Gallery • 3 Photos

Adrian Dowd-Pettingill

Rita Moreno speaks to audience members during her morning press conference on Oct. 29, 2025, at Dryden Theatre in Rochester, N.Y.

On the morning of Oct. 29, 2025, actor, singer and dancer Rita Moreno graced the Dryden Theatre stage. Yet, rather than doing so for a performance of music from “West Side Story,” she joined moderators and a packed crowd in honoring her lasting legacy.

That night, Moreno would be honored with the George Eastman Award for distinguished contribution to the art of cinema. She would join an elite list of film artists, including recent recipients Michael Keaton and Jodie Foster, and legendary artists such as Gregory Peck, Martin Scorsese and Audrey Hepburn. The award adds to her already shining resume of an Oscar, two Emmys, a Grammy and a Tony Award.

The night prior, Moreno spoke candidly to an audience during a discussion in the same venue before a screening of “West Side Story,” providing them with personal stories and more than a few laughs. She is unapologetically herself, a trait that has not aged as she approaches age 94 in December.

Recalling the time she was starstruck upon meeting the star actor of the 1930s studio era, Clark Gable: “I remember we ran into Clark Gable,” to which the audience reacted strongly upon his mention. Moreno’s reaction? “Oh, you’re all old farts.”

Upon losing her train of thought early in the discussion: “See, this is, this is the trouble with being 93.” Moreno’s humility and honesty remain, mixed with unshaken confidence in herself and her identity.

During the Oct. 29 morning press conference, Moreno reflected on her journey and its beginnings, along with her pride and identity as a Puerto Rican actress in an era of vast prejudice and a lack of representation.

“I don’t have to be reminded from whence I came — and I’m very proud to carry this [identity],” she stated.

Eastman Museum Director Bruce Barnes anchored the event, while Rochester Mayor Malik Evans made an appearance to proclaim Oct. 29, 2025, as Rita Moreno Day in Rochester.

During his remarks, Evans declared, “This visit, hopefully not her last, offers us a cause to remember Rita Moreno’s powerful story of dogged and fearless determination, a story that has special resonance with the people of Rochester, whose diversity is our greatest strength.”

In accepting the George Eastman Award, Moreno became its third Hispanic recipient, and the first since 1982, when Dolores Del Rio claimed it.

Moreno said being honored by the Eastman Museum was especially meaningful because of the award’s name and legacy.

“It’s a reminder, I suppose, that I’m still alive and functioning. And 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, and it’s a true honor.”