Chita Rivera — the Tony Award-winning Broadway actress, singer and dancer — died Tuesday. She was 91.
“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, said in a statement to People.
Rivera’s daughter, Lisa Mordente, said in her own statement that her mom 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,” Mordente, 65, continued.
The family said Rivera’s funeral will “be private”; however, a memorial service “will be announced in due course.”
They have asked for any donations in her memory to be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Rivera’s career skyrocketed when she originated the role of Anita in “West Side Story” in 1957, forging a path for fellow Latina performers.
She followed that gig with the Broadway productions of “Bye Bye Birdie” — which drew her first Tony nomination — and “Chicago.”
She also starred in productions of “Guys and Dolls,” “Threepenny Opera,” “The Rose Tattoo,” “Born Yesterday,” “Sweet Charity” and “Kiss Me Kate.”
In 1986, Rivera — who trained as a ballerina from the age of 11 — suffered a blow to her dancing career when she was injured during a car crash after a taxi collided with her vehicle in Manhattan.
Her left leg was broken in a dozen places, and she had to undergo two surgeries and months of rehabilitation.
While the injury would have been career-ending for many, Rivera worked her way back into dancing nearly a year after the accident.
However, she never fully recovered.
“You’ll never see me in ballet slippers again because I don’t have my Achilles’ tendon,” she told the New York Times 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 was the recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, awarded by then-President Barack Obama.
She won two Tony Awards as best leading actress in a musical, plus a lifetime achievement trophy.
