Rita moreno young west side story9/6/2023 I don’t know if it’s going to change anything, but what it does do is reinforce a fight for goodness and justice.” “It’s pretty marvelous when someone whose work you respect speaks out. Moreno believes people with public platforms have a responsibility to speak up about vital issues: “If they have an opinion, I think it’s important for the rest of America to hear about it,” she says. “I’m sure if that happened now, you’d hear from a good portion of the United States in a very nasty way.” “If people wanted to criticize us, they didn’t want to reveal themselves,” she says before pausing. It didn’t have a negative impact on her work, at least, not one she’s aware of. He was afraid that his career would be over by participating,” she recalls. “I remember sitting next to James Garner, a friend of mine, who was gulping down Pepto Bismol because he had an ulcer. as he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Most memorably, she had a front-row seat to the historic March on Washington, a stone’s throw from Martin Luther King Jr. She used her platform to advocate on behalf of women and minorities long before it became mainstream for actors to take to social media over hot-button social and political issues. Moreno, who was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York as a child, has been effective at getting people to take notice. There are plenty of times I say ‘Oh dear,’ but nobody pays attention to that.” I don’t say fuck because it makes me smile. “It’s not a question of liking to curse,” she clarifies. “Oh, I have a potty mouth,” she says with a laugh. On the phone with Moreno, with her pithy jabs and four-letter expletives flying freely, you’d never know she’s about to be a nonagenarian. “You do have a sense of humor, don’t you?” “I’m kidding, Jesus,” she exclaims to her interviewer. “So far, everything but the Pulitzer and the Nobel,” she points out. She’s also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Kennedy Center Honor and a Peabody Award and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1961, she became the first, and still only, Hispanic woman to win an acting Academy Award, for her turn as Anita in “ West Side Story.” Following her Oscar, Moreno was one of the few to land Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards, a coveted distinction known as an EGOT. Moreno has made a career - one that spans seven decades of memorable stage and screen roles in “Singin’ in the Rain,” “The Electric Company,” “The Ritz” and “One Day at a Time” - out of defying expectations and breaking barriers.
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