Rita/Chita/Tyne!

Happy birthday to Rita Moreno,

born December 11, 1931, in Humacao, Puerto Rico! 

She grew up in Valley Stream, Long Island,

and took dance lessons from Paco Cansino, a Spanish dancer

annnnnnd uncle of Rita Hayworth.

Rita's first roles were in movies like

The Toast Of New Orleans (1950) and Singin' In The Rain (1952...

she played Zelda Zander, the dame who snitched on Debby Reynolds!).

She also played Tuptim in The King And I (1956).

That led to a plum part in West Side Story (the movie version) 

as Anita 

for which Rita won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

The list of theatre, television and film roles that Rita did

is looooooong (almost 7 decades "on stage") and award winning...

she is one of 23 performers to have won all 4 performance awards,

called an EGOT.

Her love life is also (in)famous;

affairs with Marlon Brando and Elvis top that list!

 

To think it all started with Cagney and Lacey (well, it didn't!)!

Tyne Daly, who hails from Madison, Wisconsin,

first hit Broadway in 1967 (she was 21 years old)

in That Summer - That Fall.

 Television (6 Emmys) roles like Lacey have earned her status

as a feminist icon.

Along with Emmys galore,

Tyne won a Tony for her portrayal of Mamma Rose 

in the 1990 revival of Gypsy. 

With brother Jim Daly, equally talented (and gorgeous)! 

This whole Daly family (her dad was James Daly, below, with the family)

has some major entertainment GENES.

 

With Harriet Harris in It Shoulda Been You.

 

Tyne and Lewis Cleale (below) in an off-Broadway production of

Call Me Madam.

 

Dick Van Dyke (it'll be HIS birthday on Sunday, the 13th...95 years old?) 

and Chita Rivera in the original Broadway production of

Bye Bye Birdie...and below at the cast recording.

The role of Rosie Alvarez was first offered to Eydie Gorme and Carol Haney,

but both turned it down...

when it finally went to Chita, they changed the character's name

from Grant to Alvarez!

Also in the cast (above), Susan Watson, Marijane Maricle,

Paul Lynde, and Johnny Borden.

Paul was 34 when he played Harry MacAfee and got to sing

2 very fun songs:"Kids" and "A Hymn To Sunday Night".

FYI, he actually adlibbed the line "Ed, I love you" in that Sunday song,

and it was kept in!

Michael J. Pollard (above) played Kim MacAfee's boyfriend.

Understudying Dick Van Dyke was a young

Charles Nelson Reilly,

who actually got to perform in the role when Dick hoofed it

to L.A. to work on his TV show. 

Tyne (above right) with Vanessa Williams and Jason Alexander,

in the 1995 TV movie version of Birdie,

which was panned (times 17)

but in the role of Mae Peterson,

 Tyne got to sing "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore"

which almost makes viewing it WORTH IT.