Rita Moreno was unhappy about winning Featured Actress: Video

[Jay94]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 9:23am

It's really kind of awkward

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WkrcCpJZxng&t=1428

[N2N Nate.]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 10:09am

Really Awkward, but i get where she is coming from.

Updated On: 7/30/13 at 10:09 AM

[wildcat]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 12:18pm

William Daniels who played the lead in "1776" declined the nomination altogether rather than be placed in the Featured Acor category which he most likely would have won. And as I recall Dick van Dyke was in the Featured category for BYE BYE BIRDIE. it's all very strange.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 12:44pm

Rita, and definitely William Daniels, were two people who helped that whole "petitioning" rule change, allowing performers who were not billed as stars to be considered in leading categories, and star-billed actors allowed to compete as "featured."

That's all well and good, but I really wish they would change the name to "supporting" now.

That's not what "featured" means, but everybody thinks so ... just ask Rita.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 12:46pm

The category was called Featured or Supporting when Moreno won. I think her placement there was fair.

Chita and Dick were both in the Featured/Supporting slot for Birdie, which just seems strange.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 1:00pm

That link wasn't working for me, but I had seen the clip before. She's couldn't had been more fabulous in it, the woman is a star all the way. I also love that she honors her boricua heritage.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 1:17pm

She actually did have star billing - she was above the title with Jack Weston and Jerry Stiller. You can see it at PlaybillVault: http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/Whos_who/6895/25659/The-Ritz

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 2:35pm

So who put her in that category? The Tony voters or her own producers?

Obviously "petitioning" to change categories was in place by 1975.

I knew it was in '76 when Donna McKechnie won.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 2:42pm

By the way, I LOVE seeing that Tony telecast.

Geoffrey Holder's award for directing "The Wiz" was presented to him by (the MGM Scarecrow) Ray Bolger, who danced with him at the podium for a moment.

Legendary.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 4:36pm

I don't think it's awkward at all. I find it sassy as hell.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 4:39pm

Never mind, I can't think today.

Updated On: 7/30/13 at 04:39 PM

[nsguy45]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 5:31pm

Tom Bosley won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Fiorello . . . playing the title role.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 5:37pm

I don't think it's awkward at all. I find it sassy as hell.

One of the most memorable moments in my 50 years of Tony watching!

And Moreno made her point with humor. At the time, it didn't seem the least embarrassing--it was brilliant!

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 5:38pm

Why can't they just change the rule and abolish that whole petitioning/billing rubbish. Why don't they just get producers to submit into whatever category they feel is right without worrying about billing, and hell, definitely change the award name to Best Supporting Actor/Actress

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 5:56pm

^^^^I don't know, but perhaps actors would rather be known as "featured" than "supporting".

Or maybe it's an advertising thing. "Featured" looks better in a newspaper ad.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 5:59pm

^How does that make any sense when the Emmys, Oscars, Globes, SAGs etc. all use 'supporting'? Why would an actor care whether they're referred to as supporting or featured - plus it's the role not the size of the actor (going against the implied adage lol)...... What's wrong with 'Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Musical(/Play)'?

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 6:02pm

"Rita Moreno was unhappy about winning Featured Actress"

She seems far from unhappy to me!

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 6:06pm

She was a spoiled diva. She was just honored with a f*cking Tony Award. Who cares what the frigging category is, she should be pleased that she was chosen by her peers to receive the award and title. Those people who are so spoiled and immature don't deserve to have the careers they've had. What a diva.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 6:12pm

How does that make any sense when the Emmys, Oscars, Globes, SAGs etc. all use 'supporting'?

I think it was clear that I was speculating, but surely you can understand why a performer would rather be "featured" than "supporting". And why a producer would rather advertise a winner as such.

As for the Moreno acceptance speech, something must be lost when the context is removed. She made her point and she made it in a very humorous way. And she was very much a star at the time, so, frankly, she had a point. The audience even applauds her in agreement.

(I've watched the clip now. That is just the last two sentences of her speech. She had already graciously thanked the usual people.)





Updated On: 7/30/13 at 06:12 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 7:04pm

Awkward is a word that seems to have lost all meaning.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 7:35pm

Below you have the winner and four other nominees from 1975 in the Leading Actress category. I think it's clear why the producers didn't want Rita Moreno there.

Winner:
Ellen Burstyn (Same Time, Next Year)
Nominees:
Elizabeth Ashley (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
Diana Rigg (The Misanthrope)
Maggie Smith (Private Lives)
Liv Ullmann (A Doll's House)

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 7:45pm

^^^^ You may well be right, GoSmile. But Rita Moreno probably thought she belonged in that category. If the film is any indication, she was quite brilliant in THE RITZ.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 7/30/13 at 10:58pm

She wasn't unhappy about winning (just look at her!), but SHE probably felt awkward at being placed in that category. The dig may have been aimed either at the producers of the show or the nominating committee. It was a gentle dig, but well placed- she WAS the lead actress of the show, and she wanted America to know it. I remember at the time thinking, "Good for you!"

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 6:00pm

^^^ Bill, I thought exactly the same at the time. She struck me as neither bitter nor ungracious, and handled the entire subject with considerable wit.

Updated On: 7/31/13 at 06:00 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/31/13 at 10:03pm

Hey you know what? At the end of the day she made history. The first entertainer to win the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony IN COMPETITION. She made history.

Rosita Dolores Alverio from Humacao, Puerto Rico is undone...indeed!