Una Merkel

Una Merkel has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to Motion Pictures, at 6230 Hollywood Boulevard. Bush. She died in Los Angeles, California. In June 2004, she became the first Hispanic to be awarded the "Presidential Medal of Freedom" by President George W. Her final film role was in the 1966 Elvis Presley film Spinout. Rita Moreno became the first Puerto Rican to have been awarded the Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy's. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Summer and Smoke (1961). Rita Moreno's real contribution has been her ability to transcend the discriminatory practices of Hollywood and set a precedent for hispanic actors to be recognized by talent rather than ethnicity.

She made a comeback as a middle aged woman playing mothers and maiden aunts, and in 1956 won a Tony Award for her role in The Ponder Heart. Rita Moreno has participated in more than 50 productions, combining her television, movie and theatrical works. Her career went into decline during the 1940s and although she continued working it was in less prestigious productions. During the late 1990s, she gained exposure to a new generation of viewers as she played a Catholic nun trained as a psychologist in the popular HBO series, Oz. She played Ann Rutledge in the 1930 film Abraham Lincoln and during the 1930s became a popular second lead in a number of films, usually playing the wisecracking best friend of the heroine. series. She returned to Hollywood and achieved her greatest success with the advent of "talkies". She also made appearances in the Rockford Files T.V.

She appeared in several films during the silent era but spent most of her time in New York working on Broadway. Moreno's popularity grew even more in the 1970s when she appeared on the PBS series The Electric Company and the Muppet Show. Born in Covington, Kentucky, Merkel resembled the popular actress Lillian Gish, and her resemblance allowed her to enter films in 1920 as Gish's double in the film Way Down East. Moreno also appeared in "Singing in the Rain" (1952) and Tennessee Williams "Summer and Smoke". Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American film actress. Rita Moreno married Doctor Lenny Gordon on June 18, 1965, who still remains her husband and manager, and later had a daughter, Fernanda Gordon. Moreno was the second person in history to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award, the first and only Hispanic entertainer to have done so.

Moreno gained fame and an "Oscar" as the best supporting actress that year. Finally, in 1961 she landed the role of "Anita" in Robert Wises film "West Side Story", an epic film about the lives of the Puerto Ricans in New York during the 1950's. For the next ten years Rita played roles in movies which she felt degrading. She had her first Broadway role by the time she was thirteen, which caught the attention of Hollywood talent scouts.

When she was eleven years old Rita lent her voice to Spanish-language versions of American films. At the age of five Rita and her mother moved to New York. Rosita Dolores Alverio (b.December 11, 1931), born in Humacao, Puerto Rico is better known as Rita Moreno, an actress who has achieved fame both in Hollywood and Broadway.