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Tony Award-winning Broadway icon Chita Rivera has died at the age of 91. Her daughter, Lisa Mordente, announced her death, saying she died in New York “after a brief illness.”
Rita first gained notice in the original production of ‘West Side Story’ in 1957, playing the role of Anita. She was a ten-time Tony Award nominee and two-time winner for “The Rink” in 1984 and “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” in 1993.
She also received a special lifetime achievement Tony in 2018. Performance historian Brian Herrera of Princeton University said, “She was one of the few performers who put their stamp on Broadway in virtually every decade.
She was a treasure of the American theater.”