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Celebra
March 2013
On Sale: March 5, 2013
320 pages ISBN: 0451416376 EAN: 9780451416377 Kindle: B008RD31SU Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Memoir
In this luminous memoir, Rita Moreno shares her remarkable
journey from a young girl with simple beginnings in Puerto
Rico to Hollywood legend—and one of the few
performers, and the only Hispanic, to win an Oscar, Grammy,
Tony and two Emmys. Born Rosita Dolores Alverio in
the idyll of Puerto Rico, Moreno, at age five, embarked on a
harrowing sea voyage with her mother and wound up in the
harsh barrios of the Bronx, where she discovered dancing,
singing, and acting as ways to escape a tumultuous
childhood. Making her Broadway debut by age
thirteen—and moving on to Hollywood in its Golden Age just a
few years later—she worked alongside such stars as Gary
Cooper, Yul Brynner, and Ann Miller. When discovered by Louis B. Mayer of MGM, the wizard himself
declared: “She looks like a Spanish Elizabeth Taylor.”
Cast by Gene Kelly as Zelda Zanders in Singin’ in the
Rain and then on to her Oscar-winning performance
in West Side Story, she catapulted to fame—yet found
herself repeatedly typecast as the “utility ethnic,” a role
she found almost impossible to elude. Here, for the first time, Rita reflects on her struggles to
break through Hollywood’s racial and sexual barriers. She
explores the wounded little girl behind the glamorous
façade—and what it took to find her place in the world. She
talks candidly about her relationship with Elvis Presley,
her encounters with Howard Hughes, and the passionate
romance with Marlon Brando that drove her to attempt
suicide. And she shares the illusiveness of a
“perfect” marriage and the incomparable joys of motherhood. Infused with Rita Moreno’s quick wit and deep insight, this
memoir is the dazzling portrait of a stage and screen star
who longed to become who she really is—and triumphed.
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