R.I.P. Chita Rivera, star of original West Side Story and Chicago productions

Chita Rivera, the legendary stage and screen actress with a career spanning seven decades, has died. She was 91 years old. According to Deadline, Rivera’s daughter confirmed that the performer died after a brief illness.

Rivera was best known for her roles in musicals, both on Broadway and in Hollywood. The actor originated the roles of Anita in West Side Story and Velma Kelly in Chicago—roles that both earned their performers Academy Awards when they were adapted into films. Rivera herself earned Tony Awards for her performances in The Rink and Kiss Of The Spider Woman. She was nominated for 10 Tony Awards over her career, a record for an individual performer.

Rivera made her film debut in 1969 with Sweet Charity, the debut directorial effort from her Broadway collaborator Bob Fosse. She also appeared in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and had cameos in Chicago and Tick, Tick… Boom!, the latter of which became her final film role.

Rivera was born in 1933 in Washington, D.C. She began her career at just 18, when she successfully auditioned for a touring production of Call Me Madam. Roles on Broadway in Guys And Dolls and Can-Can soon followed before she landed the role of Anita in West Side Story, which would become her big break. Three years later, she originated the role of Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie. Her appearance in the 1969 film version of Sweet Charity would mark the beginning of her professional relationship with Fosse, who went on to direct and choreograph the original production of Chicago.

In an interview with CBS News in 2023, Rivera reflected on her legacy and career, explaining how she felt that her training and continued practice as a dancer were key to her longevity. “I do believe that being a dancer gave me the ability to fight, and to withstand, and to cope,” she told the outlet. “If I come back, I want to come back a dancer. That would be my second life.”