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Rita Moreno Says She Dated Elvis as Revenge and ‘It Was Wonderful’

Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican-born American actress, dancer, and singer who has majorly influenced the entertainment industry for over 70 years. She has earned four major entertainment awards: an Emmy Award, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.

Moreno became the first Latina woman to have an “E.G.O.T”. She was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2004, for her many contributions to the arts and the industry.

Her career defines both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to be celebrated, a beloved actor who was initially born into poverty and started her career after migrating to New York and studying dance and performing on Broadway. 

Engin Akyurt/ Pexels | Rita is one of the few people to win all four major American entertainment awards

Rita’s Hollywood success 

Although she subsequently appeared in several notable films and musicals, such as “Singing in the Rain”, and “The King and I”,  in her early career she was hampered by studios casting her as ethnic minorities for Hollywood Studios, such as Polynesian, Native American and Native Egyptian. 

Monroe received much critical praise for her cynical West Side Story and won an Academy Award for the best-supporting actress. The musical drama was named the best picture which highlighted Rita’s energetic performance and fiery role.

After winning her Oscar Moreno decided to leave the mistreatment of Hollywood and started acting in summer theater for the next seven years. She kept struggling in popular movie roles, such as “The Night of the Following Day” and “Carnal Knowledge”. She also starred as the main cast member on the PBS children’s television series “The Electric Company” from 1971 to 1977. 

Donald Tong/ Pexels | Moreno made her Broadway debut in November 1945 in Skydrift, opposite Eli Wallach, when she was only 13 years old

At 87 years old, Moreno has won countless lifetime achievement awards but does not show any signs of slowing down.

She currently stars as Lydia on the Netflix series One Day at a Time, and she is set to executive produce and star in Steven Spielberg’s 2020 remake of West Side Story. She also published an eponymous memoir in 2013. In 2021 she released her documentary “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for it”

A love affair with Marlon Brando and fling with Elvis Presley 

Mick Haupt/ Pexels | Today, the Presley estate is estimated to be worth between $400 million and $500 million

The star has worked alongside some of Hollywood’s most famous leading men and had an eight-year love affair with Marlon Brando.

The couple got together when the actress was only 22; however, Rita has been very candid about her affair and mentioned Marlon as a bad guy, especially when it came to women. Their relationship ended when Moreno found women’s lingerie in Brando’s house and stormed out of the house.

The next day she received a call from Elvis Presley’s agent, who told her of his building interest in him. Of course, Rita seized the opportunity to get over her past relationship and to get back at Moreno.

However, ironically, she found Presley ‌dull and boring. While the legendary musician was a delightful and sweet fellow, Brandon still remained ‌the love of Monroe’s life. 

Her plan worked out as Brandon got furious when he found out about the new affair and started throwing around chairs and emotionally abusing Monero.

Ultimately, she recognized the tumultuous relationship she had and her suicidal attempts and moved on to marrying Leonard Gordon and welcoming their beautiful daughter Fernanda.

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