NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Chita Rivera, a pioneering actor, dancer, and singer whose credits include Chicago, West Side Story, and “Sweet Charity,” has died. She was 91.
Rivera’s longtime publicist told CNN that the actor died on Tuesday after a brief illness.
With ten Tony Award nominations to her name, Rivera was long considered one of Broadway’s biggest stars, with a list of credits that includes starring roles in Guys And Dolls, Bye Bye Birdie, West Side Story, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, among others.
Rivera, whose father was Puerto Rican, also helped to pave the way for Latin artists in both Broadway and Hollywood.
Born in Washington D.C. as Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson, Rivera attended the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet before she was accepted into George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet on a scholarship.
Her first Broadway role came in 1951 when she successfully auditioned for a part in the touring production of Call Me Madam, starring Elaine Stritch.
Her film credits include Sweet Charity, Chicago, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and her final role, 2021’s Tick, Tick… Boom!
In 2002, Rivera was named a Kennedy Center honoree and was presented with a Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2009.
