Remembering 2024’s Losses: Chita Rivera

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Today’s dual look back at the people who passed away in 2024 is very ethnic: a Sioux and a Latina. That wasn’t planned, that’s just the way the alphabetical list fell. We start with one of the great legends in Broadway and dance. Chita Rivera I’m not much on Broadway, or dancers, but if I know who Chita Rivera was, then that should give you some indication of her greatness, longevity, and fame. But don’t let some hillbilly from Kentucky be your guide. Try these accolades on for size: two Tony awards and a lifetime achievement Tony, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Kennedy Center Honors, and three Desk Drama Awards. Her Kennedy Center Honors award marked the first time a Latin American had been so honored. Rivera’s superstardom began with the role of Anita in West Side Story (the role that won Rita Moreno an Oscar for the film version). She owned the stage (ten nominations, tied for first with the most nominations in Tony history), as well at countless television variety programs and movie appearances. Although she was retired, her death in January 2024, a week after her 91st birthday, sent tears throughout the entertainment world. Broadway dimmed its lights in her honor. Chita Rivera Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, January 23, 1933, Washington, DC Died January 30, 2024, New York, New York (brief illness) (age 91) As Ginger Rogers once famously said, she did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels. Here’s a clip of Rivera dancing in high heels on The Judy Garland Show as she sings “I Got Plenty o’ Nuthin’”: