RITA MORENO: I understood this girl Anita very, very well. SPENCER MICHELS: But the tragedy of “West Side Story,” the Puerto Rican and white gangs fatally feuding in New York, struck a personal chord with Moreno as well. SPENCER MICHELS: Still, “West Side Story” remains the film people remember her for, especially her joyous, very funny rendition of “America.” And I think that there are very few people who know in the course of their lifetime that they are actually being swept up by history, and that they are, in fact, making history. TONY TACCONE: There are very few people throughout history who you can identify as crossover artists. SPENCER MICHELS: It wasn’t until fairly recently that she escaped the purely ethnic roles, working at Berkeley Rep in a sold-out run of Tennessee Williams’ “Glass Menagerie,” and in “Master Class,” her Puerto Rican roots off center stage for once.įor Taccone, Moreno’s journey from the barrios to where she is now is historic. Yes, I mean, she - the roller coaster of her life is compelling. TONY TACCONE: Yes, she was fired twice from MGM and Fox. SPENCER MICHELS: And, Taccone says, her career was as rocky as her romances. RITA MORENO: What was it like? It was fabulous, hilarious, tumultuous beyond belief. SPENCER MICHELS: And what was that like in terms of - I mean, Marlon Brando… We had a relationship for at least five, six years. RITA MORENO: Well, it was more than an affair. You had an affair with Marlon Brando, obviously. In “Life Without Makeup,” she is open about her relationships, some of which ended badly. SPENCER MICHELS: What she didn’t hate was the glamour of Hollywood. SPENCER MICHELS: Were you amused by this or annoyed by it? I played lots of those.Īnd then I played a lot of little senorita Lolita, conchita Lolita kind of spitfire roles, everything but an American girl. They were, of course, all the same accent, because I don’t know how an American Indian girl speaks. RITA MORENO: When I went into movies, I did nothing but speak with an accent. She played Tuptim, an unhappy wife of the king of Siam in “The King and I.” SPENCER MICHELS: Moreno was discovered, and landed at MGM, where she was assigned one ethnic role after another. It simply means that you don’t go to bed with somebody unless you marry them. RITA MORENO: Well, married five times doesn’t mean you’re narcissistic. SPENCER MICHELS: She was married five times. She was very self-involved and self-absorbed. SPENCER MICHELS: She used her talent to help support her mother, who, she says, wasn’t the ideal parent. I was an equal opportunity little Carmen Miranda. RITA MORENO: I would perform at all kinds of bar mitzvahs and Jewish weddings and Catholic weddings as well. SPENCER MICHELS: Moreno began dancing as a child. And that’s what attracted him to her story, along with her artistry. She grew assertive as her career progressed and became comfortable with herself. SPENCER MICHELS: But, Taccone says, she changed. TONY TACCONE, Berkeley Repertory Theatre: She knows she wants to be a star, and she knows that the biggest stars are Betty Grable and Lana Turner and Elizabeth Taylor. SPENCER MICHELS: Tony Taccone, Berkeley Rep’s artistic director, wrote “Life Without Makeup,” after talking with Moreno for several years about her early life. It’s about a young child who comes to a different country, doesn’t speak the language, and tries to be someone else for a major part of her life. RITA MORENO: And I found out soon enough that it wasn’t a good thing to be from another country, which is, in a sense, what this play is really about. It’s a far cry from Puerto Rico, where she was born, or the barrios in the Bronx, where she moved as a child. Reminders of her career and of the awards she won are everywhere. SPENCER MICHELS: I talked with Moreno in her house high in the Berkeley Hills, where she and her late husband took refuge from the Hollywood scene. You know, I just wet my pants when I meet somebody that I just adore. I’m very proud - proud of the awards that I have earned. RITA MORENO, actress: My God, I’m a show business animal. SPENCER MICHELS: At nearly 80, Rita Moreno is back on stage, getting ready to reprise her life and career in her one-woman show, “Life Without Makeup.” She’s rehearsing song-and-dance numbers she made famous decades ago, including her role of Anita in the 1961 film “West Side Story,” for which she won an Academy Award.Īnd after a roller-coaster career, where she broke cultural and ethnic barriers - not without pain - she shows no signs of slowing down in this production by the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Our report is a joint production with KQED San Francisco and told by NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels. JEFFREY BROWN: And finally tonight, a portrait of the performer now telling her own story.
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