Chita Rivera is the first Latino woman to be awarded the Kennedy Center Honors, or “Kennedy Awards”, an honor bestowed since 1978 to five artists in different categories each year for their contribution to the performing arts in American culture, and also the Presidential Medal of Freedom, or “Presidential Medal of Freedom”, an award bestowed by the President of the United States, the highest civilian decoration in the country.

Dancer, singer, and actress Chita Rivera has performed for millions of people on Broadway, in London's West End, on national television, and on the big screen worldwide. Rivera is a three-time Tony Award winner, with ten additional nominations – she and Julie Harris are the most nominated artists in Tony Awards history.

During the golden age of television variety shows, Rivera was a guest on nearly every American must-see show, including those hosted by Maurice Chevalie, Judy Garland, and Carol Burnett.

Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson on January 23, 1933, Washington, D.C., she is best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals, including Anita in “West Side Story”, Velma Kelly in “Chicago”, and the leading role in “Kiss of the Spider Woman”.

Rivera is the daughter of Katherine Anderson, a government official of Scottish and Italian descent, and Pedro Julio Figueroa del Rivero, Puerto Rican, clarinetist, and saxophonist in the United States Navy Band. She is one of the couple's five children and was just seven when her mother was widowed and went to work at the Pentagon. 

On December 1, 1957, Rivera married fellow West Side Story dancer Tony Mordente. Her performance was so important for the success of the show that the London production of West Side Story was postponed until she gave birth to the couple's daughter Lisa, in 1958. They were divorced in 1966.

In 1944, Rivera's mother enrolled her in the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet (now the Jones Haywood School of Dance). Later, when she was 15, a teacher from George Balanchine's School of American Ballet visited the studio, and Rivera was one of two students picked to audition in New York City. She was accompanied to the audition by Doris Jones, one of the people who ran the Jones-Haywood School. Rivera's audition was successful, and she was accepted into the school and given a scholarship.

In 1951, Rivera joined a friend to the audition for the touring company of “Call Me Madam”, starring Elaine Stritch, and had the role herself. She followed this by landing roles in other Broadway productions such as “Guys and Dolls”, “Can-Can”, “Mr. Wonderful”, starring Sammy Davis, Jr., “Seventh Heaven”, and also danced on The Maurice Chevalier Special in 1956. In 1957, she was cast in the role that was destined to make her a Broadway star: the firebrand Anita in “West Side Story”.

In 1960, Rivera was nominated for a Tony Award for creating the role of Rose in “Bye Bye Birdie” opposite Dick Van Dyke. She appeared three times on The Ed Sullivan Show and won raves for her performance on Broadway and in London opposite Peter Marshall but was passed over for the film version where the role was played by Janet Leigh. 

Among many national tours, Rivera starred most notably in “Sweet Charity”, directed by Bob Fosse, playing the role of Nickie in the film adaptation of Sweet Charity with Shirley MacLaine (1969). Rivera appeared three times on The Hollywood Palace, twice on The Carol Burnett Show (including an episode airing February 22, 1971), and between 1973–74, played Connie Richardson on The New Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1975, Rivera was nominated for a Tony Award starring as Velma Kelly opposite Gwen Verdon in the original cast of the musical “Chicago”, directed by Bob Fosse. In addition to her ballet instructors, Rivera says that Leonard Bernstein and Verdon, with whom she starred in “Chicago”, are both influential to her success. She later made a cameo appearance in the 2002 movie version. She also played Fastrada in a television version of the musical “Pippin” in 1981, and was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk awards for “Bring Back Birdie” (1981) and a Tony Award for “Merlin” (1983) on Broadway.

In 1984, Rivera starred Kander and Ebb’s musical “The Rink”, with Liza Minnelli, and won her first Tony and Drama Desk awards for her role as Anna. In 1986, she had a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Jerry Herman’s “Jerry's Girls” but was involved in a serious accident when her car collided with a taxi on West 86th Street in Manhattan. Injuries sustained included the breaking of her left leg in twelve places, requiring eighteen screws and two braces to mend it. After rehabilitation, Rivera continued to perform on stage. Recovered, in 1988, she toured the country in “Can-Can” and opened a restaurant in partnership with novelist Daniel Simone. Located on 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenue, it was named “Chita’s” after her, and soon became an obvious attraction for the after-theater crowds. It operated until 1994.

Rivera guest-starred along with Michele Lee in a February 2005 episode of “Will & Grace”, and December that year, “Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life”, a retrospective of her career, opened on Broadway. She received another Tony nomination for her memoirs. Rivera guest-starred on Disney Channel's “Johnny and the Sprites” playing Queen of All Magical Beings. The episode debuted on March 15, 2008.

In August 2009, US President Barack Obama presented Rivera the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In the 1960s, Rivera recorded two albums, “Chita Rivera: Get Me to The Church on Time” and “And Now I Sing”, relaunched on CD by Stage Door Records in February 2013. In November 2008, Rivera released her third solo album, “And Now I Swing”. 

Rivera returned to Broadway in “The Visit”, the last musical written by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Terrence McNally. The musical opened at the Lyceum Theatre on March 26, 2015, and closed on June 14, 2015. Co-starring Roger Rees, the production was directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele. Rivera was highly praised for her performance, and was nominated for a Tony Award, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award. The Astaire Awards were rebranded The Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography in 2017. In 2018, she received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2019, Time Out New York named her "one of the best Broadway divas of all time”. On January 1st, 2020, she was one of the two Grand Marshalls in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.

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