P.R., when Rita — then known as Rosita Alverío — was 5, abandoning both the girl’s father and the younger brother she doted on, Francisco. Moreno never saw him again: her first heartbreak.

“No whining,” reads the pin Rita Moreno wears when we meet. At 90, she has every right to. She could whine about her “100-year-old” knees. She could whine about the Oscar nominations she ...