Rita Moreno, born Rosa Dolores Alverio, broke into Hollywood at 17. As she recalled for NPR, she and her mother paid a visit to MGM founder Louis B. Mayer himself at the Waldorf-Astoria, where he said of Moreno, "Wow! She looks like a Spanish Elizabeth Taylor!" It wasn't a coincidence that he thought of Taylor; Moreno idolized the star and patterned her looks that day after her idol. Mayer's MGM debuted her in "The Toast of New Orleans" in 1950 (her first appearance in any film was in "So Young So Bad" earlier the same year).
Unfortunately, being the Spanish Elizabeth Taylor— the Spanish anything — in the Hollywood of that era meant typecasting. "I became the house ethnic," Moreno told NPR, explaining that she was routinely cast as not only Hispanic and Latina characters, but any part that wasn't explicitly white and American. "I call that my dusky maiden period," she told Variety, adding that she had to affect a generic "ethnic" accent despite her perfect English to cover all casting bases.
"West Side Story" represented a breakthrough for Moreno. Despite being arguably in the vein of the "Latin spitfire" roles she'd often been put in before, Anita offered greater strength and range. "[She] became my role model after all those years," Moreno said of the part. But even with "West Side Story," Moreno dealt with prejudice. She insisted on the lyrics to the song "America" being changed for their offensive nature. And when she complained that her make-up made her look too dark, she was accused of racism herself.
