
00:22 a later time. For NBC News, Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero was born in Washington,
00:28 D.C. in 1933. By age 16, she had auditioned for famed choreographer George Balanchine
00:34 and moved to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet. Her early Broadway career
00:39 included roles in Guys and Dolls and Can-Can. But it was in 1957's West Side Story that
00:45 Rivera had her breakout Broadway role, playing Anita in one of the most popular musicals
00:50 of all time. In that show, she worked with musical theater legends Leonard Bernstein,
00:55 Jerome Robbins, and Stephen Sondheim, among others. Rivera was also known for her association
01:01 with the creative team of John Kander and the late Fred Ebb. For more than five decades,
01:06 Rivera starred on Broadway, ranging from roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, and Nine. She
01:11 won two Tony Awards, one for The Rink in 1984 and another for Kiss of the Spider Woman in
01:17 1993. She received a special Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2018 and was nominated for a total
01:23 of 10 Tonys throughout her career. She wowed critics with her commitment to excellence
01:28 in her craft and became an inspiration to generations of Latino performers. In 2002,
01:34 Rivera became the first Latino woman to receive the Kennedy Center Honor. In 2009, she received
01:40 the Presidential Medal of Freedom. At that ceremony, President Barack Obama said that
01:45 Rivera knows the diversity that comes with a difficult name, while noting that she had
01:49 captured America's imagination with her magnetic presence and radiant voice.
01:56 [music]
02:04 [applause]
02:06 [music]
02:13 [applause]
02:15 [music]
02:22 (upbeat music)
02:24 (upbeat music)
Comments