Rita Hayworth
Born: 17 OCT 1918 New York, NY, USA Sex: F
Died: 14 MAY 1987
Occupation: Hollywood actress
Ancestors:
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| Child: Rita Hayworth |
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Marriage(s) and Relationships:
Married to: Prince Karim El Husseni Aly Khan
Child: Princess Aga Khan Yasmin
Notes:
Daughter of a Spaniard father named Edwardo Cansino and an Irish/American
mother named Volga.
There will never be a classic beauty to grace the silver screen like Rita
Hayworth. She possessed such incredible talent and enthralled us with
her beauty, gracious poise, sultriness, and that lethal smile of hers
that no actress of yesterday could surpass and no actress of today could
ever meet the immense talent that Rita reached. Rita's superb dancing
was praised by the legendary actor/dancer Fred Astaire and her acting,
although not favored early in her career, was praised later by the
critics with superb performances in GILDA, The Loves of Carmen, Miss
Sadie Thompson and Separate Tables.
Many have said that there was a sweetness and shyness behind that sultry
image and that image was just an impersonation by an extremely talented
actress. One does not have to rely on the critics to know how much Rita
was adored by many. She left an ever-lasting impression with her sexy
song and dance number "Put the Blame on Mame" in GILDA, which became her
trademark to be forever known as "Gilda, the Love Goddess." And,
through all Rita endured, she brought awareness to the world on a
debilitating disease known as Altzeimer that eventually took her precious
life. This is one of many tributes to a shining silver screen legend
and a very special person, the one and only, Ms. Rita Hayworth.
Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino on October 17, 1918 in
New York to a Spaniard father named Edwardo Cansino and an Irish/American
mother named Volga. Her father Edwardo was a prominent dancer in Spain
and enrolled Rita in dance class at the age of three. With no emphasis
in enrolling Rita in regular school, Edwardo concentrated on perfecting
Rita's dancing. She soon became a member of The Dancing Cansinos and
Edwardo's partner at the age of 12. Rita had a mature quality about her
and was able to dance with her father in the nightclubs of Tijuana
without being questioned about her age. Although, Rita was painfully
shy, she lighted the dance floor with her electrifying dance steps, which
soon caught the eye of Fox "bigwig" William Sheehan. At the age of 15,
Rita was contracted by Fox where she made several "B" films.
Fox was quickly taken over by Twentieth Century Pictures and Rita was the
first to go. In 1937, young Rita met and later eloped with Ed Judson (20
years her senior). He was responsible for pushing Rita's career and
obtaining her 7 year contract with Columbia Pictures which was led by the
shrewd and excessively cruel, Harry Cohn. It was during this time that
it was decided that Rita should change her name to her Mother's maiden
name and adopt "Rita" which was the shorter version of "Margarita."
Through Columbia, Rita appeared in several supporting roles, but made her
first big picture in 1939 "Only Angels have Wings" with Cary Grant and
Jean
Arthur. Not yet a star and somewhat ignored by Columbia, Harry Cohn did
not yet see the potential of young Rita.
Judson, dissatisfied with Rita's looks and further obsessed with
promoting Rita had her natural dark brown hair dyed to auburn and her
makeup redone. This process paid off immensely, as Harry Cohn finally
took noticed of the amazing results and realized she was the star he had
been looking for all along. The stunning transformation was to become
her trademark look, gorgeous auburn tresses. Thus, Rita Hayworth was
reinvented.
With the constant publicity that Judson feverishly initiated for Rita and
her stunning new look, she finally received attention from the public in
her breakthrough role "The Strawberry Blonde" where she portrayed the
typical
all-American girl. However, it was not until "Blood and Sand" that you
saw Rita in an immensely sultry portrayal, unmatched by any actress
today, without revealing it all. In "Blood and Sand," Rita portrayed
the bold seducer of a bullfighter portrayed by Tyrone Powers. With her
portrayer of sexily aggressive Dona Sol, the public became immediately
fascinated with Rita and she finally became a Star.
The film that gave Rita her everlasting signature trademark was the 1946
classic GILDA co-starring her five-time leading man and talented actor,
Glenn Ford. In this movie, she portrayed the sexy and seductive Gilda, a
woman who impulsively marries a wealthy gambling casino owner after the
breakup of a passionate affair with Johnny Farrell portrayed by Glenn
Ford. She coincidentally meets up with Johnny and does everything
possible to stir up his jealousy. Although Rita and Glenn brought an
undeniably charismatic, sizzling presence to the silver screen, it was,
however, the song and dance sequence to "Put the Blame on Mame" that made
such a powerful impact to Rita's career. It was such an impact to her
career that soon after American soldiers affixed Rita's pinup image to a
nuclear test bomb and worshipingly nicknamed the bomb "GILDA." To Rita's
dismay, she was forever labeled as Gilda, the Love Goddess and a sex
symbol, an image she spent the rest of her life struggling unsuccessfully
to
escape.
Rita was married to actor, Orson Welles who she considered the greatest
love of her life. She had one child with Orson named Rebecca Wells. It
was Orson who made the drastic decision to cut Rita's auburn tresses and
dye it blonde for her role in "Lady from Shanghai," also starring Orson.
Rita, who was trying to get away from the "Gilda" image, quickly complied
to the drastic hair cut decision. Reaction from Columbia was utter
shock, as
Rita's hair was considered to be a studio asset. Further, Harry Cohn
considered Rita Hayworth the fourth most important asset that Columbia
had! Unfortunately, the film was unsuccessful and her marriage to Orson
ended shortly thereafter. It was in 1948 that Rita established her new
production company Beckworth and made the
film "The Loves of Carmen." Since Rita was in five-time leading man,
Glenn Ford as her romantic partner. Coincidentally, Hayworth and Ford
were considered the most romantic movie couple of the 1940's and very
popular with movie audiences. Critics praised Rita performance as
"Carmen." However, the film was not a
blockbuster and Rita's production company went down. Shortly
thereafter, Rita's future quickly changed when she decided to take off to
Europe on a much needed vacation. She meets Prince Aly Khan, a wealthy
middle-east playboy and later marries him. She had one child by Aly
named Yasmin.
Unfortunately for Rita, her third marriage did not succeed. She
reluctantly returns to the States in 1951 to make another film, which was
to be her comeback role. Affair in Trinidad also starred Rita's favorite
leading man, Glenn Ford. This movie was another attempt to capture the
success and following GILDA had. However, what it did do
was make a million dollars more than GILDA and brought the charismatic
team of Ford and Hayworth together again. The original movie poster for
"Affair in Trinidad" read "Rita Hayworth is back with that man from
GILDA!" The film never captured the GILDA following, but it did capture
Rita's incredible dance scenes and movie audiences got what they wanted
which was to see Hayworth and Ford work together again. Unfortunately,
without the Rita spark we loved so much in Gilda.
Rita made two other noteworthy films: Miss Sadie Thompson and Pal Joey,
but during this time, she was unable to capture the career she once had.
Unbeknownst to the world, Rita was suffering from the initial stages of
Alzheimer. She made some other B films in the 1950's and 1960's and
planned appearances, but the mind crippling disease had taken over. Rita
was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the 1980's and was taken
care of by
her beloved daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan until her death on May 14,
1987. Friends, family and fans mourned the loss of Rita Hayworth.
Legendary Actor Glenn Ford summed it up in Rita eulogy stating that he
had loss a dear friend, "the best friend he ever had" and someone he
loved dearly.
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