Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Lana Turner
birth date	February 08, 1921
birth place	Wallace, Idaho, U.S.
death date
death place	Century City, California, U.S.
birth name	Julia Jean Turner
occupation	Actress
years active	1937–91
spouse	Artie Shaw (1940–40; divorced)Joseph Stephen Crane (1942–43; annulled, 1943–44; divorced)Henry J. Topping (1948–52; divorced)Lex Barker (1953–57; divorced)Fred May (1960–62; divorced)Robert Eaton (1965–69; divorced)Ronald Dante (1969–72; divorced) }}

Lana Turner (February 8, 1921 – June 29, 1995) was an American actress.

Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in ''They Won't Forget'' (1937). She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as ''Love Finds Andy Hardy'' (1938). During the early 1940s she established herself as a leading actress in such films as ''Johnny Eager'' (1941), ''Ziegfeld Girl'' (1941) and ''Somewhere I'll Find You'' (1942). She is known as one of the first Hollywood scream queens thanks to her role in the 1941 horror film ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'', and her reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her performance in the film noir ''The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1946). Her popularity continued through the 1950s, in such films as ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952) and ''Peyton Place'' (1957), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

In 1958, her daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed Turner's lover Johnny Stompanato to death. A coroner's inquest brought considerable media attention to Turner and concluded that Crane had acted in self defense. Turner's next film, ''Imitation of Life'' (1959), proved to be one of the greatest successes of her career, but from the early 1960s, her roles were fewer. She gained recognition near the end of her career with a recurring guest role in the television series ''Falcon Crest'' during 1982 and 1983.

Turner made her final television appearance in 1991, and died from throat cancer in 1995.

Early life

Born Julia Jean Turner in Wallace, Idaho, she was the daughter of John Virgil Madison Turner, a miner from Hohenwald, Tennessee (died December 14, 1930), and Mildred Frances Cowan, a sixteen-year-old native of Arkansas (died February 22, 1982). A common and often repeated error is to add the given names of her mother Mildred Frances to her birth name. These names she used when she converted to Catholicism.

Until her film career took off, young Julia Turner was known to family and friends as "Judy". Hard times eventually forced the family to re-locate to San Francisco, where her parents soon separated. On December 14, 1930, her father won some money at a traveling craps game, stuffed his winnings in his left sock, and headed for home. He was later found dead on the corner of Minnesota and Mariposa Streets, on the edge of Potrero Hill and the Dogpatch District in San Francisco, his left shoe and sock missing. The robbery and murder were never solved. Soon after, her mother developed health problems and was advised by her doctor to move to a drier climate. With her ten-year-old daughter, she moved to Los Angeles in 1931.

Mildred and Lana were very poor, and Turner was sometimes separated from her mother, living with friends or acquaintances so that the family could save money. Her mother worked as a beautician to support them. After Turner was discovered, her mother became the overseer of Turner's career.

Film career

Turner's discovery at a Hollywood drug store is a show-business legend. As a sixteen-year-old student at Hollywood High School, Turner skipped a typing class and bought a Coke at the Top Hat Cafe located on the southeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place (not Schwab's Pharmacy), where she was spotted by William R. Wilkerson, publisher of ''The Hollywood Reporter''. Wilkerson was attracted by her beauty and physique, and referred her to the actor/comedian/talent agent Zeppo Marx. Marx's agency immediately signed her on and introduced her to film director Mervyn LeRoy, who cast her in her first film, ''They Won't Forget'' (1937).

Turner earned the nickname "The Sweater Girl" from her form-fitting attire in a scene in ''They Won't Forget''. According to her daughter, this was a nickname Turner detested throughout her entire career. In late 1937, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $100 a week, and graduated from high school in between takes. According to LeRoy, it was thanks to him that she made the switch, for he left Warners to work at MGM and was advised by studio head Jack Warner to take her with him, because Warner believed that she wouldn't "amount to anything." Her first starring role for MGM was scheduled to be an adaption of ''The Sea-Wolf'', co-starring Clark Gable, but the project was eventually canned. Instead, she was assigned opposite teen idol Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy film ''Love Finds Andy Hardy'' (1938). It was this appearance that convinced Louis B. Mayer that LeRoy's protégé Turner could be the next Jean Harlow, a sex symbol who had died six months before Turner's arrival at MGM.

Mayer turned her into a glamorous star, mostly popular among college boys, and gave her the leads in several teen-oriented films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, such as ''Dramatic School'' (1938), ''These Glamour Girls'' (1939) and ''Dancing Co-Ed'' (1939). In early 1940, she was also set to star in a remake of ''Our Dancing Daughters'', but the film was never made. From the beginning of her career, Turner stood her ground on her beliefs and was one of the few actresses at MGM to go against Mayer's wishes.

Turner reached the height of her fame in the 1940s and 1950s. During World War II, Turner became a popular pin-up girl due to her popularity in such films such as ''Ziegfeld Girl'' (1941), ''Johnny Eager'' (1942), and four films with Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer's "king of the lot," Clark Gable. The Turner-Gable films' successes were only heightened by gossip-column rumors about a relationship between the two. Turner even had a B-17 Flying Fortress—the ''Tempest Turner''—named after her. Following the canned ''The Sea Wolf'' project, Turner and Gable were set to star in ''The Uniform'' in December 1940. Turner was eventually replaced by Rosalind Russell and the film was released as ''They Met in Bombay'' (1941).

Meanwhile, Turner was receiving much publicity for her personal life, and her career was one of the very few to be furthered by this. MGM boosted this by changing the title of her latest film to ''Slightly Dangerous'' (1943).

After the war, Turner's career continued successfully with the release, in ''The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1946), which co-starred John Garfield. As claimed in a documentary, Turner did not get along with him and when she found he was her male lead, she responded: "Couldn't they at least hire someone attractive?" The now-classic film noir marked a turning point in her career, and it marked Turner's first femme fatale role. Reviews of the film, and in particular, Turner's performance, were glowing, with a critic of ''The New York Times'' writing it was "the role of her career." While not exactly giving up her pin-up credentials, Turner established herself as a skilled actress. ''The Postman Always Rings Twice'' was thus a turning point in her career. Turner commented on this:

:"I finally got tired of making movies where all I did was walk across the screen and look pretty. I got a big chance to do some real acting in ''The Postman Always Rings Twice'', and I'm not going to slip back if I can help it. I tried to persuade the studio to give me something different. But every time I went into my argument about how bad a picture was they'd say, 'well, it's making a fortune.' That licked me."

She got the role after turning down "four pretty-pretty parts in a row." The film became a box office success, which prompted the studio to take more risks on the star. In August 1946, it was announced Turner was set to replace Katharine Hepburn in the big budgeted historical drama ''Green Dolphin Street'' (1947), a role for which she darkened her hair and lost 15 pounds. She was cast due to the persistance of producer Carey Wilson, who was overwhelmed by her performance in ''The Postman Always Rings Twice''. Turner later recalled she was surprised about replacing Hepburn, saying: "And I guess I'm about the most un-Hepburnish actress on the lot. But it was just what I wanted to do." It was her first starring role that did not center on her looks. In an interview, Turner said: "I even go running around in the jungles of New Zealand in a dress that's filthy and ragged. I don't wear any make-up and my hair's a mess." Nevertheless, she insisted she would not give up her glamorous image.]

Later that year, Turner headlined ''Cass Timberlane'', a role that Jennifer Jones, Vivien Leigh and Virginia Grey were previously considered for. As of early 1946, Turner was set for the role, but schedules with ''Green Dolphin Street'' almost prohibited her from taking the role, and by late 1946, she was almost recast. Production of ''Cass Timberlane'' was very exhausting for Turner, as it was shot in between retakes of ''Green Dolphin Street''. Nevertheless, she took the female lead in ''Homecoming'' (1948) in August 1947, only moments after finishing ''Cass Timberlane''. She was the studio's first choice for the role, but they were reluctant to offer her the part, considering her overbooked schedule. Paired again with Clark Gable in ''Homecoming'', their chemistry projected on the screen was well received by the audience, and they were nicknamed "the team that generates steam". By this period, Turner achieved the milestone of her film career, and was not only MGM's most popular star, but also one of the ten best paid women in the United States.

In 1948, Turner appeared in her first Technicolor film, appearing as Lady de Winter in ''The Three Musketeers'', opposite Gene Kelly, Van Heflin and June Allyson. In November 1947, she agreed to do the film, thereby giving up an unfinished film project called ''Bedeviled''. However, in January 1948 it was reported that she had withdrawn from the film. Initially, Louis B. Mayer gave her permission for doing so because of her schedule, but she was later that month put on suspension. Eventually, Turner agreed to make the film, but did not start production until March due to having to lose weight. In 1949, she was to headline ''A Life of Her Own'' (1950). The project was shelved for several months, and Turner insisted in December 1949 that she had nothing to do with it, saying: "Everybody agrees that the script is still a pile of junk. I'm anxious to get started. By the time this one comes out, it will be almost three years since I was last on the screen, in ''The Three Musketeers''. I don't think it's healthy to stay off the screen that long."

During the 1950s, Turner starred in a series of films that failed to succeed at the box office, a situation MGM attempted to remedy by casting her in musicals. The first, ''Mr. Imperium'' (1951), was a flop, while ''The Merry Widow'' (1952) was more successful. She gave a widely praised performance in Vincente Minnelli's film, ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952), and later starred with John Wayne in the adventure film ''The Sea Chase'' (1955). She was then cast in the epic ''The Prodigal'' (1955), but the film and her performance in general were not well received. After the film ''Diane'' (1956), MGM opted not to renew her contract. This was a difficult time for Hollywood's major studios because a recent court decision forced them to divest themselves of their movie theaters. In addition, television had caught on in a big way; the public was staying home. Turner was just one of MGM's star roster to be let go.

Turner's career recovered briefly after she appeared in the hugely successful big-screen adaptation of Grace Metalious's best-selling novel, ''Peyton Place'' (1957), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Another few box-office failures followed (''Another Time, Another Place'' (1958), for example) when the 1958 scandal surrounding her daughter's killing of Stompanato threatened to derail her career completely.

In the trail of the related negative publicity, Turner accepted the lead role in Ross Hunter's remake of ''Imitation of Life'' (1959) under the direction of Douglas Sirk. Universal Studios capitalized on her new-found notoriety; the result was one of the biggest hits of the year, as well as the biggest hit of Turner's career: she owned 50% of the earnings of the picture and for only the first year of the film's career she earned $11 million. Critics and audiences couldn't help noticing that the plots of both ''Peyton Place'' and ''Imitation of Life'' had borrowed heavily from Turner's private life. Each film depicted the troubled, complicated relationship between a single mother and her teenage daughter.

She made her last film at MGM starring with Bob Hope in ''Bachelor in Paradise'' (1961). Other highlights of this era include two Hunter productions (for whom she did ''Imitation of Life''), ''Portrait in Black'' (1960) and ''Madame X'' (1966), which proved to be her last major starring role.

Personal life

Turner was well known inside Hollywood circles for dating often, changing partners often, and for never shying away from the topic of how many lovers she had in her lifetime.

Turner was married eight times to seven different husbands: Bandleader Artie Shaw (1940). Married only four months, Turner was 19 when she and Shaw eloped on their first date. The sudden marriage was highly publicized, and there was even talks of MGM releasing her from her contract. She later referred to their stormy and verbally abusive relationship as "my college education".

Actor and restaurateur Joseph Stephen Crane (1942–1943, 1943–1944). Turner and Crane's first marriage was annulled after she discovered that Crane's previous divorce had not yet been finalized. After a brief separation (during which Crane attempted suicide), they re-married to provide for their newborn daughter, Cheryl.

Millionaire socialite Henry J. Topping Jr. (1948–1952). A brother of Dan Topping, owner of the New York Yankees, and a grandson of tin-plate magnate Daniel G. Reid, "Bob" Topping proposed to Turner at the 21 Club in Los Angeles by dropping a diamond ring into her martini. Although worth millions when they married—the ceremony occurred three days after Topping was divorced from his third wife, actress Arline Judge, who had been previously married to his brother Dan—Topping suffered heavy financial losses due to poor investments and excessive gambling. The couple's marriage resulted in a church trial for the officiant because the marriage took place less than a year after Topping's divorce from Judge.

Actor Lex Barker (1953–1957), whom she divorced. In a book written by Cheryl Crane, Crane claimed that he repeatedly molested and raped her, and that it was after she told her mother this that they divorced.

Rancher Frederick "Fred" May (1960–1962), who was a member of the May department-store family.

Robert P. Eaton (1965–1969);. A movie producer, he went on to write ''The Body Brokers'', a behind-the-scenes look at the Hollywood movie world, featuring a character named Marla Jordan, based on Turner. Nightclub hypnotist Ronald Pellar, also known as Ronald Dante or Dr. Dante (1969–1972). The couple met in 1969 in a Los Angeles discotheque and married that same year. After about six months of marriage, Pellar disappeared a few days after Turner had written a $35,000 check to him to help him in an investment; he used the money for other purposes. In addition, she later accused him of stealing $100,000 worth of jewelry.

She later famously said, "My goal was to have one husband and seven children, but it turned out to be the other way around."

The Stompanato killing

Turner met Johnny Stompanato during the spring of 1957, shortly after ending her marriage to Barker. At first, Turner was susceptible to Stompanato's good looks and prowess as a lover, but after she discovered his ties to the Los Angeles underworld (in particular, his association with gangster Mickey Cohen), she tried to break off the affair out of fear of bad publicity. Stompanato was not easily deterred, however, and over the course of the following year, they carried on a relationship filled with violent arguments, physical abuse and repeated reconciliations.

In the fall of 1957, Stompanato followed Turner to England where she was filming ''Another Time, Another Place'' (1958) costarring Sean Connery. Afraid that Turner was having an affair with Connery, Stompanato stormed onto the set brandishing a gun. Connery punched Stompanato's jaw once and took away his gun. Stompanato was soon deported by Scotland Yard for the incident.

On the evening of April 4, 1958, Turner and Stompanato began a violent argument in Turner's house at 730 N. Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills. Fearing her mother's life was in danger, Turner's fourteen-year-old daughter, Cheryl, grabbed a kitchen knife and ran to Turner's defense. Many theories abound as to what happened afterward, but it appears the teenager stabbed Stompanato, killing him. The case quickly became a media sensation. It was later deemed a justifiable homicide at a coroner's inquest, at which Turner provided dramatic testimony. Some observers have said her testimony that day was the acting performance of her life.

Later life

In 1969, Turner appeared in her only lead starring role on television in ABC's ''Harold Robbins' The Survivors'', but despite the presence of other big-name stars, the program fared badly opposite ''Mayberry R.F.D.'' and ''The Doris Day Show'' on CBS and ''The NBC Monday Movie'', and was cancelled midway into the season.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Turner appeared in several television roles, most notably as a guest star for several episodes on the series ''Falcon Crest'' as Jaqueline Perrault, but the majority of her final decade was spent out of the public eye.

She died at the age of 74 in 1995 of complications from throat cancer, which was diagnosed in 1992 and which she had been battling ever since, at her home in Century City, Los Angeles, California. She was, until her death, a very heavy smoker.

Turner was survived by Cheryl Crane, her only child, and Crane's life partner Joyce "Josh" LeRoy, whom she said she accepted "as a second daughter". They inherited some of Turner's sizable estate, built through shrewd real estate holdings and investments. However, the majority of her estate was left to her maid, Carmen Lopez Cruz.

For her contribution to the motion-picture industry, Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6241 Hollywood Boulevard.

In 1983, Turner suffered a heart attack but recovered. In the mid-1990s, Turner spoke of her belief in God.

In literature

Turner is the subject of the poem "Lana Turner has collapsed" by the poet Frank O'Hara.

Turner and Stompanato appear as minor characters in James Ellroy's novel ''L.A. Confidential''.

In music

Turner appears mentioned on the rap section of Madonna's "Vogue" next to stars from the Golden Age era of Hollywood like Bette Davis or Marilyn Monroe and in Nina Simone's "My baby just cares for me.''

Filmography

+ Films and roles
Title	Year	Role	Co-stars	Notes
''They Won't Forget''	1937	Mary Clay	Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson
! scope="row"	1937	Uncredited	Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young, Billie Burke
''''	1937	Mademoiselle Auber	Brian Aherne, Olivia de Havilland
''''	1938	Nazama'a Maid	Gary Cooper, Sigrid Gurie, Basil Rathbone
''Love Finds Andy Hardy''	1938	Cynthia Potter	Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland
''''	1938	Miss Rutherford (scenes deleted)	Dennis O'Keefe, Ann Morriss, Lewis Stone
''Four's a Crowd''	1938	Passerby (uncredited)	Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles
''Rich Man, Poor Girl''	1938	Helen Thayer
! scope="row"	1938	Mado	Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard
''Calling Dr. Kildare''	1939	Rosalie Lewett	Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day
''These Glamour Girls''	1939	Jane Thomas	Lew Ayres
''Dancing Co-Ed''	1939	Patty Marlow	Richard Carlson, Artie Shaw	Turner met her future husband Artie Shaw on this film and they married soon after
''Two Girls on Broadway''	1940	Patricia 'Pat' Mahoney	Joan Blondell, George Murphy	Remake of the 1929 hit film ''The Broadway Melody''
''We Who Are Young''	1940	Marjorie White Brooks
! scope="row"	1941	Sheila Regan		Turner's breakthrough role
! scope="row"	1941	Bea Emery	Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman	Turner was originally to play Ivy Pearson the prostitute, with Bergman playing Bea. However the roles were switched.
! scope="row"	1941	Elizabeth Cotton	Clark Gable, Claire Trevor	Turner's first of four films with Clark Gable
''Johnny Eager''	1942	Lisbeth Bard
''Somewhere I'll Find You''	1942	Paula Lane	Clark Gable, Robert Sterling	Second film starring Turner and Gable
''''	1943	Herself (guest star)	Virginia Weidler, John Carroll	Cameo role
''Slightly Dangerous''	1943	Peggy Evans/Carol Burden
''Du Barry Was a Lady''	1943	Cameo	Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly	Uncredited guest star
''Marriage Is a Private Affair''	1944	Theo Scofield West
''Keep Your Powder Dry''	1945	Valerie 'Val' Parks	Laraine Day, Susan Peters
''Week-End at the Waldorf''	1945	Bunny Smith	Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson	Remake of the 1932 film ''Grand Hotel''. Turner played the role similar to Joan Crawford's in that film
''''	1946	Cora Smith	John Garfield	Considered to be Turner's greatest performance and her signature film. Turner herself regarded this as one of her personal favorites
''Green Dolphin Street''	1947	Marianne Patourel
''Cass Timberlane''	1947	Virginia Marshland	Spencer Tracy
! scope="row"	1948	Jane 'Snapshot' McCall	Clark Gable, Anne Baxter, John Hodiak	Third film starring Turner and Gable
''''	1948	Milady de Winter	Gene Kelly, Vincent Price, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Angela Lansbury
''''	1950	Lily Brannel James	Ray Milland, Louis Calhern, Ann Dvorak	The only film Turner made with George Cukor as director
''Mr. Imperium''	1951	Fredda Barlo	Ezio Pinza
''''	1952	Crystal Radek	Fernando Lamas
''''	1952	Georgia Lorrison	Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Gloria Grahame
! scope="row"	1953	Nora Taylor	Ricardo Montalban
''Flame and the Flesh''	1954	Madeline	Pier Angeli, Carlos Thompson
! scope="row"	1954	Carla Van Oven	Clark Gable, Victor Mature	Fourth and final film starring Turner and Gable
''''	1955	Samarra	Edmund Purdom, Louis Calhern
''''	1955	Elsa Keller	John Wayne
''''	1955	Lady Edwina Esketh	Richard Burton, Fred MacMurray
! scope="row"	1956	Diane de Poitiers	Roger Moore, Marisa Pavan, Pedro Armendariz	Turner's last film under her 18 year contract with MGM.
! scope="row"	1957	Constance MacKenzie		Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
''''	1958	Maggie Colby
! scope="row"	1958	Sara Scott
! scope="row"	1959	Lora Meredith	John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Juanita Moore, Susan Kohner	Turner's most successful film. The last film directed by Douglas Sirk
''Portrait in Black''	1960	Sheila Cabot		Directed by Michael Gordon
! scope="row"	1961	Marjorie Penrose	Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jason Robards
''Bachelor in Paradise''	1961	Rosemary Howard	Bob Hope
''Who's Got the Action?''	1962	Melanie Flood	Dean Martin
''Love Has Many Faces''	1965	Kit Jordan	Cliff Robertson, Ruth Roman
! scope="row"	1966	Holly Parker	John Forsythe, Constance Bennett, Burgess Meredith, Ricardo Montalban
''''	1969	Adriana Roman
! scope="row"	1974	Carrie Masters	Trevor Howard
''Bittersweet Love''	1976	Claire	Robert Lansing, Celeste Holm
! scope="row"	1980	Vivian Cross	Teri Garr, Richard Benjamin
''Thwarted''	1991	Margo Lane	William Hauckes, Victor Helou	Turner's last film appearance

See also

List of years in film

References

Further reading

Crane, Cheryl; with Jahr, Cliff (1988). ''Detour: A Hollywood Story''. Arbor House/William Morrow, New York. ISBN 0-87795-938-2.

Crane, Cheryl; with Cindy De La Hoz (2008). "LANA: The Memories, the Myths, the Movies". Running Press, Philadelphia. ISBN 978-0-7624-3316-2.

Lewis, Brad (2007). ''Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster. The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen'' Enigma Books, New York. ISBN 978-1-929631-65-0.

Bernier, Michelle (2010). "Did these stories really happen?". Createspace.

Turner, Lana (1982) "Lana: The Lady, the Legend, the Truth". Dutton, New York. ISBN 0-671-46986-X

Basinger, Jeanine (1976) "Lana Turner, A Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies". Pyramid Books, New York.

External links

Lana Turner: Life and Legend

Advocate.com, interview of Cheryl Crane (November 26, 2008)

Lana Turner's final interview, 1994

Category:1921 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer Category:People from Shoshone County, Idaho Category:Converts to Christianity Category:American Christians Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism Category:American Roman Catholics Category:20th-century actors

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Ezio Pinza (May 18, 1892May 9, 1957) was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas. Pinza also sang to great acclaim at La Scala, Milan, and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

After retiring from the Met in 1948, Pinza enjoyed a fresh career on Broadway in the musical theatre and also appeared in several Hollywood films.

Biography

Pinza was born in modest circumstances in Rome in 1892 and grew up on Italy's east coast, in the ancient city of Ravenna. He studied singing at Bologna's Conservatorio Martini, making his operatic debut in 1914, as Oroveso in ''Norma'' at Cremona.

A devotee of bicycle riding, Pinza also undertook four years of military service during World War I, prior to resuming his operatic career in Rome in 1919. He was then invited to sing at Italy's foremost opera house, La Scala, Milan, making his debut there in February 1922. At La Scala, under the direction of the brilliant and exacting principal conductor Arturo Toscanini, Pinza's career blossomed during the course of the next few seasons. He became a popular favourite of critics and audiences due to the high quality of his singing and the attractiveness of his stage presence.

Pinza's Metropolitan Opera debut occurred in November 1926 in Spontini's ''La vestale'', with famed American soprano Rosa Ponselle in the title role. In 1929, he sang Don Giovanni, a role with which he was subsequently to become closely identified. He subsequently added the Mozart roles Figaro (in 1940) and Sarastro (in 1942) to his repertoire, a vast number of Italian operatic roles of Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi, and Mussorgsky's ''Boris Godunov'' (sung in Italian). Apart from the Met, Pinza appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1930-1939, and was invited to sing at the Salzburg Festival in 1934-1937 by the celebrated German conductor Bruno Walter.

Pinza sang once again under the baton of Toscanini in 1935, this time with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, as the bass soloist in performances of Beethoven's ''Missa Solemnis''. One of these performances was broadcast by CBS and preserved on transcription discs; this recording has been issued on LPs and CDs. He also sang in the February 6, 1938, NBC Symphony Orchestra's broadcast performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. These performances both took place in Carnegie Hall.

Pinza's repertoire consisted of some 95 classical parts. He retired from the Met in 1948 and embarked on a second career in Broadway musicals. In April 1949, he appeared in Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''South Pacific'', originating the role of French Planter Emil de Becque, and his operatic-style, highly expressive performance of the hit song "Some Enchanted Evening" made him a matinée idol and a national celebrity. In 1950, he received a Tony Award for best lead actor in a musical. (His understudy in the musical, Richard Eastham, went on to establish an acting career.)

Pinza became a member of Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, and lived in a private house adjacent to the fifth golf hole of the South Course. In 1953, he had his own short-lived NBC situation comedy on TV, ''Bonino'', in which he appeared as a recently widowed Italian-American opera singer trying to rear six children. Two of the children were portrayed by Van Dyke Parks and Chet Allen, who had also been with the American Boychoir. Mary Wickes appeared on ''Bonino'' as the bossy housekeeper. Then, in 1954, he appeared in the Broadway production of ''Fanny'' opposite Florence Henderson.

thumb|300px|The grave of Ezio PinzaShortly before his death, Pinza completed his memoirs, which were published in 1958 by Rinehart & Co., Inc. Photos taken during his career, as well as images of his family, were included in the book.

Pinza died of a stroke at the age of 64 in Stamford, Connecticut. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. He is interred at Putnam Cemetery, in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Devoid of academic training, Pinza was unable to sight-read a musical score. He would listen, however, to his part played on the piano, and then sing it accurately, such was the precision of his ear. Pinza succeeded the great Italian basses Francesco Navarini and Vittorio Arimondi, both of whom enjoyed international opera careers during the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries, and Nazzareno De Angelis, who arrived on the scene in the early 1900s. (Another of his eminent predecessors in the Italian operatic repertoire was the Spaniard Jose Mardones, who had appeared regularly with the Boston and Met companies between 1909 and 1926.) Tancredi Pasero, whose vibrant voice sounded remarkably similar to Pinza's, was his chief contemporary rival among Italian-born basses. Pasero, however, lacked Pinza's magnetic personality.

Pinza appeared in several films, beginning with 1947's ''Carnegie Hall'', which featured a number of famous classical singers, musicians, conductors, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He also can be seen in a few MGM movies (in Technicolor), including ''Mr. Imperium'' with Lana Turner and ''Strictly Dishonorable'', both released in 1951. His final big-screen appearance was in 1953's ''Tonight We Sing'', playing the famous Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin in a movie biography of impresario Sol Hurok. During this movie, Pinza sings a portion of Mussorgsky's ''Boris Godunov'' in the original Russian.

Pinza hosted his own television musical program during 1951, which for a time alternated with ''The RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day'', later named ''The Dennis Day Show''. Pinza continued to make appearances on American television until 1955.He appeared on NBC's ''The Martha Raye Show''.

Pinza had sung opposite many celebrated singers at the Met during his heyday. They included, among others, such international stars as Rosa Ponselle, Elisabeth Rethberg, Giovanni Martinelli, Beniamino Gigli, Lawrence Tibbett and Giuseppe De Luca. An interesting bit of trivia is the fact that all the water fountains at the Met were dedicated to him.

Recordings

Pinza recorded extensively for HMV and the Victor Talking Machine Company during his prime in the 1920s and 1930s. These 78-rpm discs consist largely of individual operatic arias and some ensemble pieces (plus a complete ''Verdi Requiem'' conducted by Carlo Sabajno in 1927, and another with Tullio Serafin in 1939). They are prized by music critics and general listeners alike for the exceptional beauty of voice and the fine musicianship that Pinza displays on them. Today, they are freely available on various CD reissues.

As late as 1953, Pinza was still committing arias to disc, although his voice was now in obvious decline. Previously, in the mid-1940s, he had made a few 78-rpm albums for Columbia Records that have been re-released since on CD. He occasionally recorded popular songs and was featured on Columbia's original cast recording of ''South Pacific'' with Mary Martin, which was sold on both LP and 78-rpm discs. This recording has been digitally remastered from the original magnetic tapes by Sony and reissued on CD. Pinza performed, too, on the RCA Victor original cast album of ''Fanny'' in 1954.

References

''The Grand Tradition'' by John Steane, Duckworth, London, 1974.

''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'' (second edition), edited by Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack, Oxford University Press, London, 1980.

Liner notes from ''Ezio Pinza: Bass Arias'', Pearl CD, GEM 0061, issued in 1999; and from ''Ezio Pinza: Opera Arias'', EMI CD, CDH 7 64253 2, issued in 1992.

External links

MetOpera database

Category:People from Rome (city) Category:American male singers Category:Italian male singers Category:Operatic basses Category:Italian musical theatre actors Category:Italian opera singers Category:Italian television actors Category:Tony Award winners Category:RCA Victor artists Category:1892 births Category:1957 deaths

ca:Ezio Pinza cs:Ezio Pinza de:Ezio Pinza es:Ezio Pinza fr:Ezio Pinza it:Ezio Pinza la:Aetius Pinza lb:Ezio Pinza ja:エツィオ・ピンツァ pt:Ezio Pinza ru:Пинца, Эцио sv:Ezio Pinza

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Debbie Reynolds
birth name	Mary Frances Reynolds
birth date	April 01, 1932
birth place	El Paso, Texas, United States
years active	1948-present
spouse	Eddie Fisher (1955–59, divorced) Harry Karl (1960–73, divorced) Richard Hamlett (1984–96, divorced)
occupation	Actress, dancer, singer
website	debbiereynolds.com }}

Debbie Reynolds (born April 1, 1932) is an American actress, singer, and dancer.

She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) gave her a small, but significant part in the film ''Three Little Words'' (1950), then signed her to a seven-year contract. In her next film, ''Two Weeks with Love'' (1950), she had a hit with the song "Aba Daba Honeymoon". However, it was her first leading role, in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), that set her on the path to fame. By the mid 1950s, she was a major star. Other notable successes include ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957), in which her rendition of the song "Tammy" reached number one on the music charts, and ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She continues to perform successfully on stage, television and film to the present day.

Her personal life has not gone as well. Her first marriage, to popular singer Eddie Fisher, produced a son and a daughter, actress/author Carrie Fisher, but ended in divorce in 1959 when Fisher and her former (and later) friend Elizabeth Taylor fell in love. Her second and third marriages also ended disastrously, each time ruining her financially.

She is a noted collector of film memorabilia, beginning with the landmark 1972 MGM auction. In June 2011, unable to find a suitable home for her large collection, she began auctioning it off.

Early life

She was born Mary Frances Reynolds in El Paso, Texas, the second child of Maxine N. (''née'' Harmon; 1913–1999) and Raymond Francis Reynolds (1903–1986), who was a carpenter for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Her parents were of Irish ancestry. Reynolds was a Girl Scout and a troop leader (a scholarship in her name is offered to high-school age Girl Scouts). Her family moved to Burbank, California, in 1939, and she was raised in a strict Nazarene faith. At age 16, while a student at Burbank's John Burroughs High School, Reynolds won the Miss Burbank Beauty Contest, a contract with Warner Bros., and acquired a new first name.

Career

Reynolds regularly appeared in movie musicals during the 1950s and had several hit records during the period. Her song "Aba Daba Honeymoon" (featured in the film ''Two Weeks with Love'' (1950) as a duet with Carleton Carpenter) was a top-three hit in 1951. Her most high-profile film role was in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952) as Kathy Selden. In ''Bundle of Joy'' (1956) she appeared with her then-husband, Eddie Fisher.

Her recording of the song "Tammy" (from her film ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957)) earned her a gold record, and was the best-selling single by a female vocalist in 1957. It was number one for five weeks on the ''Billboard'' pop charts. In the movie (the first of the ''Tammy'' film series), she co-starred with Leslie Nielsen.

In 1959, Reynolds recorded her first album for Dot Records, simply called ''Debbie'', which included her own selection of twelve standards including "S’posin'", "Moonglow," "Mean To Me" and "Time After Time." Bing Crosby paid tribute to Reynolds in the sleeve notes accompanying the album thus:

Someone recently said, and with reasonable accuracy I would think, that good singers make good actors. Evidence in support of this belief is available in the recent performances of Sinatra and Martin, for instance, but I would like to put forth also the proposition that the reverse is quite true: good actors make good singers. Assuming they can carry a tune. We all know that Debbie is better than a good actress — she’s VERY good, and we all know she can sing with a lilt and a listenable quality that’s genuinely pleasant and agreeable. Witness “Tammy”. It was small surprise to me then that when I listened to this beautiful album she has etched for Dot, I found myself captivated and enchanted. Quite obviously Debbie had spent a great deal of time selecting the songs to be included, because she’s made them her own, and invested them with a sincerity that’s inescapable — of contrasting moods to be sure, but the moods are there, and to me, mighty effective. And that, mes amis, is artistry.

Reynolds also scored two other top-25 ''Billboard'' hits with "A Very Special Love" (1958) and "Am I That Easy to Forget" (1960) — a pop-music version of a country-music hit made famous by both songwriters Carl Belew (in 1959), Skeeter Davis (in 1960), and several years later by singer Engelbert Humperdinck. She has released several albums of both her vintage performances and her later recordings.

During these years, she also headlined in major Las Vegas showrooms.

Her starring role in ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964) led to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She then portrayed Jeanine Deckers in ''The Singing Nun'' (1966).

In what Reynolds has called the "stupidest mistake of my entire career", she made headlines in 1970 after instigating a fight with the NBC television network over cigarette advertising on her eponymous television series; NBC cancelled the show.

Reynolds continues to make appearances in film and television. She played Helen Chappel Hackett's mother, Deedee Chappel, on an episode of "''Wings''" entitled, "If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother," which originally aired on November 22, 1994. From 1999 to its 2006 series finale, she played Grace Adler's ditzy mother, Bobbi Adler, on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006), which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2000. She also plays a recurring role in the Disney Channel Original Movie ''Halloweentown'' film series as Aggie Cromwell. Reynolds made a guest appearance as a presenter at the 69th Academy Awards in 1997.

Reynolds appeared in her West End show ''Debbie Reynolds: Alive and Fabulous.'' In June 2010, her publicist Edward Lozzi secured her a role as a regular columnist for the weekly paper ''Globe,'' replacing Ivana Trump in answering reader queries.

Awards and nominations

Reynolds won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''The Catered Affair'' (1956).

She has received various nominations for awards including: an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964), a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for ''The Debbie Reynolds Show'' (1970), a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for ''Mother'' (1996) and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, for her role of Bobbi Adler in the sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (2000). In 1996 and 1997, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy, in the American Comedy Awards.

Her foot and hand prints are preserved at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6654 Hollywood Boulevard.

In November 2006, Reynolds received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from Chapman University (Orange, California). On May 17, 2007, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Nevada, Reno, (Reno, Nevada) where she had contributed for many years to the film-studies program. In her acceptance speech, she referred to the University as "Nevahda...Arizona".

Film memorabilia

Reynolds has amassed a large collection of movie memorabilia, beginning with the landmark 1970 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer auction, and displayed them, first in a museum at her Las Vegas hotel and casino during the 1990s and later in a museum close to the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles. On several occasions, she has auctioned off items from the collection.

The museum was to relocate to be the centerpiece of the Belle Island Village tourist attraction in the resort city of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, but the developer went bankrupt. The museum itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2009.

Todd Fisher, Reynolds' son, announced that his mother was "heartbroken" to have to auction off her collection. It was valued at $10.79 million in the bankruptcy filing. ''The Vancouver Sun'' reported that Profiles in History has been given the responsibility of conducting a series of auctions beginning in June and continuing into December 2011. Among the "more than 3500 costumes, 20,000 photographs, and thousands of movie posters, costume sketches, and props" to be sold are Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and Marilyn Monroe's white "subway dress", whose skirt is lifted up by the breeze from a passing subway train in the film ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1955).

On June 18, 2011, the subway dress was sold for $4.6 million dollars, far in excess of pre-auction estimates of $1-2 million. Another Monroe dress, which she wore in ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'', fetched $1.2 million, four times the upper pre-sale expectation.

Personal life

Reynolds has been married three times.

She and Eddie Fisher were married in 1955. They are the parents of Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher. A public scandal ensued when Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor fell in love following the death of Taylor's then-husband Mike Todd, and Reynolds and Fisher were divorced in 1959. In 2011, first on the Oprah show only weeks before Elizabeth Taylor's death from congestive heart failure, Reynolds explained that she and Taylor happened to be traveling on the ocean liner "Queen Elizabeth" at the same time when they made up. Debbie sent a note to Taylor's room, and Taylor sent a note in reply asking to have dinner with Debbie and end their feud. The two reconciled, and, as Debbie put it, "...we had a wonderful evening with a lot of laughs". Reynolds said of Taylor in an interview with Popeater that "[Elizabeth] went through her younger years of just obtaining what she wanted, and later in life she became a little more aware of other people's feelings" and also said of her legendary friend, "Elizabeth worked really hard all of her life and she raised her children really well. She worked really hard for HIV; I've worked hard for mental health. We both feel we've done our job and our commitment to the community" and "I'm very sorry for Elizabeth's passing. She was the most glamorous star of our generation, and women liked her and men adored her, including my husband [Fisher]. She was a symbol of stardom and her legacy will go on forever".

Her second marriage, to millionaire businessman Harry Karl, lasted from 1960 to 1973. At its end, she found herself in financial difficulty because of Karl's gambling and bad investments.

Reynolds was married to real estate developer Richard Hamlett from 1984 to 1996. They purchased Greek Isles Hotel & Casino, a small hotel and casino in Las Vegas, but it was not a success. In 1997, Reynolds was forced to declare bankruptcy.

Reynolds has been active in the Thalians Club, a charitable organization.

She resides in Beverly Hills next door to her daughter Carrie.

Her maternal grandmother Joan Harmon (September 5, 1883 – October 31, 1932) was an actress who worked on Broadway from 1929 until late 1930.

In keeping with the celebrity tradition of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival of Winchester, Virginia, Reynolds was honored as the Grand Marshal of the 2011 ABF that took place from April 26 to May 1, 2011.

Filmography

Features:

''June Bride'' (1948)

''The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady'' (1950)

''Three Little Words'' (1950)

''Two Weeks with Love'' (1950)

''Mr. Imperium'' (1951)

''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952)

''Skirts Ahoy!'' (1952)

''I Love Melvin'' (1953)

''The Affairs of Dobie Gillis'' (1953)

''Give a Girl a Break'' (1954)

''Susan Slept Here'' (1954)

''Athena'' (1954)

''Hit the Deck'' (1955)

''The Tender Trap'' (1955)

''Meet Me in Las Vegas'' (1956)

''The Catered Affair'' (1956)

''Bundle of Joy'' (1956)

''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957)

''This Happy Feeling'' (1958)

''The Mating Game'' (1959)

''Say One for Me'' (1959)

''It Started with a Kiss'' (1959)

''The Gazebo'' (1959)

''The Rat Race'' (1960)

''Pepe'' (1960)

''The Pleasure of His Company'' (1961)

''The Second Time Around'' (1961)

''How the West Was Won'' (1962)

''Mary, Mary'' (1963)

''My Six Loves'' (1963)

''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (1964)

''Goodbye Charlie'' (1964)

''The Singing Nun'' (1966)

''Divorce American Style'' (1967)

''How Sweet It Is!'' (1968)

''What's the Matter with Helen?'' (1971)

''Charlotte's Web'' (1973) (voice)

''Busby Berkeley'' (1974) (documentary)

''That's Entertainment!'' (1974)

''Kiki's Delivery Service'' (1989) (voice in 1998 English dub)

''The Bodyguard'' (1992)(cameo as herself)

''Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul'' (1993) (documentary)

''Heaven & Earth'' (1993)

''That's Entertainment! III'' (1994)

''Mother'' (1996)

''Wedding Bell Blues'' (1996)

''In & Out'' (1997)

''Halloweentown'' (1998)

''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' (1998)

''Zack and Reba'' (1998)

''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie'' (1998) (voice)

''Keepers of the Frame'' (1999) (documentary)

''Rugrats in Paris: The Movie'' (2000) (voice)

''Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge'' (2001)

''Cinerama Adventure'' (2002) (documentary)

''Connie and Carla'' (2004)

''Halloweentown High'' (2004)

''Return to Halloweentown'' (2006)

''Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project'' (2007) (documentary)

''The Jill & Tony Curtis Story'' (2008) (documentary)

''Blaze of Glory'' (2008) (voice)

''The Brothers Warner'' (2008) (documentary)

''Fay Wray: A Life'' (2008) (documentary)

''Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age'' (2009) (documentary)

''One for the Money'' (2011) (Grandma Mazur)

Short subjects:

''A Visit with Debbie Reynolds'' (1959)

''The Story of a Dress'' (1964)

Television work

''Jukebox Jury'' (1953)

''The Eddie Fisher Show'' (recurring guest star from 1957–1959)

''A Date with Debbie'' (1960)

''Go!!!'' (1967)

''...And Debbie Makes Six'' (1968)

''The Debbie Reynolds Show'' (1969–1970)

''Debbie Reynolds and the Sound of Children'' (1969)

''Leapin' Lizards It's Liberace'' (1978)

''Aloha Paradise'' (1981) (canceled after seven episodes)

''Sadie and Son'' (1987)

''Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder'' (1989)

''The Golden Girls'' (1990) (guest star, There Goes The Bride pt. 1 & 2 as Truby)

''Movie Memories with Debbie Reynolds'' (1991–1992)

''Battling for Baby'' (1992)

''Wings'' (1994)

''Roseanne'' (1997)..."Arsenic and Old Mom" as Audrey Conner

''Halloweentown'' (1998)

''The Christmas Wish'' (1998)

''Will & Grace'' (recurring cast member from 1999–2006)

''A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story'' (1999)

''Rugrats'' (2000-2004) (voice)

''Virtual Mom'' (2000)

''These Old Broads'' (2001)

''Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge'' (2001)

''Generation Gap'' (2002) (unsold pilot)

''Tracey Ullman in the Trailer Tales'' (2003)

''Kim Possible'' (recurring cast member from 2003–2007) (voice)

''Pryor Offenses'' (2004)

''Halloweentown High'' (2004)

''Lolo's Cafe'' (2006) (voice)

''Return to Halloweentown'' (2006)

''Secret Talents of the Stars'' (2008) (canceled after one episode)

''RuPaul's Drag Race'' (2010) Guest Judge

''The Penguins of Madagascar'' (2010) (Lost Treasure of the Golden Squirrel) (voice)

''So You Think You Can Dance'' (2011) Guest Judge

Further reading

See also

List of American film actresses

List of people from California

List of people from Texas

References

External links

debbiereynolds.com, Reynolds's official website

Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Motion Picture Museum website

Debbie Reynolds at TVGuide.com

Radio appearance WSRQ "Big Band Files w/Doug Miles

Photographs and literature

Category:1932 births Category:20th-century actors Category:20th-century American people Category:20th-century singers Category:21st-century actors Category:21st-century American people Category:21st-century musicians Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Texas Category:American collectors Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American members of the Church of the Nazarene Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American television actors Category:Girl Scouts of the USA Category:Living people Category:MGM Records artists Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:People from Burbank, California Category:People from El Paso, Texas Category:Singers from California Category:Musicians from Texas Category:Traditional pop music singers

ar:ديبي رينالدز an:Debbie Reynolds cy:Debbie Reynolds da:Debbie Reynolds de:Debbie Reynolds es:Debbie Reynolds fa:دبی رینولدز fr:Debbie Reynolds it:Debbie Reynolds he:דבי ריינולדס hu:Debbie Reynolds nl:Debbie Reynolds ja:デビー・レイノルズ no:Debbie Reynolds pl:Debbie Reynolds pt:Debbie Reynolds ru:Рейнольдс, Дебби simple:Debbie Reynolds sr:Деби Рејнолдс sh:Debbie Reynolds fi:Debbie Reynolds sv:Debbie Reynolds tl:Debbie Reynolds tr:Debbie Reynolds vi:Debbie Reynolds

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
birth date	November 25, 1920
birth place	Mexico City, Mexico
death date	January 14, 2009
death place	Los Angeles, California
birth name	Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino
religion	Roman Catholic
death cause	Congestive heart failure
spouse	Georgiana Belzer (1944–2007; her death) 4 children
years active	1941–2009
occupation	Actor
emmyawards	Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy/Drama Series1978 ''How the West Was Won (Part II)''
sagawards	Life Achievement Award1994 Lifetime Achievement
awards	Golden Boot1985 }}

Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning seven decades (motion pictures from 1943 to 2006) and multiple notable roles. During the mid-1970s, Montalbán was most notable as the spokesman in automobile advertisements for the Chrysler Cordoba, in which he famously extolled the "rich Corinthian leather" used for its interior. He also advertised the Chrysler New Yorker. From 1977 to 1984, he became famous as Mr. Roarke the main star in the television series ''Fantasy Island''. He played Khan Noonien Singh in both the 1967 episode "Space Seed" of the first season of the original ''Star Trek'' series, and the 1982 film ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''. He won an Emmy Award in 1978 for his role in the mini series ''How the West Was Won'' and a ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' from the Screen Actors Guild in 1993. Into his 80s, he continued to perform, often providing voices for animated films and commercials, and appearing in several ''Spy Kids'' films as "Grandfather Valentin".

Early life

Montalbán was born in Mexico City, but grew up in the city of Torreón, the son of Castilian Spanish émigrés Ricarda Merino and Jenaro Montalbán, a store manager. He was raised as devout Roman Catholic. Montalbán had a sister, Carmen, and two brothers, Pedro and the actor Carlos Montalbán. As a teenager, Ricardo moved to Los Angeles to live with Carlos. The two went to New York City in 1940, and Ricardo earned a minor role in the play, ''Her Cardboard Lover''.

Career

In 1941, he appeared in his first motion pictures, three-minute musicals produced for the Soundies film jukeboxes. Montalbán appeared in many of the New York–produced Soundies as an extra or as a member of a singing chorus (usually billed as Men and Maids of Melody). Ricardo Montalbán's first starring film was ''He's a Latin from Staten Island'' (1941), in which the young Latin (billed simply as "Ricardo") played the title role of a guitar-strumming gigolo, accompanied by an offscreen vocal by Gus Van.

Late in 1941, Montalbán learned that his mother was dying, so he returned to Mexico. There, he acted in a dozen Spanish-language films and became a star in his homeland.

Montalbán recalled that when he arrived in Hollywood in 1943, studios wanted to change his name to Ricky Martin. He frequently portrayed Asian characters – mostly of Japanese background, as in ''Sayonara'' and the ''Hawaii Five-O'' episode "Samurai". His first leading role was in the 1949 film ''Border Incident'' with actor George Murphy. He was the first Hispanic actor to appear on the front cover of ''Life'' magazine on November 21, 1949. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was one of only a handful of actively working Hispanic actors.

Many of his early roles were in Westerns in which he played character parts, usually as an "Indian" or as a "Latin Lover". In 1950, he was cast against type, playing a Cape Cod police officer in the film ''Mystery Street''. In 1957, he played Nakamura in the Oscar-winning film ''Sayonara''.

From 1957 to 1959, he starred in the Broadway musical ''Jamaica'', singing several light-hearted calypso numbers opposite Lena Horne.

Montalbán starred in radio, such as the internationally syndicated program "Lobo del Mar" (Seawolf), in which he was cast as the captain of a vessel which became part of some adventure at each port it visited. This 30-minute weekly show aired in many Spanish-speaking countries until the early 1970s. In 1972, Montalban co-founded the Screen Actors Guild Ethnic Minority Committee with actors Carmen Zapata, Henry Darrow and Edith Diaz.

In 1975, he was chosen as the television spokesman for the new Chrysler Cordoba. The car became a successful model, and over the following several years, was heavily advertised; his mellifluous delivery of a line praising the "soft Corinthian leather" upholstery of the car's interior, often misquoted as "''fine" or "rich'' Corinthian leather", became famous and was much parodied, and Montalbán subsequently became a favorite subject of impersonators. Eugene Levy, for example, frequently impersonated him on ''SCTV''. (In deference to American habits, he deliberately misstressed the car's name on the second syllable.) In 1986, he was featured in a magazine advertisement for the new Chrysler New Yorker.

Montalbán's best-known television role was that of Mr. Roarke in the television series ''Fantasy Island'', which he played from 1978 until 1984. For a while, the series was one of the most popular on television, and his character as well as that of his sidekick, Tattoo (played by Hervé Villechaize), became pop icons. Another of his well-known roles was that of Khan Noonien Singh in ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', in which he reprised a role that he had originated in the 1967 episode of ''Star Trek'' titled "Space Seed". There were some questions initially as to whether Montalbán had had prosthetic muscles applied to his chest during filming of ''Star Trek II'' to make him appear more muscular; director Nicholas Meyer replied that even in his sixties Montalbán was "one strong cookie" and that his real chest was seen on film; Khan's costume was specifically designed to display Montalbán's physique. Critic Christopher Null called Khan the "greatest role of Montalbán's career". When Montalbán guest starred in the ''Family Guy'' episode "McStroke" as the genetically engineered cow, he made several references to his role as Khan (such as using the quote ''"...including... my beloved wife"'').

Montalbán appeared in many diverse films including ''The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!'' as well as two films from both the ''Planet of the Apes'' and ''Spy Kids'' series. In addition, he appeared in various musicals, such as 1966's ''The Singing Nun'', also starring Debbie Reynolds. Over the course of his long career, he played lead roles or guest-starred in dozens of television series.

Prior to his death in January 2009, Montalbán recorded the voice for a guest character in an episode of the animated TV series ''American Dad!'', in which main character Roger becomes the dictator of a South American country. According to executive producer Mike Barker, it was his last role.

Injury

During the filming of the 1951 film, ''Across the Wide Missouri'', Montalbán was thrown from his horse, knocked unconscious, and trampled by another horse, resulting in a painful back injury that never healed. The pain increased as he aged, and in 1993, Montalbán underwent 9½ hours of spinal surgery which left him paralyzed below the waist and using a wheelchair. Despite constant pain, the actor persevered; he performed and provided voices for animated films and supported his Nosotros foundation. Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez created the role "Grandfather" specifically for Montalbán in his ''Spy Kids'' film series, including a jet-propelled wheelchair.

Personal life

He married Georgiana Young (née Georgiana Paula Belzer; September 10, 1924—November 13, 2007), who had a brief acting and modeling career, in 1944; they had four children: Laura, Mark, Anita and Victor. Georgiana was the half-sister of the actresses Sally Blane, Polly Ann Young, and movie and television star Loretta Young, who nicknamed her "Georgie". After sixty-three years of marriage, she died at the age of 83, on November 13, 2007, from undisclosed causes, predeceasing her husband by fourteen months.

Montalbán was a practicing Roman Catholic and once had said that his religion was the "most important thing" in his life. In 1998, Pope John Paul II named him a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the highest honor a Roman Catholic lay person can receive from the Church. He recorded a Public Service Announcement, celebrating America's generosity and hospitality to him as a foreign-born actor, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in 1986. Although he spent most of his life in the United States, he remained a citizen of Mexico and never applied for American citizenship.

Montalbán's autobiography, ''Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds'', was published in January 1980 by Doubleday.

Nosotros Foundation

The way he was asked to portray Mexicans disturbed him, so Montalbán, along with Richard Hernandez, Val de Vargas, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., Carlos Rivas, Tony de Marco, and Henry Darrow established the Nosotros ("We") Foundation in 1970 to advocate for Latinos in the movie and television industry. He served as its first president and was quoted as saying:

The foundation created the ''Golden Eagle Awards'', an annual awards show that highlights Latino actors. The awards are presented in conjunction with the Nosotros American Latino Film Festival (NALFF), held at the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood.

Ricardo Montalbán Theatre

The Nosotros Foundation and the Ricardo Montalbán Foundation agreed to purchase the ''Doolittle Theatre'' in 1999 from UCLA. The process from agreement to opening took over four years. The facility in Hollywood was officially renamed the Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in a May 11, 2004 ceremony. The event was attended by numerous celebrities, including Ed Begley, Jr., representing the Screen Actors Guild (SAG); Valerie Harper, Loni Anderson, Hector Elizondo and Robert Goulet.

When Montalbán rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair, he repeated "the five stages of the actor" that he famously stated in several interviews and public speeches: # Who is Ricardo Montalbán? # Get me Ricardo Montalbán. # Get me a Ricardo Montalbán type. # Get me a young Ricardo Montalbán. # Who is Ricardo Montalbán?

He then jokingly added two more stages:

"Wait a minute—isn't that What's-his-name?", referring to his role in the ''Spy Kids'' movies

"Who the hell is that?", believing that to be the reaction of people seeing his name on the theater marquee Contrary to his assertions, a young generation is somewhat familiar with him through his voice as Señor Senior, Sr. in five ''Kim Possible'' television episodes from 2002–2007 and as the grandfather in the movies ''Spy Kids 2'' and ''Spy Kids 3''.

Montalbán then spoke about the goal of the Nosotros organization:

Death

Montalbán died on January 14, 2009 at his home in the Greater Los Angeles Area, at age 88. According to his son-in-law Gilbert Smith, Montalbán died of "complications from advancing age". His cause of death was later revealed to be congestive heart failure. He is buried next to his wife in Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery.

Filmography

Film
! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
1941	Soundies musical shorts	Chorus member and crowd extra	appeared in at least two dozen titles
1943	''Santa''	Jarameño
1944	''La Fuga''	Teniente
1947		Mario Morales
	''On an Island with You''	Ricardo Montez
''The Kissing Bandit''	Fiesta Specialty Dancer
		José O'Rourke
''Border Incident''	Pablo Rodriguez
	Rodriguez
	''Mystery Street''	Lieutenant Peter Morales	Alternative title: ''Murder at Harvard''
''Two Weeks With Love''	Demi Armendez
''Right Cross''	Johnny Monterez
		Ironshirt (Blackfoot war chief)
	Marcos Zappa
1952	''My Man and I''	Chu Chu Ramirez
1953	''Latin Lovers''	Roberto Santos
1954	''The Saracen Blade''	Pietro Donati
1955	''A Life in the Balance''	Antonio Gómez
1956	''Three for Jamie Dawn''	George Lorenz
1957	''Sayonara''	Nakamura
1960	''Let No Man Write My Epitaph''	Louie Ramponi
1962		Major Padula
1963	''Love Is a Ball''	Duke Gaspard Ducluzeau	Alternative title: ''All This and Money Too''
1964	''Cheyenne Autumn''	Little Wolf
1965	''The Money Trap''	Pete Delanos
		Phil Benton
	Father Clementi
1967	''The Longest Hundred Miles''	Father Sanchez
1968	''Sol Madrid''	Jalisco	Alternative title: ''The Heroin Gang''
1969		Vittorio Vidal
		Natachai
''Escape from the Planet of the Apes''	Armando
1972	''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes''	Armando
1973	''The Train Robbers''	The Pinkerton man
1974		Captain Esteban
1982	''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan''	Khan Noonien Singh
1984	''Cannonball Run II''	King
1988	''The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!''	Vincent Ludwig
2002	''Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams''	Grandfather
2003	''Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over''	Grandfather
2006		The Head of Council	Voice
Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1956	''General Electric Theater''	Esteban	1 episode
1957	''Wagon Train''	Jean LeBec	1 episode
1958	''Frances Farmer Presents''	Tio	1 episode
1959	''Adventures in Paradise''	Henri Privaux	1 episode
1960	''Death Valley Days''	Joaquin Murietta	1 episode
1960	''Bonanza''	Matsou	1 episode
1961	''The Dinah Shore Chevy Show''	Karl Steiner	1 episode
1961	Hamlet (German TV production) (uncredited)	Claudius (dubbed English voice)	1 episode
1961		Frank Makouris	1 episode - "Stranglehold"
1962	''Cain's Hundred''	Vincent Pavanne	1 episode
1962	''The Lloyd Bridges Show''	Navarro	1 episode – "War Song"
1963	''Ben Casey''	Henry Davis	1 episode
1964		'Spanish John' Espejo	1 episode
1964	''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''	Satine	1 episode
1966	''The Wild Wild West''	''Col. Noel Bartley Vautrain''	1 episode - "The Night of the Lord of Limbo"
1966		Damon West	4 episodes
1966	''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''	Delgado	1 episode
1967		Khan Noonien Singh	1 episode – "Space Seed"
1967	''Mission: Impossible''	Gerard Sefra	1 episode – "Snowball In Hell"
1967	''Combat!''	Barbu	1 episode
1968		Sgt. Al Cervantes	1 episode
1968	''Hawaii Five-O''	Tokura	1 episode – "Samurai"
1970	''Gunsmoke''	Chato	1 episode
1970	''Marcus Welby, M.D.''	Rick Rivera	1 episode
1972	''Here's Lucy''	Prince Phillip Gregory Hennepin Of Montalbania	1 episode
1972	''Hawaii Five-O''	Alex Pareno	1 episode – "Death Wish on Tantalus Mountain"
1973			1 episode – "Countdown to Terror"
1974		Abner Smith	Made for TV movie (pilot)
1975		Jean-Paul	1 episode
1976		Luis Montoya	1 episode
1977		Major Sergio Flores	1 episode
1978		Satangkai	4 episodes
1978–1984	''Fantasy Island''	Mr. Roarke	124 episodes
1985–1987	''The Colbys''	Zachary "Zach" Powers	48 episodes
1986		Zachary "Zach" Powers	2 episodes
1990	''B.L. Stryker''	Victor Costanza	1 episode
1990	''Murder, She Wrote''	Vaacclav Maryska	1 episode
1991		Alejandro Goldman	1 episode
1993	''The Golden Palace''	Lawrence Gentry	1 episode
1994	Heaven Help Us	Mr. Shepherd
1995–1996	''Freakazoid!''	Armondo Gutierrez (Voice)	4 episodes
1997	''Chicago Hope''	Col. Martin Nieves	1 episode
1998	''The Love Boat: The Next Wave''	Manuel Kaire	1 episode
2000	''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command''	Vartkes (Voice)	1 episode
2001		Mr. Sanchez	1 episode
2002	''Dora the Explorer''	El Encantador (Voice)	1 episode
2002–2007	''Kim Possible''	Señor Senior Sr. (Voice)	5 episodes
2008	''Family Guy''	The Cow	1 episode (McStroke)
2009	''American Dad!''	El Generalisimo	1 episode (Moon Over Isla Island).Last role before his death.

References

Further reading

External links

Archive of American Television interview with Ricardo Montalbán on August 13, 2002

Catholics in Media Associates Lifetime Achievement Award

"Ricardo Montalbán's death announced in Los Angeles"

"Ricardo Montalbán dies at 88; 'Fantasy Island' actor", ''Los Angeles Times'', Thursday, January 15, 2009.

"Ricardo Montalbán, Star of 'Fantasy Island,' Dies at 88," ''The New York Times'', Thursday, January 15, 2009.

Category:1920 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Mexican film actors Category:Mexican stage actors Category:Mexican television actors Category:Mexican voice actors Category:Mexican people of Spanish descent Category:Mexican expatriates in the United States Category:Mexican emigrants to the United States Category:Mexican Roman Catholics Category:Emmy Award winners Category:People from Mexico City Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Chrysler people Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Category:20th-century actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Knights of St. Gregory the Great

ast:Ricardo Montalbán cs:Ricardo Montalbán cy:Ricardo Montalbán de:Ricardo Montalbán es:Ricardo Montalbán fr:Ricardo Montalbán it:Ricardo Montalban lb:Ricardo Montalbán nl:Ricardo Montalbán ja:リカルド・モンタルバン no:Ricardo Montalbán pl:Ricardo Montalbán pt:Ricardo Montalbán ru:Монтальбан, Рикардо sk:Ricardo Montalban sh:Ricardo Montalbán fi:Ricardo Montalbán sv:Ricardo Montalban tr:Ricardo Montalbán

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Rita Moreno
birth name	Rosita Dolores Alverío
birth date	December 11, 1931
birth place	Humacao, Puerto Rico
occupation	Actress, singer, dancer
years active	1950–present
spouse	Leonard Gordon (1965-2010) }}

Rita Moreno (born December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award.

Early years

Moreno was born Rosa Dolores Alverío in Humacao, Puerto Rico, to Rosa María, a seamstress, and Paco Alverío, a farmer. She moved with her mother to New York City at the age of five, and took the surname of her stepfather, Edward Moreno. She began her first dancing lessons soon after arriving in the United States from a friend of her mother, a Spanish dancer called Paco Cansino, who was the uncle of Rita Hayworth. When she was 11 years old, she lent her voice to Spanish language versions of American films.

She had her first Broadway role — as "Angelina" in ''Skydrift'' — by the time she was 13, which caught the attention of Hollywood talent scouts. She appeared in small roles in ''The Toast of New Orleans'' and ''Singin' in the Rain'', in which she played Zelda Zanners. In 1956, she had a supporting role in the film version of ''The King and I'' as Tuptim, but disliked most of her other work during this period.

''West Side Story''

In 1961, Moreno landed the role of Anita in Robert Wise's and Jerome Robbins' film adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's and Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking Broadway musical, ''West Side Story'', which was played by Chita Rivera on Broadway. Moreno won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for that role. Moreno went on to be the first actress (and the first Hispanic) to win an Emmy (1977), a Grammy (1972), an Oscar (1962) and a Tony (1975). In 1985, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago.

Other roles

Besides appearing in ''Singin' in the Rain'', ''The King and I'', ''Summer and Smoke'' (1961), ''West Side Story'', ''The Night of the Following Day'' (1968) and ''Carnal Knowledge'' in (1971), Moreno appeared on the PBS children's series ''The Electric Company'' in the 1970s, most notably as Millie the Helper. In fact, it was Moreno who screamed the show's opening line, "HEY, YOU GUYS!" She also had roles as the naughty little girl Pandora, and as "Otto", the ''very'' short-tempered director. Moreno appeared in the family variety series ''The Muppet Show'', and she made other guest appearances on television series such as ''The Rockford Files'', ''The Love Boat'', ''The Cosby Show'', ''George Lopez'', ''The Golden Girls'', and ''Miami Vice''. She was also a regular on the short-lived sitcom version of ''Nine to Five'' (based on the film hit) during the early 1980s.

Broadway and television

Moreno's Broadway credits include ''The Last of the Red Hot Lovers'', ''Gantry'', ''The Ritz'', for which she won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress, and the female version of ''The Odd Couple''. In 1993 she was invited to perform at President Bill Clinton's inauguration and later that month was asked to perform at the White House. During the mid 1990s, Moreno provided the voice of Carmen Sandiego on the animated Fox show ''Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?'' In 1995, she co-starred with Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Deborah Winters and Peter Graves in the Warren Chaney docudrama, ''America: A Call to Greatness''.

In the late 1990s, she gained exposure to a new generation of viewers when she played Sister Pete, a nun trained as a psychologist in the popular HBO series, ''Oz''. She made a guest appearance on ''The Nanny'' as Coach Stone, Maggie's (Nicholle Tom) tyrannical gym teacher, whom Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) also remembered from her school as Ms. Wickavich.

Performing in the 21st century

Moreno continues to be active on stage and screen. In 2006, she portrayed Amanda Wingfield in Berkeley Repertory Theatre's revival of ''The Glass Menagerie''. She was seen on ''Law and Order: Criminal Intent'' as the dying mother of Detective Goren. She was a regular on the short-lived TV series ''Cane'', which starred Jimmy Smits and Hector Elizondo. In 2011 she accepted the role of the mother of Fran Drescher's character in the TV sitcom ''Happily Divorced''.

Family

On June 18, 1965, Moreno married Leonard Gordon who was her manager until he died on June 30, 2010. They have one daughter, Fernanda Luisa Gordon-Fisher, and two grandsons, Justin and Cameron Fisher.

Awards

Among Moreno's awards and recognitions are the following:

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress - "West Side Story" (1961)

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - "West Side Story" (1961)

"The Joseph Jefferson Award" Best Chicago Theatre Actress (1968)

Grammy Award The Electric Company Album (1972)

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play - "The Ritz" (1975)

Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (1977)

Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Drama Series (1978)

"The Golden Apple" Cue Magazine Award

Library of Congress Living Legends Award, April 2000

In 2000, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) renamed their Award for Excellence in her honor (now named HOLA Rita Moreno Award for Excellence)

"The Sarah Siddons Awards" for her portrayal of Olive Madison in the female version of the Odd Couple

"Special Recognition Award" from the International Latin Music Hall of Fame (2001)

"Presidential Medal of Freedom" from President George W. Bush in June 2004

Rita Moreno has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7083 Hollywood Blvd.

On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Moreno into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. In 2009, Rita Moreno was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.

In 2010, the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) honored her with an HOLA Lifetime Achievement Award

Filmography

Film

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1950	''So Young So Bad''	Dolores Guererro	as Rosita Moreno
1950	''''	Tina
1950	''Pagan Love Song''	Terru
1952		Lucy Gomez
1952		Zelda Zanders
1952	''''	Manuela Rodríguez
1952	''Cattle Town''	Queli
1953	''Fort Vengeance''	Bridget Fitzgibbon
1953		Soubrette	uncredited
1953		Christina
1953	''''	Jara
1954	''Jivaro''	Maroa
1954	''''	Honey Bear
1954	''Garden of Evil''	Cantina Singer
1955	''Untamed''	Julia
1955		Ula
1956	''''	Sandra Roberts
1956	''''	Tuptim
1956	''''	Huguette
1957	''''	Hetty Hutter
1960	''This Rebel Breed''	Lola Montalvo
1961		Anita
1961		Rosa Zacharias
1963	''Cry of Battle''	Sisa
1968	''''	Vi
1969	''Popi''	Lupe
1969		Dolores Gonzáles
1971		Louise
1976	''''	Googie Gomez
1977	''Voodoo Passion''
1978	''''	Esther Rose
1980	''Happy Birthday, Gemini''	Lucille Pompi
1981	''''	Claudia Zimmer
1991	''Age Isn't Everything''	Rita
1993	''Italian Movie''	Isabella
1994		Rosaria Linares
1995	''Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business''	Herself	documentary
1995		Madame Rulenska
1995	''America: A Call to Greatness''	Herself	docudrama
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	''''	Herself	documentary
2000	''Blue Moon''	Maggie
2001	''Piñero''	Miguel's Mother
2003	''Casa de los Babys''	Señora Muñoz
2003	''Beyond Borders: John Sayles in Mexico''	Herself	documentary
2004	''King of the Corner''	Inez
2006	''Play It By Ear''	Ruth

Television

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1958	''Father Knows Best''	Chanthini	Episode: ''Fair Exchange'' (24 November 1958)
1971–77	''''	Carmela Otto The DirectorPandora the Little Girl, Millie the Helper	780 episodes
1974	''Dominic's Dream''	Anita Bente
1974		Various	Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music
1976	''''	Herself
1978	''''	Rita Capkovic
1979	''Anatomy of a Seduction''	Nina
1979	''''	Herself/Host	Special
1981	''Evita Perón''	Renata Riguel
1982–83		Violet Newstead
1982		Waitress
1982	''Portrait of a Showgirl''	Rosella DeLeon	Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1986	''Golden Girls''	Renee	Episode: "Empty Nest"
1987	''''	Mrs. Granger	Episode: "You Only Hurt the One You Love"
1989–90	''B.L. Stryker''	Kimberly Baskin	2 episodes
1994	''''	Miss Wickervich/Mrs. Stone	Episode: "The Gym Teacher"
1994–98		Carmen Sandiego	voice
1994–95	''''	Angie Corea	2 episodes
1995	''''	Mom
1997–2003		Sister Peter Marie Reimondo
1998	''''	Irma Kelly
1999	''Resurrection''	Mimi
2004	''Copshop''	Mary Alice
2005	''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''	Mildred Quintana	Episode: "Night"
2005	''Law & Order: Trial by Jury''	Mildred Quintana	Episode: "Day"
2006–07	''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''	Frances Goren	3 episodes: "Endgame"; "The War at Home" and "Brother's Keeper"
2007	''''	Luisa Diaz	Episode: "George Testi-Lies for Benny"
2007	''Ugly Betty''	Aunt Mirta	Episode: "A Tree Grows in Guadalajara"
2007		Amalia Duque	13 episodes
2011	''Happily Divorced''

See also

List of famous Puerto Ricans

List of Puerto Ricans in the Academy Awards

List of people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award

References

External links

Rita Moreno Downstage Center XM Radio interview by the American Theatre Wing, January 2007, March 2007.

Rita Moreno's interview for the Archive of American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

TonyAwards.com Interview with Rita Moreno

Category:1931 births Category:Living people Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Humacao, Puerto Rico Category:People from New York City Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Puerto Rican actors Category:Puerto Rican female singers Category:Puerto Rican singers Category:Tony Award winners Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients

ca:Rita Moreno da:Rita Moreno de:Rita Moreno es:Rita Moreno fr:Rita Moreno it:Rita Moreno nl:Rita Moreno ja:リタ・モレノ no:Rita Moreno pl:Rita Moreno pt:Rita Moreno ru:Рита Морено sr:Рита Морено fi:Rita Moreno sv:Rita Moreno tl:Rita Moreno th:ริตา โมรีโน vi:Rita Moreno yo:Rita Moreno