Rita Moreno to Be Honored at This Year’s Academy Museum Gala

Rita Moreno is earning special icon honors…

The Academy Museum will host its fourth annual star-studded gala on October 19, with the 92-year-old Puerto Rican Emmy, Oscar, Tony Award and Grammy-winning (EGOT) actress, singer and dancer among this year’s honorees.

Rita Moreno,Moreno is among a roster of honorees that includes Paul Mescal and Quentin Tarantino.

The fundraising event will celebrate the museum’s third anniversary and help raise funds to support museum exhibitions, education initiatives and public programming.

Moreno the Icon Award, celebrating an artist whose career has had a significant global cultural impact.

She has performed on stage and screen in a career spanning over eight decades, including her Oscar-winning turn as Anita in West Side Story.

Moreno is one of the last remaining stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Mescal will receive the Vantage Award, honoring an emerging artist or scholar who is helping to contextualize and challenge dominant narratives around cinema; Tarantino the Luminary Award, given to an artist whose singular contributions have expanded the creative possibilities of cinema.

The gala is being co-chaired by Dr. Eric Esrailian, Salma Hayek PinaultNicole KidmanEva Longoria and Tyler Perry.

“The Academy Museum Gala celebrates the power, global impact, and indelible importance of cinema, and I am thrilled we can gather for a fourth year and honor these three amazing artists — Rita Moreno, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Mescal — whose groundbreaking achievements, filmmaking influence, and demonstrated versatility will continue to inspire generations of artists and filmmakers,” said incoming Academy Museum director and president Amy Homma said in a statement. “We are profoundly grateful to Rolex for their continued support of the museum and cinema worldwide, our co-chairs Dr. Eric Esrailian, Salma Hayek Pinault, Nicole Kidman, Eva Longoria, and Tyler Perry for hosting this special evening.”

The Academy Museum Gala has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most A-list events, at last year‘s ceremony toasting Meryl Streep, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Sofia Coppola and raising more than $10 million in the process.

The 2024 Academy Gala Host Committee, also announced on Monday, includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Amy Adams and Darren Le Gallo, Jon Bernthal, Orlando Bloom, Sterling K. Brown, Ruth E. Carter, Jon M. Chu, Kieran Culkin, Willem Dafoe, Ariana DeBose, Colman Domingo, Winston Duke, Kirsten Dunst & Jesse Plemons, Cynthia Erivo, Emerald Fennell, Sally Field, Nicholas Galitzine, Jennifer Garner, Ariana Grande, Ludwig Göransson, Regina Hall, Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson, Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry, Cord Jefferson, Dwayne Johnson, Rashida Jones, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Jessica Lange, Jude Law, Jennifer Lawrence, Greta Lee, Demi Moore, Niecy Nash-Betts, Josh O’Connor, Ke Huy Quan, Questlove, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Eddie Redmayne, Saoirse Ronan, Meg Ryan, Celine Song, Denis Villeneuve, Lulu Wang, Jeffrey Wright, Letitia Wright, Steven Yeun and Hans Zimmer.