Legendary actress Rita Moreno reflects on the impact of becoming the first Latina to win an Oscar

Legendary actress, singer, and dancer Rita Moreno sat down with the TODAY Show’s Hoda Kotb to reflect on the impact of becoming the first Latina to win an Oscar over 60 years ago for her role as Anita in West Side Story.

© GettyImages

“People [were] yelling out the windows, ‘She did it! She did it!’ And, you know, as a friend of mine said, what they were really saying was, ‘We did it,’” Moreno shared in the interview, set to be premiered as part of the NBC’s primetime special, Inspiring America: the 2022 Inspiration List, airing Saturday, May 7.

“I had chills from everything she’s been through,” Kotb stated. “She’s an icon.”

Moreno is also the first and only Latina to have an Oscar, Tony, Grammy, and Emmy. Moreno has starred in multiple movies and shows on Broadway and London’s West End for more than seven decades.