Chita Rivera, legendary Broadway actress, dies at 91

Chita Rivera, the legendary Tony award-winning actress and singer who originated the role of Anita in West Side Story on Broadway, has died. She was 91. 

The actress’ publicist, Merle Frimark, confirmed the news in a statement to EW. “It is with immense personal sorrow that I announce the death of the beloved Broadway icon Chita Rivera,” Frimark wrote. “My dear friend of over 40 years was 91.”

Frimark also shared a statement from Rivera’s daughter, Lisa Mordente, who revealed that her mother “died peacefully on Tuesday, January 30, 2024 in New York after a brief illness.” 

“She is also survived by her siblings Julio, Armando and Lola del Rivero, (her older sister Carmen predeceased her), along with her many nieces, nephews and friends,” it read. “Her funeral will be private. A memorial service will be announced in due course.”

Mordente’s statement concluded with a request for privacy and asked that any donations made in Rivera’s name go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. 

Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C., Rivera showed a passion for performance from a young age, taking up ballet as a child and later earning a scholarship to attend George Balanchine's School of American Ballet in New York City. At age 19, she made her first appearance as a principal dancer in the 1952 touring company of the musical Call Me Madam before going to make her Broadway debut in a production of Guys and Dolls the following year.

Rivera would go onto star in several more theater productions — including Mr. Wonderful alongside Sammy Davis Jr. — before landing her history-making role as Anita in Stephen Sondheim's West Side Story that would turn her into an overnight sensation in 1957. She followed the production across the pond to London's West End the year after.

Her other stage credits include originating the role of Velma Kelly in Chicago, Anna in The Rink, and Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman, the latter two of which saw her win Tony Awards for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. In fact, Rivera was one of the most-nominated stars in Tony Awards history, with 10 nods to her name for her performances in Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Merlin, Nine, and her musical career retrospective, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life. She made her final Broadway stage performance in the 2015 musical The Visit.

In 2002, Rivera became the first Latina to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, and she later received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tonys in 2018.

A powerful vocalist, Rivera also released three solo albums throughout her life and appeared on several episodes of The New Dick Van Dyke Show, The Judy Garland Show, The Carol Burnett Show, and Will and Grace. Her other film credits include Sweet Charity, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Tick, Tick… Boom!

Rivera released her autobiography, Chita: A Memoir, last year. She was also a frequent narrator of Walt Disney World's Candlelight Processional.

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