Chita Rivera, Singer, Dancer, Actress – Awards Winner – Dies at Age 91 // Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson (January 23, 1933 – January 30, 2024), known professionally as Chita Rivera, was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Rivera received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, and a Drama League Award. She was the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. She won the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018.

After making her Broadway debut as a dancer in Guys and Dolls (1950), she went on to originate roles in Broadway musicals such as Anita in West Side Story (1957), Velma Kelly in Chicago (1975), and the title role in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993). She was a ten-time Tony Award nominee, winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice for her roles in The Rink (1984) and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993). She was Tony-nominated for her roles in Bye Bye Birdie (1961), Chicago (1975), Bring Back Birdie (1981), Merlin (1983), Jerry’s Girls (1986), Nine (2003), Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life (2005), and The Visit (2015).

Rivera acted in the film Sweet Charity (1969) and appeared in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), and Tick, Tick… Boom! (2021). She played Connie Richardson in the CBS sitcom The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1973–1974). She also appeared on television in The Judy Garland Show (1963), The Carol Burnett Show (1971), and Will & Grace (2005). Her autobiography, Chita: A Memoir, was published in 2023.

Early life and education
Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson was born in Washington, D.C. on January 23, 1933, the daughter of Katherine (Anderson), a government clerk, and Pedro Julio Figueroa del Rivero, a clarinetist and saxophonist for the U.S. Navy Band. Her father was Puerto Rican and her mother was of Scottish, Irish, and African-American descent. Rivera was one of five children. Rivera was seven years old when her mother was widowed and went to work at The Pentagon.

In 1944, Rivera’s mother enrolled her in the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet (now the Jones Haywood School of Dance). Later, when she was 15, a teacher from George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet visited their studio, and Rivera was one of two students picked to audition in New York City; she was accompanied to the audition by Doris Jones, one of the people who ran the Jones-Haywood School. Rivera’s audition was successful, and she was accepted into the school and given a scholarship.

Career
1951–1993: Breakthrough and stardom

In 1951, Rivera accompanied a friend to the audition for the touring company of Call Me Madam starring Elaine Stritch and ended up winning the role herself. She followed this by landing roles in other Broadway productions such as Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Mr. Wonderful starring Sammy Davis, Jr., and Seventh Heaven and dancing on The Maurice Chevalier Special in 1956. In 1957, she was cast as Anita in West Side Story, the role which would make her a Broadway star.

In 1960, Rivera was nominated for a Tony Award for creating the role of Rose in Bye Bye Birdie opposite Dick Van Dyke. She appeared three times on The Ed Sullivan Show and won raves for her performance on Broadway and in London opposite Peter Marshall, but was passed over for the film version where the role was played by Janet Leigh. In 1963, Rivera was a guest on The Judy Garland Show and was cast opposite Alfred Drake in Zenda. The Broadway-bound musical closed on the road but in 1964, Rivera returned to Broadway in Bajour and television in The Outer Limits. After seeing her perform in the musical, music producer Norman Petty approached her in New York and inquired about recording with him. Her first single was released in 1965 on the Dot Records label, with a second single issued in 1966. Making a trip to Petty’s studio in Clovis, New Mexico in 1966, she was backed by The Fireballs for a full album of Buddy Holly cover songs, but the project went unreleased.

Among many national tours, Rivera starred most notably in Sweet Charity directed by Bob Fosse, playing the role of Nickie in the film adaptation of Sweet Charity with Shirley MacLaine (1969). Rivera appeared three times on The Hollywood Palace, twice on The Carol Burnett Show (including an episode airing February 22, 1971) and between 1973 and 1974, played Connie Richardson on The New Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1975, Rivera was nominated for a Tony Award starring as Velma Kelly opposite Gwen Verdon in the original cast of the musical Chicago, directed by Bob Fosse. In addition to her ballet instructors, Rivera cited Leonard Bernstein and Verdon, with whom she starred in Chicago, as influential to her success. She later made a cameo appearance in the 2002 film version. She appeared as Fastrada in a filmed-for-television version of the musical Pippin in 1981, and was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk awards for Bring Back Birdie (1981) and a Tony Award for Merlin (1983) on Broadway.

In 1984, Rivera starred in the Kander and Ebb musical The Rink with Liza Minnelli and won her first Tony and Drama Desk awards for her role as Anna. In 1986, while earning a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the Jerry Herman musical, Jerry’s Girls, Rivera was in a severe accident when her car collided with a taxi on West 86th Street in Manhattan. Injuries sustained included the breaking of her left leg in twelve places, requiring eighteen screws and two braces to mend. After rehabilitation, Rivera continued to perform on stage. Recovered, in 1988, she toured the country in Can-Can and got involved in a restaurant venture in partnership with the novelist Daniel Simone. The eatery, located on 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenue, was named “Chita’s” after her. It soon became a significant attraction for the after-theater crowds and operated until 1994.
> > > > > > > > > >
In August 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama presented Rivera the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In the 1960s, Rivera had recorded two albums, Chita Rivera: Get Me To The Church On Time and And Now I Sing. These early 1960s albums were reissued on CD by Stage Door Records in February 2013. In November 2008, Rivera released her third solo album, And Now I Swing. . . She was the Grand Marshal of the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City on June 9, 2013.
> > > > > > > > > > >
On December 1, 1957, Rivera married fellow West Side Story dancer Tony Mordente. Her performance was so important for the success of the show that the London production of West Side Story was postponed until she gave birth to the couple’s daughter Lisa in 1958. They were divorced in 1966.

Rivera died in New York following a brief illness on January 30, 2024, at the age of 91.
> > > > > > > > > > >
Read a more fuller bio here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chita_Rivera

* * * * *

OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS

If you are thinking of committing suicide, please think of how much it will hurt your family and friends. Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.

If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com

January 2024
30: Hinton Battle, 67, American actor (The Wiz, Dreamgirls, Miss Saigon) and dancer, Tony winner (1981, 1984, 1991); Melinda Ledbetter, 77, American talent manager (Brian Wilson); Chita Rivera, 91, American actress (West Side Story, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Chicago), Tony winner (1984, 1993).

29: Tony Cedras, 71, South African musician; Yuri Ilchenko, 72, Russian vocalist and guitarist (Mify, Zemlyane); Franco Tozzi, 79, Italian singer.

28: Albert Mayr, 80, Italian composer of experimental and contemporary music.

27: Lillebjørn Nilsen, 73, Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician.

26: Dean Brown, 68, American jazz guitarist, cancer; Michel Hausser, 96, French jazz vibraphonist; Michael Watford, 80, American dance music singer.

25: Bruno Amstad, 59–60, Swiss jazz singer, cancer; Bhavatharini, 47, Indian singer, composer (Bharathi, Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu) and music director (Mitr, My Friend), liver cancer; Conrad Chase, 58, American actor, singer and reality TV contestant (Gran Hermano).

24: Anders Lampe, 59, Danish guitarist (Bamses Venner).

23: Frank Farian, 82, German singer, songwriter (“Rasputin”) and record producer (Boney M., Milli Vanilli); Melanie, 76, American singer-songwriter (“Brand New Key”, “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)”) and guitarist, Emmy winner (1989); Charles Osgood, 91, American news anchor (CBS News Sunday Morning), complications from dementia; Anders Sandberg, 55, Swedish singer (Rednex); Romana Vaccaro, 67, Czech-German operatic soprano.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2024

Photo: Chita Rivera \ From her official Facebook page