In this New York Times bestselling memoir, West Side Story star
Rita Moreno shares her remarkable journey from a young girl with simple
beginnings in Puerto Rico to Hollywood legend--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 nearly killed her. 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.
