The American musical theatre and film star Chita Rivera has died in New York. She was 91.

After making her Broadway debut as a dancer in Guys and Dolls (1950), Rivera went on to originate several iconic Broadway roles: Anita in West Side Story (1957), Rose in Bye Bye Birdy (1960), Velma Kelly in Chicago (1975) and the title role in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993).

She was a 10-time Tony Award nominee, winning two for Best Actress in a Musical for her roles in The Rink (1984) and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Rivera also received numerous other accolades including two Drama Desk Awards and a Drama League Award. She was the first Latino-American to receive a Kennedy Centre Honour in 2002, and Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. She won the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018.

Born in Washington, D.C. in 1933, her Puerto Rican father was a reeds player in a U.S. Navy Band. Rivera was seven years old when her father died and her mother went to work at The Pentagon. After studying dance in local academies from 1944, Rivera succeeded in a scholarship audition and was accepted...