Broadway Icon Chita Rivera Dies at 91: Know The Cause of Her Death
According to a statement released by her daughter Lisa Mordente, Chita Rivera passed away on January 30th from an ailment that was not specifically mentioned. Rivera was a triple threat on Broadway, having originated parts in iconic musicals such as West Side Story and Chicago. Her age was ninety-one.
Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero was born to parents of Puerto Rican and Irish Catholic descent. She began dancing at the age of eleven and by the time she was fifteen, she had already enrolled in George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet. She appeared in a number of 1950s Broadway musicals, including Guys and Dolls and Mr. Wonderful (starring Sammy Davis Jr.), before landing the part that catapulted her to stardom: that of Anita, the Puerto Rican immigrant from West Side Story, who sings “America” and “A Boy Like That.”
Rivera first appeared as Anita on Broadway in 1957 and returned for the West End transfer. (In the 1960 film version, Rita Moreno played her role instead.) She received a Tony nomination in 1960 for her performance as Rose Alvarez, the pop songwriter’s patient girlfriend in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, which starred Dick van Dyke.
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Rivera came into this world at the nation’s capital on January 23, 1933. His mother had Scottish and Italian ancestry, and his father had Puerto Rican ancestry. Five siblings make up Rivera’s family. When Rivera’s mother filed for a divorce and began working for the Pentagon, she was just seven years old. The Jones-Heywood School of Ballet was Rivera’s 1944 enrollment point, according to her mother. Doris Jones, an administrator at the Jones-Heywood School, later took her to an audition. Rivera received a scholarship and admission to the institution after a successful audition.
At the tender age of nineteen, Chita made her stage debut in Call Me Madam. Her electrifying portrayal of Anita in the first West Side Story production on Broadway catapulted her to fame, and she recaptured that success in London. Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Jerry’s Girls, The Rink (Tony Award), and the original Broadway casts of Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven, and Mr. Wonderful are among her most notable roles. Performing on tour: Zorba, Can-Can with the Rockettes, Sweet Charity, Call Me Madam, The Rose Tattoo, The Threepenny Opera, and Born Yesterday.
Among Chita’s many accolades are the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom and the 2002 Kennedy Center Honor, both bestowed by President Barack Obama. Chita Rivera was feted as a Living Landmark in 2018 by the New York Landmarks Conservancy; in 2016, she headlined at Carnegie Hall; and in 2015, Great Performances aired their special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin’ To Do, a retrospective of her remarkable life and career, on PBS. In 2019, Chita gave her solo concert at London’s Cadogan Hall.
Currently, she is touring with her solo album, And Now I Swing. In April 2023, HarperOne will publish her highly anticipated memoir, CHITA: A MEMOIR. Lisa Mordente, her daughter and a singer, dancer, and choreographer, is her most prized creation.
Chita Rivera Husband
The marital status of Chita Rivera is that of a divorcee. Tony Mordente is the name of her ex-husband.
Lisa Mordente, Daughter of Chita Rivera
The birth of Lisa Mordente was an iconic event in the history of Broadway. West Side Story, in which Chita Rivera played a pivotal role, had to temporarily halt production when she was born on July 30, 1958. Because of this one-of-a-kind relationship to the legendary show, Mordente was able to launch his own career in the theater.
Lisa was lucky enough to spend her childhood encircled by her mother’s theatrical world. The foundation she laid as a child, from going to concerts to loving the art form, would later be the foundation of her own illustrious career. Performing arts were deeply ingrained in the Rivera family’s identity.
Lisa decided to follow in her mother’s acting footsteps. The same fervor and commitment that characterized her mother’s legacy shone through in Mordente’s stage performances, whether it was in musicals like Marlowe and Platinum on Broadway or TV dramas like Viva Valdez and Doc. It was a tribute to her talent that she was nominated for a Tony Award in 1982 for Marlowe.
Chita Rivera’s Cause of Death
The daughter of Rivera informed CBS News in a statement that her mother passed away on Tuesday in New York following a short illness. Rivera received ten Tony nominations and won twice; she was an inspiration to young Latinas who wanted to make it big on Broadway. The 2018 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre was her special recognition.
