Tony Mordente Jr. from the original West Side Story film has died. The actor lived in Henderson, Nevada and died on Tuesday, June 11 at 88 years old, his family announced in an obituary .
His death happened months after his ex-wife, Chita Rivera, died. Chita and Tony met on the set of West Side Story on Broadway and married in December 1957. She played Anita and he played A-Rab.
The two had a baby girl, Lisa Mordente, in 1958 and then divorced in 1966. When dating Chita, he admitted that the Jet boys did not speak to him for a good two weeks because "they were really angry." He had to have a talk with them to settle then tension.
For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US . READ MORE: Inside Donny Osmond’s marriage to wife Debbie as star shares poignant update In an interview for PBS in 2007, he said: "The Jet boys didn’t speak to me for about two weeks of rehearsal, I was completely shut out. I mean, they were really angry.
" He added: "Eventually, I sat down with them in the dressing room and I just said, ‘Hey, look guys, I’m part of the Jets. What l’m doing out there is my personal life. We got to keep our gang together.
If I’m separate from you, then we’re not a family. So we have got to try to get back together again.’ And they sort of bought that.
As long as they didn’t see me with her, it was OK.” Tony was an actor, dancer and choreographer who starred in the first West Side Story productions on Broadw.
