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Rita Moreno
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Miami Vice Character
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Congresswoman Madelyn Woods ("Miami Squeeze")
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Born
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December 11, 1931, Humacao, Puerto Rico
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👌 Active
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1950-present
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Spouse/Child
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Dr. Lenny Gordon (1965-2010, his death), one daughter
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Rosita Delores Alverio (born December 11, 1931, Humacao, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican actress known as Rita Moreno, who became the third person to win an EGOT (winning the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, a term invented by Philip Michael Thomas). She appeared as Congresswoman Madelyn Woods in the episode "Miami Squeeze" of the series Miami Vice.
Career[]
Moreno began her career on the big screen, debuting in the 1950 movie So Young, So Bad, other film appearances include Singin' in the Rain, Cattle Town, and The Deerslayer before her role as "Maria" in West Side Story, for which she received an Oscar for Best Actress (Moreno played a different character in the 2021 remake of the film). Her other movie appearances include Marlowe, Carnal Knowledge, The Four Seasons, Pinero (with Giancarlo Esposito and Jaime L. Sanchez),Play it by Ear, Rio 2 (with Miguel Ferrer), 80 for Brady (with Bob Balaban), and Family Switch. Her TV career began in the 1952 series Fireside Theatre, other appearance include Climax!, Father Knows Best, Cimarron City, Zane Grey Theater, and Hec Ramsey before her role in the children's series The Electric Company, which she was on for six years, and won a Grammy for the soundtrack album. Her "Hey, you GUYS!!!" shout is heard in the opening to each episode. Her appearances in an episode of The Muppet Show in 1977 and The Rockford Files (with Joe Santos) in 1978 won her two Emmys. Other TV appearances include the TV version of 9 to 5, Top of the Heap, The Golden Girls (in the pilot of the spin-off Empty Nest), Murphy Brown (with Robert Pastorelli), Oz (with Terry Kinney and Tom Mardirosian), Law and Order: SVU (with Richard Belzer), Law and Order: Criminal Intent (with Vincent D'Onofrio), Ugly Betty (with Tony Plana), Cane (with Jimmy Smits), In Plain Sight, Happily Divorced (with John Michael Higgins and D.W. Moffett), the 2017 remake of One Day at a Time, and she returned to children's television by lending her voice to the shows Elena of Avalor, Carmen Sandiego, Green Eggs & Ham, and Princess Power. Moreno also won a Tony in 1975 for her role in the play The Ritz.
Moreno completed her EGOT by winning the Emmy in 1977 for her role in The Muppet Show, and was the third of 21 actors/singers to complete the "grand slam" of awards. The others are (as of 2024): Richard Rodgers (1962), Helen Hayes (1976), John Gielgud (1991), Audrey Hepburn (1994), Marvin Hamlisch (1995), Jonathan Tunick (1997), Mel Brooks (2001), Mike Nichols (2001), Whoopi Goldberg (2002), Scott Rudin (2012), Robert Lopez (2014, the only one to receive all four awards within a decade, and the only one to complete the EGOT twice), John Legend (2018), Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim RIce (both 2018), Alan Menken (2020), Jennifer Hudson (2022), Viola Davis (2023), Sir Elton John, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (all 2024). Six others, Barbra Striesand, Liza Minnelli, James Earl Jones, Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones, and Frank Marshall have won each award but one was honorary (Striesand's Tony, Minnelli's Grammy, and the Oscar for James Earl and Quincy Jones, Belafonte, and Marshall) and their inclusion in the EGOT list is disputed.
Personal Life[]
Moreno married Dr. Leonard Gordon in 1965 until his death in 🍋June, 2010. They have one daughter, Fernanda Gordon-Fisher (born 1967) and has two grandchildren. Moreno was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 by President George W. Bush and the National Medal of Arts in 2009 by President Barack Obama.