Rita Moreno

Source: Courtesy of PGA

Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno, the Puerto Rican actor who won the Oscar for the original West Side Story, will receive the 2022 Stanley Kramer Award at the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards.

Moreno is among the cast and served as executive producer on Steven Spielberg’s remake of the musical which is competing in awards season and released by Disney/20th Century Studios. She also stars in upcoming feature The Prank and was the subject of Sundance 2021 documentary Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided To Go For It.

The performer holds the rare distinction of being an EGOT, having won Emmys, a Grammy, a Tony and the Oscar. She was the first Latina to win the Academy Award and did so in 1962 for her portrayal of Anita in West Side Story. Ariana DeBose, who plays Anita in Spielberg’s remake, is also in contention for the Oscar and recently won the Golden Globe and earned a SAG nomination.

Moreno will collect the honour at the March 19 ceremony in Los Angeles. PGA presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher hailed her “grace, intelligence, charisma, and kindness”, adding: “Her activism, strength, and artistic contributions set the precedent for how to be a changemaker in Hollywood […]”