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Also by Rita Moreno:

Rita Moreno, March 2013
Hardcover / e-Book

RITA MORENO
By: Rita Moreno

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.

Media Buzz

Tavis Smiley - September 17, 2014
Tell Me More - July 24, 2014
CBS Sunday Morning - August 18, 2013
Tell Me More - May 31, 2013
Tavis Smiley - May 30, 2013
Tavis Smiley - May 29, 2013
Tavis Smiley - April 8, 2013
The Talk - March 14, 2013
Weekend Edition Sunday - March 10, 2013
CBS Sunday Morning - March 10, 2013