Chita Rivera is part of a generation of Latinas who had no choice but to be the first. Like every true legend, like every artist who tirelessly worked to make her mark, Rivera’s life is filled with stories that are nothing short of extraordinary.
She leaves to future generations a legacy that is not only inspiring but also one for the record books. She stands as one of the most nominated actors in Tony Awards history, with ten nominations throughout her career. She is a two-time Tony Award winner and a recipient of the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. She's also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. And yes, she was the first Latina to be honored by the Kennedy Center in 2002, at 69 years old.
Before her passing at 91 in 2024, she left us a piece of her life beautifully captured in her memoir, Chita. Page by page, readers discover a woman of great depth and humanity, someone who faced life with courage, humor, and an unshakable spirit. The book was written with Patrick Pacheco, the brilliant journalist, playwright, and cultural storyteller who has spent his career capturing the magic of theater and the artists who define it.
"I was a tomboy. I climbed trees, rode my bike with my feet on the handlebars. I loved jumping from the sofa to the chair to the coffee table and then to another chair."
Chita broke the coffee table, but instead of punishing her, her mother enrolled her in ballet classes at the prestigious Jones-Haywood School of Dance.
Rivera acknowledged that writing her memoir had taken a long time. “I’ve long considered writing my memoirs, but I’ve never been one to look back… until now,” she said in a statement. For Chita, after years of living in the spotlight, she wanted to share her story. “I couldn’t be more pleased to pass on my experience to a new generation.”
From a tomboy to a gifted ballerina, and from late-night salsa sessions at the Palladium in New York to the bright lights of Broadway, her journey is a masterclass in leadership through art. It is the story of a woman whose brilliance didn’t just light up the stage; it defined an era. “I don't think you know how much you can do until you try,” said Rivera.
Rivera’s story begins in Washington, D.C., in 1933, where a star was born and given a name as grand as her destiny: Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Montestuco Florentina Carnemacaral del Fuente. It's a name that could have only belonged to a legend.
She had music in her blood. Her father, Pedro Julio Figueroa del Rivero, was a Puerto Rican clarinetist and saxophonist who played in the U.S. Navy Band. Her mother, Katherine Anderson, an American woman of Scottish and Irish descent, cared for their five children. When Chita was just seven, her father passed away, leaving her mother to raise the family on her own.
Destiny had its way with Chita’s career more than once. Funny how that happens. The three Broadway roles she made entirely her own, Anita in "West Side Story," Rosie in "Bye Bye Birdie," and Velma Kelly in "Chicago," never made it to her on the big screen.
In the movies, those roles went to Rita Moreno, Janet Leigh, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. But Chita never held a grudge. She had already owned those roles where it mattered most, on stage. By the time Chicago hit theaters, she was cheering from the sidelines. When asked about Zeta-Jones, she smiled and said, “She’s the perfect choice.” That is Rivera: gracious, confident, and timeless.
"Many of the shows I danced in do not exist on film, but they exist in the memory of those who were in the theater at that moment. And nothing can replace that."
In one of those ups and downs that every star faces, life came to test her strength. While Chita was shining on stage, her career came to a sudden stop in 1986 after a car accident in New York left her with a severe leg injury while performing in "Jerry’s Girls." Doctors had to insert multiple pins to repair her shattered leg. “Just like the movies, they told me I would never dance again,” she told Variety in 2005. “And just like the movies, here I am, I don’t know how many performances later.”
Not long after, the right opportunity arrived. In "Kiss of the Spider Woman," Chita played Aurora, the mysterious and captivating Spider Woman. The role was haunting, glamorous, and powerful all at once. It became one of her most celebrated performances, the kind that reminded everyone why she was, and always would be, a Broadway legend.
One of the most powerful revelations in her memoir is her view of life and how that role helped her come to terms with death. Through the character of Aurora, Chita found a deeper understanding of transformation, of learning how to let go, and of the beauty that can exist even in life’s most fragile moments.
There are two Chitas, as she mentions in her beautiful memoir, “I always used to think that we should have two lifetimes: one to try it out, and the second one to know what’s coming.” There is Chita, the light. The smile that greets the world with grace and fire. And then there is Dolores, the shadow beneath the spotlight—the one who asks, “What is it you want?”
In her memoir, Rivera reveals them both. “Chita is, ‘Hello, how are you? It’s so nice to be here.’ Dolores is, ‘What is it you want?’ It’s a darker side. I believe that Dolores is responsible for me having a career. She’s the guts. She’s the courage.” Together they dance, one feeding the other. Chita, the star the world adored. Dolores, the force that made her unstoppable."
Rivera reminds us what true power looks like. She was a movement, a standard of excellence that will continue to guide generations of Latinas who dare to dream bigger, work harder, and shine brighter.
Rivera passed away on January 30, 2024, in New York City, just days after her 91st birthday. In a 2023 interview with CBS Mornings, Chita spoke about the afterlife and the possibility of reincarnation.
"If I come back, I want to come back as a dancer. That will be my second life."
Chita is survived by her daughter, actress and dancer Lisa Mordente, the result of her marriage to Tony Mordente, which lasted from 1957 to 1966.