In a year where the treatment of women in entertainment has been a constant conversation, the 43rd annual Gracie Awards honored females across television, film, radio and news on Tuesday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The star of the night, though, was actress, dancer and singer Rita Moreno, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event, presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation.
The Puerto Rican actress, who is currently starring in Netflix’s “One Day at a Time,” is a rare Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner and is best known for her work on “The King and I,” “West Side Story,” “Oz” and “The Electric Company.” After her 60-plus year career, Moreno told Variety that she thinks the recent women’s empowerment movement, “is not a gimmick, I think it’s going to expand more and more and it’s about damn time.”
She added that better representation for Latinas was also something she hoped to see more of in Hollywood, saying, “I think we need to take some very valuable lessons from the black community, they did it and they did it really well, and good for them.”
“One Day at a Time” co-creator Gloria Calderon Kellett spoke of Moreno deserving the honor, citing her as an early inspiration for the positive way she portrayed Latinas starting early in her career. “She’s such an incredible woman, she’s 86 years old, she’s killing it, she has abs I’d die for, she’s super hot and super talented and has so much integrity and it’s such a pleasure to work with her every day,” Kellett said.
Norman Lear presented Moreno with her award inside the gala, saying he was “grateful to know and to work with her, and to tell her I love her in front of a crowd.” The actress took the stage to accept the award after dancing for several minutes with a man playing the harmonica, finally asking him “who are you?”
In her speech, she joked that “this line of work demands profound forbearance, and endurance, and the ability — and this is the most important thing — the ability to control avoiding beating up Meryl Streep for getting all this stuff that you could’ve done, better. That’s what nobody ever reveals on these occasions.”
On a more sentimental note, Moreno remembered “dreaming of being somebody. I so desperately wanted to be somebody like Elizabeth Taylor, the closest to a role model at that time that a Puerto Rican child could have. Here I am, look at me now. Who would’ve thunk?”
“Will and Grace” star Megan Mullally was also honored at the Gracie Awards, and was presented her award by husband Nick Offerman, who called her “my teacher, my employer, my hero, my mommy” and handed her the statue on bended knee.
“I want to say to women and girls, you have no limitations,” Mullally said in her speech. “Despite what you may have heard, you don’t have to be just one thing, that was fake news. You can have a career, you can have 12 careers, you could start a band at the age of 55 called Nancy and Beth, you could do whatever the hell you want to do, just develop your skills and go out there and get ‘er done,” referencing the musical duo she recently created with Stephanie Hunt.
The bight also highlighted the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. Country singer Kelsea Ballerini also performed during the gala, which was hosted by Lisa Joyner, and “Big Little Lies” and “This Is Us” were among the big winners. There were several standing ovations throughout the show, including when the eight female writers from “This Is Us” took the stage to accept their award, and later when Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted at 14, gave a speech. Other guests in attendance included Jon Cryer, Loni Love, Alyson Stoner and Gabrielle Dennis.