Rita Hayworth!
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Rita Hayworth born in Brooklyn
Born in Brooklyn, Margarita Carmen Cansino was the daughter of Spanish dancer Eduardo Cansino and showgirl Volga Haworth. The physically and socially mature Rita joined Rita Hayworth father's dance act at 12. Rita Hayworth was spotted by Fox studios three years later, and made Rita Hayworth film debut at 16, in 'Dante's Inferno' (1935).Rita Hayworth and Edward Judson
With the advice of Rita Hayworth husband and promoter Edward Judson, Rita signed a contract with Columbia Studios. Rita Hayworth changed Rita Hayworth name to Hayworth, died Rita Hayworth black hair auburn and raised Rita Hayworth hairline with electrolysis. The goddess played 13 minor roles, until Columbia lent Rita Hayworth to Warner brothers, to star opposite Fred Astaire, in 'The Strawberry Blonde' (1941). Rita Hayworth sensational dancing made Rita Hayworth a star and Rita Hayworth became a major leading lady, working again with Astaire as well as with Tyrone Power, Charles Boyer, Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth second husband, Orson Welles, in 'Lady from Shanghai' (1948).Margarita Carmen Cansino, a girl known to the world as Rita Hayworth, was one of the most glamorous actresses in cinema history, but Rita Hayworth was much more than a beautiful face. Rita was an exceptionally talented dancer, and Rita Hayworth performances embodied a combination of strength and sensitivity that set Rita Hayworth apart from other screen sirens, and made Rita Hayworth just as popular with female audiences. From Rita Hayworth persona, it is hard to believe that the real Rita was a very shy woman with great insecurities. Rita Hayworth was a much better actress than the critics ever acknowledged. It is a credit to Rita Hayworth abilities that Rita Hayworth was able to play characters like "Gilda" so flawlessly that the world thought of the person and the image as one in the same. Rita brightened America during World War II with Rita Hayworth dancing in musicals like Cover Girl, and displayed Rita Hayworth evolving acting talents in films like The Loves of Carmen and Miss Sadie Thompson. Starring in movies for nearly four decades, Rita Hayworth became one of the all-time great Hollywood legends.Rita Hayworth and Prince Ali Khan
Before the camera, Rita was a bold sumptuous character spilling over with sexual charm. In private Rita Hayworth was shy and unassuming, desperate for a calm and happy marriage, which was forever to allude her. In 1948 Rita Hayworth had affair with Pakistani playboy Prince Ali Khan. Rita Hayworth married him, but only for two tempestuous years. Rita Hayworth married again, twice, but never for more than three years. Suspected of sever alcoholism and prone to erratic behaviour, Rita's career dwindled in the 1950s and failed in the 1960s. Rita Hayworth was, in fact, suffering the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, that went undiagnosed until 1980.She was born Margarita Carmen Cansino, the daughter of Eduardo Cansino (Sr.) and Volga Haworth in Brooklyn, New York. The Cansinos were a famous family of Spanish dancers working in vaudeville. Their family ancestry were of the Roma people native to Spain. Hayworth was trained as a dancer from childhood, and was on stage by the age of twelve.
First attracting the attention of film producers as part of the dance team "The Dancing Cansinos,
" Hayworth was signed first by Fox Studios in 1935, then freelanced for several years before signing with Columbia Pictures. After a name change from Rita Cansino to Rita Hayworth, and painful electrolysis to raise Rita Hayworth hairline, Rita made a splash as part of the ensemble cast in Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings (1939). The Strawberry Blonde with James Cagney followed in 1941. Finally Rita Hayworth sizzling "other woman" part in Rouben Mamoulian's Blood and Sand (1941) with Tyrone Power solidified Rita Hayworth new-found stardom.
Rita Hayworth the redhead
Hayworth's fame as a beautiful redhead arose from this Technicolor film. The "love goddess" image was cemented with Bob Landry's Life Magazine photograph of Rita Hayworth (kneeling on a bed in a nightgown), which caused a sensation and became (at five million copies) one of the most requested wartime pinups. During World War II Rita Hayworth ranked with Betty Grable, Dorothy Lamour, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner as the pinup girls most popular with servicemen. Rita would soon become Columbia's biggest star of the 1940s, under the watchful eye of studio chief Harry Cohn.Rita Hayworth films
Hayworth's well-known films include the musicals that made Rita Hayworth famous: You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) (both with Fred Astaire), My Gal Sal (1942) with Victor Mature, and Rita Hayworth best known musical, Cover Girl (1944) with Gene Kelly. Although Rita Hayworth singing voice was dubbed in Rita Hayworth movies, Rita was one of Hollywood's best dancers, dancing with power, precision, and unearthly grace. Cohn continued to effectively showcase Hayworth's talents in Technicolor films: Tonight and Every Night (1945) with Lee Bowman, and Down to Earth (1947), with Larry Parks. Rita Hayworth erotic appeal was most notable in Gilda (1946), a film noir directed by Charles Vidor, which encountered some difficulty with censors. This role in which Hayworth performed a legendary one-glove striptease made Rita Hayworth into a cultural icon as the ultimate femme fatale. Other films include The Lady from Shanghai (1948) with husband Orson Welles, The Loves of Carmen (1948) with Gilda costar Glenn Ford, Salome (1953) with Stewart Granger, and the 1953 remake of Miss Sadie Thompson. Rita left Rita Hayworth film career in 1948 to marry Prince Aly Khan, but after the marriage collapsed Rita Hayworth returned with great fanfare in 1951 to film Affair in Trinidad (1952) with favorite costar Glenn Ford. In 1957, after making Fire Down Below with Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon, and Pal Joey with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak, Rita finally left Columbia. Rita Hayworth continued working throughout the 1960s, and made Rita Hayworth last film in 1972.Rita Hayworth Personal life
Naturally shy and reclusive, Hayworth was the antithesis of the characters Rita Hayworth played. Rita Hayworth once complained that all the men Rita Hayworth knew fell in love with Gilda, but woke up with Rita. Rita Hayworth was close to Rita Hayworth frequent co-star and next-door neighbour Glenn Ford.Rita Hayworth and men
According to Barbara Leaming's biography on Hayworth, If This Was Happiness, Rita Hayworth relationships with men were often difficult due to the physical, sexual and emotional abuse Rita Hayworth endured from Rita Hayworth father at a young age. These revelations were made during interviews with Orson Welles in later years and after Rita Hayworth death. Rita Hayworth confided in him about the incest in particular, as well as several beatings. At one point in the biography Welles recalls that when Cansino tried to visit he would always have to throw him out. "He was a terrible man," Welles recalls. "And Rita Hayworth really hated him. Rita Hayworth couldn't deal with him at all."Rita Hayworth marriages
Hayworth was married five times: first to Edward C. Judson (1937-1943), followed by actor-director Orson Welles (1943-1948, one daughter Rebecca Welles), to Prince Aly Khan (1949-1953, one daughter Princess Yasmin Aga Khan), then to actor-singer Dick Haymes (1953-1955), and finally to director James Hill (1958-1961). Rita Hayworth also had a nephew named Richard Hayworth.Rita Hayworth Final years
After about 1960, Hayworth suffered from extremely early onset of Alzheimer's disease, which was not diagnosed until 1980; Rita Hayworth continued to act in films until the early 1970s and made a well-publicized appearance on The Carol Burnett Show near the end of Rita Hayworth career. Lynda Carter starred in a 1983 biopic of Rita Hayworth life. Rita Hayworth lived in an apartment at the San Remo in New York City.Rita Hayworth Trivia
Hayworth's natural hair color was dark brown.A poster of Rita Hayworth was used as a plot device in Stephen King's short story, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and later in the movie based on the story which starred Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, The Shawshank Redemption.
Rita Hayworth placed 19th on the American Film Institute's list of the 25 greatest female movie stars of all time in 1999.
In 2005, the White Stripes wrote a song titled "Take, Take, Take" on their album Get Behind
Rita Hayworth a cameo
Me Satan which humourously describes a man meeting Hayworth in a bar and pestering Rita Hayworth for an autograph and a picture. Rita Hayworth is also briefly mentioned in the song "White Moon" from the same album. Famously mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue", in which Rita Hayworth is described as giving "good face".Rita Hayworth
In Salvador Plascencia's The People of Paper, Rita Hayworth is a sad, disenfranchised character. In the novel, Rita Hayworth was made infamous for having sex with a lettuce picker. Quote by actor Joseph Cotten: "No matter how bad the film, when Rita danced it was like watching one of nature's wonders in motion." Rita was the first dancer to partner with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on film - others being Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse, Vera Ellen, and Leslie Caron. Fred Astaire in his autobiography says Rita "danced with trained perfection and individuality."Rita Hayworth The Lady from Shanghai
Although now considered one of Rita Hayworth best performances, 1948's The Lady from Shanghai failed at the box office in part because writer-director-costar-husband Orson Welles had Hayworth cut off Rita Hayworth signature red locks and dye the rest blonde for the role. Rita performed one of Rita Hayworth best remembered dance routines, the samba from 1945's Tonight and Every Night while pregnant with Rita Hayworth first child Rebecca Welles. Rita's favorite leading man was Glenn Ford. Rita Hayworth favorite films, however, were the ones Rita Hayworth made with Astaire and Kelly. Famous films Rita missed out on making: Laura (1944), Dead Reckoning (1947), with Humphrey Bogart, Samson and Delilah (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), and From Here to Eternity (1953).Rita Hayworth the bombshell
Alluding to Rita's bombshell status, in 1946 Rita Hayworth likeness was placed on the first nuclear bomb to be tested in the Marshall Islands, part of Operation Crossroads. Rita had Rita Hayworth own production company, The Beckworth Corporation (named in part for Rita Hayworth daughter Rebecca) from 1948 to 1955. Each of Rita Hayworth films during this period were co-produced by Beckworth and Columbia. Hayworth received a percentage of the profits from these films. Eventually Hayworth dissolved Beckworth to pay off debts Rita Hayworth owed to Columbia. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, in writing and directing 1954's The Barefoot Contessa , was said to haved based his title character Maria Vargas (played on film by Ava Gardner) on Rita's life and Rita Hayworth marriage to Prince Aly Khan.Rita Hayworth Filmography
Anna Case in La Fiesta (1926) (short subject)The Devil's Cross (1934)
In Caliente (1935) (scenes deleted)
Under the Pampas Moon (1935)
Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)
Dante's Inferno (1935)
Legs of Silk (1935)
Paddy O'Day (1935)
Professional Soldier (1935)
Human Cargo (1936)
Dancing Pirate (1936)
Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
Rebellion (1936)
Old Louisiana (1937)
Hit the Saddle (1937)
Trouble in Texas (1937)
Criminals of the Air (1937)
Girls Can Play (1937)
The Game That Kills (1937)
Life Begins with Love (1937)
Paid to Dance (1937)
The Shadow (1937)
Who Killed Gail Preston? (1938)
Special Inspector (1938)
There's Always a Woman (1938)
Convicted (1938)
Juvenile Court (1938)
The Renegade Ranger (1938)
Homicide Bureau (1939)
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Music in My Heart (1940)
Blondie on a Budget (1940)
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 6 (1940) (short subject)
Susan and God (1940)
The Lady in Question (1940)
Angels Over Broadway (1940)
The Strawberry Blonde (1941)
Affectionately Yours (1941)
Blood and Sand (1941)
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
My Gal Sal (1942)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Show Business at War (1943) (short subject)
Cover Girl (1944)
Tonight and Every Night (1945)
Gilda (1946)
Down to Earth (1947)
The Lady from Shanghai (1948)
The Loves of Carmen (1948) (also producer)
Champagne Safari (1952) (documentary)
Affair in Trinidad (1952) (also producer)
Salome (1953) (also producer)
Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) (also producer)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Grows Up (1954) (short subject)
Fire Down Below (1957)
Pal Joey (1957)
Separate Tables (1958)
They Came to Cordura (1959)
The Story on Page One (1959)
The Happy Thieves (1962) (also producer)
Lykke og krone (1962) (documentary)
Circus World (1964)
The money Trap (1965)
The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966)
L'Avventuriero (1967) (The Rover)
The Bastards (1968)
The Naked Zoo (1971)
Road to Salina (1971)
The Wrath of God (1972)
Rita Hayworth The Last Decade
In the last decade of Rita Hayworth life, almost helpless, Rita was cared for by Rita Hayworth daughter, Princess Yasmin Khan. Rita's death in 1987 was heavily publicized, drawing public attention and funding to the degenerative disease.Rita Hayworth dies
Rita Hayworth (October 17, 1918 May 14, 1987), was an American actress of Spanish and English descent who reached fame during the 1940s as the era's leading sex symbol. Rita Hayworth was sometimes called "The Love Goddess" or "The Great American Love Goddess," and was celebrated as an expert dancer and great beauty.
