Appeared in the pilot for the TV series "Empty Nest" (1988), which was an episode of "The Golden Girls" (1985). The premise was changed in the final version of "Empty Nest" (1988), in which she did not appear.
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush [June 2004].
Cites Citizen Kane (1941), as her all-time favorite film.
Daughter, Fernanda Luisa Gordon (Fernanda Gordon), was born in 1967. A successful jewelry designer, she founded Nandiz Design. She is married to David Fisher and they have two children named Justin and Cameron.
During the first season (episode 19) of "The Electric Company" (1971), she was in a sketch in which she yelled "Hey, you guys!" repeatedly. It became so popular with the show's producers that they decided to use it as the catchphrase in their opening, starting with season two.
Husband Dr. Lenny Gordon is a retired internist and cardiologist.
In 1975, she won Broadway's Tony Award as Best Supporting Actress (Drama or Comedy) for her riotous performance as "Googie Gomez", a fifth rate Latin torch singer relegated to singing in a gay bathhouse in "The Ritz," a role she recreated in the hilarious film version, The Ritz (1976).
In 1977, she became the ninth performer to win the Triple Crown of Acting: (Oscar: Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story (1961), Tony, Best Featured Actress, The Ritz (1975) and Emmy 1977 ("The Muppet Show" (1976)) and 1978 ("The Rockford Files" (1974)).
Is a key spokesperson in raising the awareness of osteoporosis and, in 2000, was presented with an award from the National Osteoporosis Foundation for her work.
Is one of the only 12 people who are an EGOT, which means that she won at least one of all of the four major entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. The other ones in chronological order are Richard Rodgers, Barbra Streisand, Helen Hayes, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Earl Jones. Barbra Streisand, however, won a Special Tony Award, not a competitive one, Liza Minnelli won a Special Grammy, and James Earl Jones won a Special Academy.
Is one of twelve actresses to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); the others in chronological order are Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Shirley Booth, Liza Minnelli, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Audrey Hepburn, Anne Bancroft, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith and Ellen Burstyn.
Measurements: 34-22-34 1/2 (September 1956), 34-23-35 (filming The Four Seasons (1981)), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).
Mother of Fernanda Gordon.
Of the nine people who won all four major entertainment awards (Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy), Moreno won all four awards in the shortest amount of time within a 16 year time frame. Winning the Oscar in 1962, Grammy in 1972, Tony in 1975 and her first of two Emmys in 1977. Composer Richard Rodgers is second, winning his four awards within a 17 year time frame.
Portrayed Amanda Wingfield from Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie at the Berkeley Reperatory Theater in Berkeley, California (July 2006)
She made a guest appearance on an episode of "Father Knows Best" (1954) ("Fair Exchange" #5.10, originally telecast Nov. 24, 1958). Rita played Chanthini, an exchange student from India who spends a weekend at the Anderson home with her college classmate Betty (Elinor Donahue).
She was awarded "Best Guest Artist" Joseph Jefferson Award for her role in Tennessee Williams' "The Rose Tattoo" at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. [1969]
She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts on February 25, 2010 at the White House in Washington D.C. for her services and contributions to the arts.
Was the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar when she won for West Side Story (1961). She was not the first Hispanic entertainer to win an Oscar, however. That was fellow Puerto Rican José Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac (1950).
When filming her final scene in West Side Story (1961) in which her character "Anita" is harassed and nearly raped by New York street gang members "the Jets", she was reduced to tears, as it brought flashbacks of similar real life childhood experiences. When she broke down, the other actors nobly stopped and comforted her, helping her to get through the scene, pointing out that the audience was going to hate the gang members for what they were doing, as "Anita" was well meaning in what she was doing, and the sequence set up a critical plot element.