Rita Moreno, 92, 'constantly' asks 'brave' daughter Fernanda for help while struggling 'to remember names'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Legendary performer Rita Moreno has been doing it all for a significant amount of time. A proud mother, grandmother, EGOT recipient, and activist, Moreno has recently addressed the challenges she experiences at 92.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Moreno and her daughter Fernanda Luisa Gordon,57, discussed their strong relationship as mother and daughter. The Oscar winner also addressed why she finds parenthood to be so rewarding.

Rita Moreno asks daughter Fernanda for assistance to help 'remember names'

Rita Moreno, 92, has lived a full life, largely because of her successful stage and film career and the time she spent raising her only child, Fernanda, whom she shares with her late husband Leonard Gordon.

However, the 'West Side Story' actress revealed that she has been more conscious of her limits at this age and needs additional help from her daughter.

Moreno said, "I'm constantly calling upon her to do things. I have a problem with remembering names, names of things and names of people. It's so much a part of being 92 right now."

"There are times when I need her wisdom, and they are more often than you might think, particularly at this age. Ninety-two is not easy in many ways, and it's something that's difficult to understand," Moreno added.

Moreno and Fernanda have not chosen to disregard the dreadful reality that Moreno will eventually leave one day. "I think that as you, the parent, gets older, I believe that the child has to be thinking about, 'Well, at some point this will end'," Moreno remarked.

"It's not something that Fernanda and I sit and discuss, but I just know that she has to think about that," she said. "I think we're both pretty brave about it. Well, we're really honest — very, very honest with each other."

"We constantly have people picking up on our closeness and commenting, 'I wish I felt that way about my mom!'" Fernanda said, reflecting on their relationship and how close they still are.

Who is Rita Moreno's daughter Fernanda Luisa Gordon?

Rita Moreno married Leonard Gordon—a retired doctor who later oversaw Moreno's career, in 1965—and the couple welcomed Fernanda a year later. Leonard died in June 2010 at the age of 90.

Fernanda spent her childhood in New York City before her family shifted to Los Angeles, per the University of California, Berkeley. She later graduated with a bachelor's from Tufts University and a master's from the University of Southern California.

According to the New York Times, Fernanda married David Fisher on October 12, 1996, at the Stonepine Estate Resort in Carmel Valley, California.

Justin Fisher, Fernanda's first child, was born in July 1998. Cameron Fisher, Moreno's second grandchild, was born two years later, in July 2000.

Fernanda served as a stand-in for her mother during the filming of Steven Spielberg's film 'West Side Story'. She posted an Instagram photo of herself and her mother on set in 2021.

"Feeling such #gratitude for having been the stand-in for @theritamoreno on the #WestSideStoryMovie 😍🙏," she wrote the caption.

As a jewelry designer, Fernanda is the owner of Nandiz Designs. She and Moreno appeared on the Oscar red carpet in 2021, with Fernanda donning a piece she had designed herself.

As an assistant to her mother, Fernanda worked on the 2023 film '80 for Brady,' which featured Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Sally Field.

Fernanda posted on Instagram at the time: "Don't miss @80forbrady - it is a great ride with #talent overflowing everywhere😂."

Fernanda has mentioned her mother as an "incredibly unique person with incredible energy that not many people have," per PEOPLE.

Fernanda has made several Instagram tributes to her mother throughout the years. She posted a vintage picture of the two of them in 2022. Fernanda also posted a screen grab from her mother's 2021 Playbill interview.

While speaking of motherhood to PEOPLE, Moreno remarked, "It’s the best thing in the world. And when my grandsons [Justin, 25, and Cameron, 23, whom Gordon shares with David Fisher, her husband of 27 years] were born, I could have died with happiness."

"I’m just so lucky that we’ve gotten to know each other so well."