Tony Winner Chita Rivera Honored With Presidential Medal of Freedom
by Broadway.com Staff • Aug 3, 2009
Chita Rivera
(Photo: Emilio Madrid-Kuser for Broadway.com)
(Photo: Emilio Madrid-Kuser for Broadway.com)
Broadway icon and Tony Award winner Chita Rivera will be among the sixteen recipients of 2009’s Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama will present the medals, the highest honor given to civilians, to honorees during a ceremony on August 12.
Rivera is best known for originating the role of Anita in West Side Story on Broadway. Additional Broadway credits include Bye Bye Birdie, Bajour, Chicago, The Rink (1984 Tony Award), Jerry’s Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993 Tony Award), Nine and Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. In 2002, she became the first Hispanic recipient of the coveted Kennedy Center Honor.
According to a White House press release, awardees were chosen this year for their work as “agents of change.” In addition to Rivera, 2009’s honorees are Nancy Goodman Brinker, founder of breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure; philanthropist Dr. Pedro Jose Greer; internationally renowned physicist Stephen Hawking; the late pro-football player turned congressman Jack Kemp; Senator and health care advocate Edward M. Kennedy; tennis pro Billie Jean King; civil rights advocate Reverend Joseph Lowery; American Indian preservationist Joe Medicine Crow; the late gay right’s activist Harvey Milk; Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor; director and actor Sidney Poitier; former President of Ireland Mary Robinson; geneticist Janet Davison Rowley; anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu; and anti-poverty advocate Muhammad Yunus.
The White House praised Rivera for her accomplishments onstage, citing her as an inspiration for women and Latinos.
Rivera is best known for originating the role of Anita in West Side Story on Broadway. Additional Broadway credits include Bye Bye Birdie, Bajour, Chicago, The Rink (1984 Tony Award), Jerry’s Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993 Tony Award), Nine and Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life. In 2002, she became the first Hispanic recipient of the coveted Kennedy Center Honor.
According to a White House press release, awardees were chosen this year for their work as “agents of change.” In addition to Rivera, 2009’s honorees are Nancy Goodman Brinker, founder of breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure; philanthropist Dr. Pedro Jose Greer; internationally renowned physicist Stephen Hawking; the late pro-football player turned congressman Jack Kemp; Senator and health care advocate Edward M. Kennedy; tennis pro Billie Jean King; civil rights advocate Reverend Joseph Lowery; American Indian preservationist Joe Medicine Crow; the late gay right’s activist Harvey Milk; Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor; director and actor Sidney Poitier; former President of Ireland Mary Robinson; geneticist Janet Davison Rowley; anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu; and anti-poverty advocate Muhammad Yunus.
The White House praised Rivera for her accomplishments onstage, citing her as an inspiration for women and Latinos.
