Chita Rivera

Biography

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson (January 23, 1933 – January 30, 2024),[ professionally known as Chita Rivera, was an American actress, singer and dancer who originated roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in West Side Story, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and the title role in Kiss of the Spider Woman. She is a ten-time Tony Award nominee and a three-time Tony Award recipient, including one for Lifetime Achievement.She is the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor and is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her autobiography, Chita: A Memoir, was published in 2023.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/theater/chita-rivera-dead.html

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero was born 23 January 1933 in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Pedro Julio Figueroa del Rivero and Katherine Anderson. When Chita was born her father, a clarinetist and saxophonist for the U.S. Navy Band, was 33 and her mother, a government clerk, was 27. Her father was a native of Puerto Rico and her mother was of Scottish, Irish, and African-American descent.[8] Rivera was one of five children.[9] Her father died when she was eight years old.

At the time of the 1940 U.S. Census, she lived with her family in Police Precinct 13, Washington, District of Columbia. [10]

Rivera married fellow West Side Story dancer Tony Mordente on 1 December 1957 during the Broadway run of the show. Chita's performance was so integral to the show that the London production of West Side Story was postponed until she gave birth to the couple's daughter Lisa in 1958. Chita and Tony were divorced in 1966.[11]

She died on 30 January 2024, in New York City, New York, United States, at the age of 91.[12]

Wikipedia contributors, "Chita Rivera," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chita_Rivera (accessed February 6, 2017).

References

1. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:GPHR-41J
2. WikiTree contributors, "Dolores Conchita (Figueroa del Rivero) Rivera (1933-2024)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Figueroa_del_Rivero-1 : accessed 17 February 2024). cites
   1. Chita Rivera Biography on IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0729234/
   2. Wikipedia contributors, "Chita Rivera," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chita_Rivera (accessed February 6, 2017).
   3. "Chita Rivera Tony Awards Info". Broadway World. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
   4. Morris, Bob (April 17, 2023). "Chita Rivera on Love, Showbiz and All That Jazz". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
   5. Chita Rivera Biography on IMDb.
   6. Chita: A Memoir, Kindle Edition. Amazon.
   7. Chita Rivera's West Side Story | From the Archives | Great Performances on PBS.
   8. "Chita Rivera: What I Know Now". aarp.org. AARP. March 27, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
   9. "Lighting Up The Stage With Stars Of A Certain Age -- For Chita Rivera And A Host Of Other Veteran Actresses, Age Is No Longer An Issue | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
   10. "United States Census, 1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K737-KK1 : Tue Nov 28 14:30:52 UTC 2023), Entry for Sally Anderson and Katherine Del Reviro, 1940.
   11. McFadden, Robert D. (January 30, 2024). "Chita Rivera, Electrifying Star of Broadway and Beyond, Is Dead at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
   12. McFadden, Robert D. (January 30, 2024). "Chita Rivera, Electrifying Star of Broadway and Beyond, Is Dead at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
   13. Wikidata: Item Q450918, en:Wikipedia help.gif
3. Chita Rivera website < link >