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Chita Rivera — the Tony Award-winning Broadway actress, singer and dancer — died at age 91 on Tuesday.
“It is with immense personal sorrow that I announce the death of the beloved Broadway icon Chita Rivera. My dear friend of over 40 years was 91,” her rep Merle Frimark stated in a remark on Tuesday, in line with Other people.
Rivera’s daughter, Lisa Mordente, stated in a remark her mother died 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,” the remark persisted.
The circle of relatives stated Rivera’s funeral will “be private,” alternatively, a memorial provider “will be announced in due course.”
They have got requested for any donations in her reminiscence to be made to Broadway Cares/Fairness Fights AIDS.
Rivera’s profession skyrocketed when she derived the function of Anita in “West Side Story” in 1957.
She then adopted that function with the Broadway productions of “Bye Bye Birdie” — which drew her first Tony nomination — and “Chicago.”
She additionally starred in productions of “Threepenny Opera,” “The Rose Tattoo,” “Born Yesterday,” “Sweet Charity” and “Kiss Me Kate.”
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In 1986, Rivera — who skilled as a ballerina from the age of eleven — suffered a blow to her dancing profession when she used to be injured throughout a automotive crash when a taxi collided together with her automobile in Big apple.
Her left leg used to be damaged in a dozen puts and he or she needed to go through two surgical procedures and months of rehabilitation.
Whilst the harm would had been career-ending for lots of, Rivera labored her long ago into dancing just about a 12 months after the twist of fate.
Alternatively, the mother of 1 by no means absolutely recovered.
“You’ll never see me in ballet slippers again because I don’t have my Achilles’ tendon,” she advised the New York Occasions in 1993.
“I can’t do the full stretch. But I don’t have any pain anymore. The only problem is that my leg sets off metal detectors at airports.”
Rivera used to be the recipient of the celebrated Kennedy Heart Honor, awarded via then-President Barack Obama, in 2002 and he or she gained the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
She has gained two Tony Awards as Highest Main Actress in a Musical and gained 8 further Tony nominations.