She was the first Latina and the first Latino American[1] to receive a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

[12] In 1951, Rivera accompanied a friend to the audition for the touring company of Call Me Madam starring Elaine Stritch and ended up winning the role herself.

She appeared three times on The Ed Sullivan Show[14] and won raves for her performance on Broadway and in London opposite Peter Marshall, but was passed over for the film version where the role was played by Janet Leigh.

The Broadway-bound musical closed on the road but in 1964, Rivera returned to Broadway in Bajour[13] and television in The Outer Limits[14].

Making a trip to Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico in 1966, she was backed by The Fireballs for a full album of Buddy Holly cover songs, but the project went unreleased.

[14] In 1975, Rivera was nominated for a Tony Award[3] starring as Velma Kelly opposite Gwen Verdon in the original cast of the musical Chicago,[12] directed by Bob Fosse.

In addition to her ballet instructors, Rivera cited Leonard Bernstein and Verdon, with whom she starred in Chicago, as influential to her success.

[3] In 1984, Rivera starred in the Kander and Ebb musical The Rink with Liza Minnelli and won her first Tony and Drama Desk awards for her role as Anna.

Injuries sustained included the breaking of her left leg in twelve places, requiring eighteen screws and two braces to mend.

Recovered, in 1988, she toured the country in Can-Can and got involved in a restaurant venture in partnership with the novelist Daniel Simone.

[12] Rivera later participated in the London edition of Kander and Ebb's long-running revival of Chicago, this time in the role of Roxie Hart.

Rivera starred in the Goodman Theatre production of the musical The Visit (also by Kander and Ebb) as Claire Zachanassian in 2001.

[20] In 2003, Rivera returned to Broadway in the 2003 revival of Nine as Liliane La Fleur and received her eighth career Tony Award nomination (Best Featured Actress in a Musical) and fourth Drama Desk Award nomination (Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical).

[12] She guest-starred along with Michele Lee in a February 2005 episode of Will & Grace, and in December of that year, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, a retrospective of her career, opened on Broadway.

[25] Rivera returned to Broadway in The Visit, the final musical written by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Terrence McNally.

[10] Rivera's performance was so important for the success of the show that the London production of West Side Story was postponed until she gave birth to the couple's daughter Lisa in 1958.

This is the current record for the most individual Tony Award nominations for a performer, which she shares with Julie Harris and Audra McDonald.