Rita Moreno to Receive the SAG 'Life Achievement Award'

Legendary dancer, singer and actress Rita Morero is set to receive the 'Life Achievement Award' for her 70-year-old career and humanitarian accomplishments at the 20th anual SAG Awards, which will air January 18, 2014, the Huffington Post reported.

This award is given annually to an actor or actress that fosters the "finest ideals of the acting profession," The Hollywood Reporter stated. The announcement was made on Monday by the Screen Actors Guild & American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Co-President, Ken Howard, who said the award was "the most prestigious honor we bestow."

"No one is more deserving of this honor than the fabulous and accomplished Rita Moreno," SAG co-president Robert Reardon said in a statement. "[Moreno] is an inspiration in every effort, but never more so than with her civil rights activism, promoting equality and diversity while ushering in a more representative depiction of the American scene on screen."

"She is an extraordinarily versatile, talented and generous actor whose career is notable for its courageous choices and for the breadth, depth and quality of her many demanding and commanding roles," the SAG-AFTRA president said, Digital Spy reported.

Born in 1931 in Puerto Rico, the actress moved with her parents to New York at the age of five. She made her Broadway debut eight years later, co-starring with Eli Wallach in a production of "Skydrift." Moreno then moved from theatre to films, participating in classics such as "The King and I" and "Singin' In The Rain."

The 81-year-old artist won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1961, for her role as Anita in the musical "West Side Story," making her the first Hispanic woman to ever win an Academy Award.

She also appeared in several TV programs, like "The Muppets Show," "Oz" and "The Rockford Files."

Although some producers called her the "Spanish Elizabeth Taylor," Moreno was discriminated at the beginning of her career and was only cast in ethnic roles with heavy accents, according to CBS News. "It's funny now, it was horrible then," the actress said during an interview with Mo Rocco for CBS' Sunday Morning.

Moreno is one of the few artists that have won all four top show business awards, including a Grammy and two Emmys, the Huffington Post reported. In 1975, she received a best actress Tony Award for her performance in "The Ritz,"

The actress is currently starring in TV Land's "Happily Divorced."