HEY,YOU GUYS! The iconic Rita Moreno turned 81 this week (December 11)!
If you know what that line is from that’s probably one of the first times you saw Rita. She screamed the opening line of the Electric Company, the PBS children’s show that aired from 1971-1985. Rita is a singer, dancer, and actor with many credits to her name in film, tv, stage, and music. You probably have seen her in West Side Story (1961) as Anita, the role for which she is best remembered and which earned her an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. If you’re a fan of cable programming, perhaps you saw her on HBO’s OZ, the prison dramatic series where she played Sister Pete, a psychiatrist nun counseling prisoners. She’s currently on TV Land’s “Happily Divorced” where she plays Fran Drescher’s mother.
Rita is entertainment royalty. She’s part of an elite small club of artists that have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award. She was also honored with the National Medal of Arts in 2009 by President Barack Obama.
Happy birthday & many more, Rita!
