Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican-American actress. She portrays Lydia on One Day at a Time.

Personal Life

Moreno was romantically involved with actor Marlon Brando. It was a tumultuous relationship due to his infidelity. When Moreno became pregnant, Brando arranged for an abortion. After a botched abortion, Moreno tried to commit suicide by overdosing on his sleeping pills.

In interviews with Good Day LA (2013) and Wendy Williams (June 28, 2018), as well as her biography, Moreno stated that Elvis Presley was not a good lover. They dated for quite some time, but whenever the opportunity presented itself to take the relationship to another level, she said Presley backed off, "like a baby brother who couldn’t make interesting conversation."

Moreno stated that theater critic Kenneth Tynan stalked her.

On June 18, 1965, Moreno married Leonard Gordon, a cardiologist who was also her manager. He died on June 30, 2010. They have one daughter, Fernanda Luisa Fisher, and two grandsons, Justin and Cameron Fisher. Moreno once considered leaving her husband but could not because she did not want to break up the family.

Career

Octogenarian Rita Moreno still remains one of the busiest stars in show business and is currently working on the Latino remake of Norman Lear’s classic sitcom, One Day at a Time for Netflix as Lydia Riera.

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	So Young, So Bad	Dolores Guererro	Credited as Rosita Moreno
1950	The Toast of New Orleans	Tina
1950	Pagan Love Song	Terru
1952	The Ring	Lucy Gomez
1952	Singin' in the Rain	Zelda Zanders
1952	The Fabulous Senorita	Manuela Rodríguez
1952	Cattle Town	Queli
1953	Fort Vengeance	Bridget Fitzgibbon
1953	Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation	Soubrette	Uncredited
1953	Latin Lovers	Christina
1953	El Alamein	Jara
1954	Jivaro	Maria
1954	The Yellow Tomahawk	Honey Bear
1954	Garden of Evil	Cantina Singer
1955	Untamed	Julia
1955	Seven Cities of Gold	Ula
1956	The Lieutenant Wore Skirts	Sandra Roberts
1956	The King and I	Tuptim
1956	The Vagabond King	Huguette
1957	The Deerslayer	Hetty Hutter
1960	This Rebel Breed	Lola Montalvo
1961	West Side Story	Anita	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Laurel Award for Best Supporting Performance
1961	Summer and Smoke	Rosa Zacharias
1963	Cry of Battle	Sisa
1968	The Night of the Following Day	Vi
1969	Popi	Lupe
1969	Marlowe	Dolores Gonzáles
1971	Carnal Knowledge	Louise
1976	The Ritz	Googie Gomez	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1977	Voodoo Passion
1978	The Boss' Son	Esther Rose
1980	Happy Birthday, Gemini	Lucille
1981	The Four Seasons	Claudia Zimmer
1991	Age Isn't Everything	Rita
1993	Italian Movie	Isabella
1994	I Like It Like That	Rosaria Linares
1995	Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business	Herself	Documentary
1995	Angus	Madame Rulenska
1998	Slums of Beverly Hills	Belle Abromowitz	Nominated—ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film in a Crossover Role
1999	Carlo's Wake	Angela Torello
1999	The Puerto Ricans: Our American Story	Herself	Documentary
2000	Blue Moon	Maggie
2001	Piñero	Miguel's Mother
2003	Casa de los Babys	Señora Muñoz
2003	Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico	Dona Dolores and Woman No. 3 (voice)
2003	Beyond Borders: John Sayles in Mexico	Herself	Documentary
2004	King of the Corner	Inez
2006	Play It By Ear	Ruth
2014	Rio 2	Mimi (voice)
2014	Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks	Ida Barks
2020	West Side Story	Valentina	Post-production; also executive producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Father Knows Best	Chanthini	Episode: "Fair Exchange" (November 24, 1958)
1960	Bourbon Street Beat	Manuela Ruiz	Episode: "Suitable for Framing" (May 16, 1960)
1963	Burke's Law	Margaret Cowls	Episode: "Who Killed Julian Buck?" (October 18, 1963)
1971–1977	The Electric Company	Carmela Otto The Director Pandora the Little Girl, Millie the Helper	Cast member
1974	Dominic's Dream	Anita Bente
1974	Out to Lunch	Various	Nominated—Emmy Award for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music
1975	Mister Rogers' Neighborhood	Herself	Episode #1399
1976	The Muppet Show	Herself	Episode #1.5 Emmy Award for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music
1976	The Carol Burnett Show	Herself (skit player)	Episode #9.16
1978	The Rockford Files	Rita Capkovic	3 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
1979	Anatomy of a Seduction	Nina	TV movie
1979	The Muppets Go Hollywood	Herself/Host	Special
1981	Evita Perón	Renata Riguel	TV movie
1982–1983	9 to 5	Violet Newstead	Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy
1982	Working	Waitress
1982	Portrait of a Showgirl	Rosella DeLeon	Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1986	The Golden Girls	Renee	Episode: "Empty Nests"
1987	The Cosby Show	Mrs. Granger	Episode: "You Only Hurt the One You Love"
1989	Miami Vice	Congresswoman Madelyn Woods	Episode: "Miami Squeeze"
1989–1990	B.L. Stryker	Kimberly Baskin	2 episodes
1994	The Nanny	Miss Wickervich/Mrs. Stone	Episode: "The Gym Teacher"
1994–1998	Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?	Carmen Sandiego (voice)	Nominated—Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (1995, 1996, 1997)
1994–1995	The Cosby Mysteries	Angie Corea	16 episodes
1995	The Wharf Rat	Mom
1995	The Magic School Bus	Dr. Camrina Skeledon (voice)	Episode: "The Busasaurus"
1997–2003	Oz	Sister Peter Marie Reimondo	55 episodes ALMA Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series (1998–1999, 2002) Nominated—ALMA Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series (2000–2001)
1998	The Spree	Irma Kelly
1999	Resurrection	Mimi
2003	The Guardian	Caroline Novak	Guest stars as Louisa Olsen's (Wendy Moniz) mother
2004	Copshop	Mary Alice
2005	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Mildred Quintana	Episode: "Night"
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Mildred Quintana	Episode: "Day"
2006–2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Frances Goren	3 episodes: "Endgame"; "The War at Home" and "Brother's Keeper"
2007	George Lopez	Luisa Diaz	Episode: "George Testi-Lies for Benny"
2007	Ugly Betty	Aunt Mirta	Episode: "A Tree Grows in Guadalajara"
2007	Cane	Amalia Duque	13 episodes
2010	In Plain Sight	Rita Ramirez	Episode: "Coma Chameleon"
2011	Special Agent Oso	Abuela (voice)	Episode: "For Tamales with Love/Pinata Royale"
2011–2013	Happily Divorced	Dori Newman
2013	Welcome to the Family	Lita	Episode: "Date Night"
2013	Nicky Deuce	Tutti	TV movie
2014	Old Soul	Rita	TV movie
2015	Getting On	Sister Lily Claire	Episode: "Reduced to Eating Boiled Magazines and Book Paste"
2015–2019	Jane the Virgin	Liliana De La Vega	5 episodes: "Chapter Eighteen", "Chapter Thirty-Three", "Chapter Thirty-Two", "Chapter Thirty-One", "Chapter One-Hundred" Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series^[42]
2015–present	Nina's World	Abuelita (voice)
2015	A Gift of Miracles	Beverly	TV movie
2016	Grey's Anatomy	Gayle	Episode: "Odd Man Out"
2016	Grace and Frankie	Lucy	Episode: "The Vitamix"
2017–present	One Day at a Time	Lydia Riera	Main cast
2018	Elena of Avalor	Queen Camila (voice)	2 episodes
2019	Carmen Sandiego	Cookie Booker	Voice role
2019–present	Bless This Mess	Theresa	3 episodes; recurring role