J-Lo? Try T-Mo, The Original Latina Hottie

Holy smokes. I posted a Slanted Listmania edition a long time ago that enumerated women that raised my temperature circa 1980-1985 when I first woke up to girls. Obviously I forgot one and I'd have to go back to bump somebody else out of the top 10. Who is it? None other than Rita Moreno. I have never in my life considered her a hottie before. When I was really young I remember her being a cast member on The Electric Co. If you don't remember that show, it usually followed Sesame Street and I always remember it being a little smarter than SS. It also contained the corniest version of Spider Man.....EVER.....but I loved it. When I became old enough to be able to sit through and appreciate West Side Story in it's movie version - she played Maria's best friend and I believe she won the Oscar for best supporting actress. However, maybe it was the makeup or the costumes or something but I don't remember her being a siren in that endeavor either. The only other thing I remember her on without imdb'ing her is Oz - the HBO prison drama. She played a nun and was probably in her 50's at that time and that was in the mid 90's. So how did I rediscover her in her prime? The Muppets! I am a muppet freak and since TV sucks I was with my daughter surfing YouTube for classic Muppet sketches. She loves The Swedish Chef and Animal.....a girl after my own heart. Anyway, I saw this clip and it blew me away. It's hilarious. I don't ever remember Animal showing so much character. When she turns around to look at him and he turns away it makes me laugh every time. Also, it's the perfect song for her to sing. She's quite the temptress. I'm guessing this is right around 1978 or so and she's probably 35 or so. I was around 10-12 and probably thought she was old! Stupid Stupid Stupid. Enjoy the clip - it's fantastic.

Update: I went ahead and imdb'd her. The Muppet episode was 1976 and she was born in 1932 making her 44 in the clip. The other funny thing is, I thought she was around 50 when Oz debuted, but it was 1997 so she was 65! She was 29 in West Side Story and she was on The Electric Co. from '71-'77. Reading her TV appearances is like looking thru an old issue of TV guide as she guested on most variety shows and sitcoms. Interesting career and still works all the time. Here's the link to her career.