“A Boy Like That" Indeed — Rita Moreno’s Love Life Is Its Own Epic Love Story

Get to know Rita Moreno's husband as well as the details of her love affairs with Marlon Brando, Elvis Presley and more.

Rita Moreno’s love life is almost as dramatic as West Side Story. From a high-profile relationship with one of Hollywood’s top leading men to a long-lasting marriage, she has experienced romance’s ups and downs. The 91-year-old isn’t shy about it!

As the first Hispanic woman to earn an Academy Award, Moreno has broken barriers. The outspoken triple threat has shared her personal struggles too, making her an inspiration to all women who have overcome obstacles. We have to know—who has been lucky enough to date this incredible woman?

Here is everything you want to know about Rita Moreno’s love life.

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Is Rita Moreno still married?

Rita Moreno is not still married. She has not been married since the death of her last husband in 2010. She has indicated she has no plans to marry again, saying she would “rather eat glass.”

She also discussed how she was not happily married for a while.

"I didn't realize how desperately I needed to be on my own," she said. "I was punishing myself by not being on my own. It was brutal."

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Who is Rita Moreno's husband?

Rita Moreno does not currently have a husband. Her late husband, her only husband, was Leonard Gordon. Gordon was a cardiologist and internist before retiring from medicine to become his wife’s manager. Unfortunately, this gave the already controlling Gordon another avenue of control over his wife, which she has since discussed at length following his 2010 death.

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Who was Rita Moreno's first husband?

Rita Moreno’s first husband was her only husband, Leonard Gordon. Gordon was a doctor before moving from medicine to managing his wife’s career.

What did Leonard Gordon do for a living?

Leonard Gordon initially worked as a cardiologist and internist before retiring from his original profession in order to become his wife’s manager. Unfortunately, according to Moreno, Gordon was controlling and this gave him another hold over his wife—and her career.

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What did Rita Moreno's husband do?

Rita Moreno’s husband Leonard “Lenny” Gordon was originally an internist and cardiologist before retiring from medicine in the 1980s to manage his wife’s career. However, all was not happy behind closed doors, with Moreno revealing later that her husband was pretty controlling and his becoming involved in her career was another way for him to enact this control.

How did Rita Moreno meet Leonard Gordon?

Rita Moreno met Leonard Gordon on a blind date. The date took place in 1964, outside the theater after Moreno’s Broadway show The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window. They married the following year in 1965. The couple would be together for 46 years, married for 45, until Gordon’s death in 2010.

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How old was Leonard Gordon when he died?

Leonard Gordon was born on March 26, 1920, and died on June 30, 2010. That means he was 90 when he passed away. He had been with his wife Rita Moreno for 46 years, 45 of them married.

When did Rita Moreno have her first child?

Rita Moreno gave birth to her only child, daughter Fernanda Luisa Gordon with husband Leonard Gordon in 1967. While she loves her daughter greatly, she also has indicated that she stayed in what could be an unhappy marriage because of her child—even revealing she felt relieved when her husband died in 2010.

She told USA Today, “I would never have talked about him without his permission. I couldn't do that. And it's entirely possible and probable that he would have said, 'What? Are you crazy? No, you cannot.' In a way, having the freedom to do it was really very important to me because we ran quite an extraordinary and successful charade for many years."

She has said he was a “wonderful person” but also a “controller.” As a result, she has no plans to remarry.

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Did Rita Moreno ever have any children?

Rita Moreno has one child, a daughter Fernanda Luisa Gordon with her late husband Leonard Goron. She gave birth to her daughter in 1967.

Did Rita Moreno have a family?

Rita Moreno did have a family. She had one daughter, Fernanda Luisa Gordon, with her husband Leonard Gordon. Moreno has revealed she was nervous to watch the recent documentary about her life, Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, where she gets candid about the troubles in her marriage, with her daughter.

She said, “I'm going to be sitting here with my daughter who was a real daddy's girl, [He] was a wonderful parent. He was a wonderful person. It's just that our marriage didn't work out."

Related: Rita Moreno Reveals How Steven Spielberg Convinced Her to Come Back for West Side Story

Did Rita Moreno have a baby with Marlon Brando?

Rita Moreno had a tumultuous eight-year on-and-off relationship with actor Marlon Brando. During that time, she became pregnant, however, Brando arranged for her to have an abortion. The procedure was botched and ended up threatening her life as she bled for days after.

She spoke of it later, “It was very scary because I could’ve died.”

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What did Marlon Brando do to Rita Moreno?

During Rita Moreno and Marlon Brando’s eight-year relationship, Brando was far from the perfect partner. By all accounts, he cheated on and emotionally abused the EGOT winner.

Moreno described him. “He was extraordinary in many, many ways, but he was a bad guy. He was a bad guy when it came to women. I was such a different person then. I had all the makings of a doormat."

Moreno even tried to make Brando jealous at one point by engaging in a romance with Elvis Presley. She described the start of that brief fling, saying, "I knew no one could possibly make Marlon Brando more jealous.”

However, she found that relationship wanting, as Presley would not fully engage in the physical aspects of a romance. She reportedly left him when she watched him eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich with more passion than she felt he had for her.

Moreno was 22 when the two met on the set of 1954’s Désirée. Eventually, by the end of their almost eight-year on-again-off-again relationship, Moreno tried to end her life by taking sleeping pills.

She described the attempt, “This wasn’t a revenge suicide, but a consolation, an escape-from-pain death.” She told USA Today, “It was humiliating and I was letting him step all over me ... I wanted to get rid of myself because I didn't think I deserved to live.”

Eventually, years later, the two managed to form a friendship that lasted until the end of Brando’s life. However, “We had a telephone friendship ... He did the calling, I never called him.”

Next, Rita Moreno reveals what keeps her going—and fit—into her 90s.