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| This charismatic little firecracker exploded onto movie screens as the tempestuous Anita in West Side Story (1961), delivering a dynamic performance for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. It was the shining moment in an extensive screen career: Moreno played supporting roles (usually fiery Latins) in nearly two dozen movies during the 1950s. Among the best: a small but noticeable role as starlet Zelda Zanders in Singin' in the Rain (1952) and a plummier part as Tuptim in The King and I (1956). Since West Side Story her film output has been sporadic, but she's had memorable supporting roles in Marlowe (1969, as a stripper), Carnal Knowledge (1971, as a worldly hooker who services Jack Nicholson), and The Ritz (1976, in which she recreated her hilarious Broadway performance as the spectacularly untalented bathhouse entertainer Googie Gomez). The versatile Moreno was also a charter cast member of the 1970s landmark children's TV show "The Electric Company." (In fact, a spinoff recording earned her a Grammy Award to go along with her Oscar, her Tony for "The Ritz," and two Emmys, for guest shots on "The Rockford Files" and "The Muppet Show.") In 1990 the ever-energetic performer released a very successful exercise video. Still active on television, Moreno's prodigious talent has only barely been tapped; it seems there's nothing she can't do, and do well. |
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