Who’s Still Alive From 1961’s ‘West Side Story’?
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story was one of those films that defined the decade and sparked many revivals in the years to come. Released on October 18, 1961, the film brought the Broadway musical to the screen and is still beloved by audiences today. The modern retelling of William Shakespeare‘s Romeo & Juliet became the highest-grossing film of the year and went on to win 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, cementing its place as one of the most successful musicals ever made.
More than 60 years later, several of its core stars are still with us, so let’s find out where they are while paying tribute to those we have since lost.
Rita Moreno (94)
Anita
Everett Collection; Niko Tavernise/20th Century Studios/Everett Collection
Rita Moreno delivered one of the film’s most memorable performances as Anita, Bernardo’s girlfriend and Maria’s closest confidante. The role earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar. Still, the success did not immediately change the kinds of roles she was offered. She later spoke openly about continuing to face typecasting in the years that followed.
Moreno expanded into television and stage, becoming a regular on The Electric Company in the 1970s, where she won a Grammy for the show, and later earning Emmy Awards for appearances on The Muppet Show and The Rockford Files. She continued taking on varied roles, including Sister Peter Marie on Oz and Lydia’s mother on One Day at a Time, building a career that eventually led to legendary E.G.O.T. status.
Decades after the original film, she returned to West Side Story in the 2021 remake in a newly created role, and she has remained active into her 90s.
Richard Beymer (88)
Tony
Everett Collection; Suzanne Tenner/Showtime/Everett Collection
Richard Beymer played Tony, the former Jet who falls in love with Maria. At the time, he already appeared in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), where he played Peter van Daan, a role that helped establish him as a serious young performer. After West Side Story, he continued working in the early 1960s, with roles in films like High Time (1960), Five Finger Exercise (1962), and the large-scale war film The Longest Day (1962), but he grew frustrated with being pushed into a traditional leading-man mold.
By the mid-1960s, he began stepping away from mainstream Hollywood, turning his attention to filmmaking, writing, and documentary work, including involvement in civil rights efforts during Freedom Summer. Over time, he returned to acting, appearing in various television roles before gaining renewed recognition as Ben Horne on Twin Peaks in the early 1990s, a role he later reprised in the 2017 revival.
George Chakiris (93)
Bernardo
Everett Collection; Araya Doheny/Getty Images for TCM
George Chakiris played Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks and Maria’s older brother. The role earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and it quickly led to more prominent film roles in the early 1960s, including Kings of the Sun (1963), in which he starred opposite Yul Brynner, and the war film 633 Squadron (1964). Around the same time, he also explored a brief music career, releasing pop songs that charted modestly, while continuing to appear in international productions like The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) alongside Gene Kelly and Catherine Deneuve.
As the decade went on, his film work slowed, and he gradually moved away from acting, later focusing on creative pursuits outside Hollywood, including jewelry design and writing.
Russ Tamblyn (91)
Riff
Everett Collection; Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for TCM
Russ Tamblyn played Riff, the leader of the Jets. Before West Side Story, he had already established himself with roles in films like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Peyton Place (1957), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. After the film, Tamblyn continued working throughout the 1960s in projects like The Haunting (1963) and How the West Was Won (1962), then shifted into a mix of film, television, and behind-the-scenes work, including choreography in the 1980s.
In the early 1990s, he gained renewed attention as Dr. Lawrence Jacoby on Twin Peaks, later returning for the 2017 revival.
In Memoriam
Everett Collection
Natalie Wood, who played Maria, died on November 29, 1981, at the age of 43, from drowning and other undetermined factors.
Simon Oakland, who played Lieutenant Schrank, died on August 29, 1983, at the age of 68, from cancer.
Ned Glass, who played Doc, died on June 15, 1984, at the age of 78.
William Bramley, who played Officer Krupke, died on October 28, 1985, at the age of 57.
Where to Watch West Side Story
West Side Story (1961) is available to rent or purchase on platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. You can also stream it on MGM+.
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