- - Rita Moreno Is Filled with Gratitude as She Celebrates Her 94th Birthday: ‘Very Fortunate Indeed’ (Exclusive)

Eric AnderssonDecember 11, 2025 at 7:23 AM

0

Bernardo Doral

Rita Moreno. -

Rita Moreno turns 94 on Thursday, December 11 and will celebrate her birthday with family and friends

The Oscar-winning West Side Story actress shares with PEOPLE how she feels and what she's looking forward to in the year ahead

She recently accepted a tribute award in October and said she considers herself "truly, truly lucky"

Rita Moreno has an attitude of gratitude as she turns 94!

“I'm looking forward to more of the same,” she tells PEOPLE about what she hopes for in the year ahead. “I'm very, very fortunate indeed!"

The legendary performer — one of a handful of EGOT winners — plans to celebrate over the next couple of days, enjoying a few intimate meals with loved ones including her daughter, Fernanda Fisher.

Last year, the West Side Story actress had a lavish Mardi-Gras themed bash to mark her 93rd birthday. She playfully named the day — complete with purple, green and gold color scheme — “Fat Saturday,” a play on “Fat Tuesday,” the final day of Carnival.

Joy Malone/Getty

Rita Moreno and her daughter Fernanda Fisher on Nov. 3.

Sixty loved ones feted Moreno, including Fisher, her former One Day at a Time costar Justina Machado and the Netflix comedy’s executive producers Brent Miller and Mike Royce.

As PEOPLE reported at the time, a brass band played a special rendition of “Happy Birthday,” and some guests offered toasts to the Puerto Rico native, who wore a purple sequin jacket emblazoned with Queen of Mardi Gras on the back.

Gustavo Caballero/Billboard via Getty

Rita Moreno at the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards on Oct. 23.

Moreno continues to remain active in show business. She narrated the 2025 short film La Tormenta, about the recovery in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017. And in October she accepted the George Eastman Award from the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, N.Y.

The honor — named for the inventor and founder of the Eastman Kodak company — is awarded to individuals for their contributions to cinema.

During her speech at the black tie gala, held at the Dryden Theatre, Moreno quipped what the award meant to her.

"It's a reminder, I suppose, that I'm still alive and functioning," she said, according to a local news report. "I'm 93 now and just when you think all of that is over, along comes the Eastman Kodak offer to come and be honored and I'm thinking, 'My God, I thought this was over for me,' and here I am and here you are because I'm here."

In another portion of the speech, she reflected on her love of the arts.

Bernardo Doral

Rita Moreno

“If you’re lucky, truly, truly lucky, the love of your life isn’t just a person," she said at the time. "It is something that travels with you from childhood probably til your last breath. For me, that has always been the arts, which has seduced me and sustained me.”

Previous recipients include Goldie Hawn, Julia Roberts, Michael Keaton and Jodie Foster.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”