Chita Rivera is an actress, dancer and singer renowned for her work in musical theater. She got her start on Broadway in the 1952 production of Call Me Baby, before landing the iconic role of Anita in the original Broadway production of West Side Story in 1957. Rivera earned her first Tony Award for her role in the 1984 production of The Rink, and despite shattering her leg in a car accident only two years later, would go on to earn the Kennedy Center Honors Award, becoming the first Hispanic woman to receive the award in 2002, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2009 for her lustrous career.
