Who is Rita Hayworth?
Rita Hayworth was an American actress and dancer who achieved fame as an era’s top star in the 1940s. She had appeared in 61 films over 37 years. The press entitled her as The Love Goddess and the top pin-up girl. She is on the list of one of the top 25 female motion picture stars of all time in the American Film Institute’s Survey, AFI’s 100 years… 100 Stars.
Death
In 1980, Hayworth was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and died at the age of 68 on May 14, 1987, in New York City.
Rita Hayworth’s Early Life
Born on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, US she was the daughter of dancer Eduardo Cansino and actress Volga Haworth. Her original name was Margarita Carmen Cansino. She had two siblings: Eduardo Jr. and Vernon. She started dancing at the age of three and a half. As a child, she performed in a nightclub act with her father. Cansino never graduated from high school, but she completed the ninth grade at Hamilton High in Los Angeles.
Hayworth’s father sexually abused her starting at a very young age. He continued to sexually abuse her, calling her his wife and dressing her up in “garish, sexy clothes” while performing in nightclubs.
Career
While still a teenager, she caught the attention of a Hollywood producer, and in the mid-1930s she began appearing in films, using her given name of Rita Cansino. Movies from this period include Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935), Dante’s Inferno (1935), and Meet Nero Wolfe (1936). On the advice of her first husband, Edward Judson, who became her manager, she changed her name to Rita Hayworth and dyed her hair auburn. In 1939, she played the second female lead in Only Angels Have Wings.
After 13 minor roles, Hayworth gradually rose to the rank of stars, playing in melodramas such as The Lady in Question (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), and The Strawberry Blonde (1941). She showed her dancing skills in You’ll Never Get Rich (1941), You Were Never Lovelier (1942) and Cover Girl (1944) making her one of the top stars. It was also during this time that she became a favorite pinup of American servicemen. Gilda(1946) was undoubtfully her best film.
However, her career was not the same between Lady from Shanghai (1947) and Champagne Safari(1954). Her most praised movies of the 1950s were Affair in Trinidad (1952), Salome (1953), Miss Sadie Thompson (1953), Pal Joey (1957), Separate Tables (1958), and They Came to Cordura (1959). She appeared in her final film, The Wrath of God, in 1972.
Health Problem of Rita Hayworth
In the 1960s, Rita’s alcoholic addiction started to circulate. In 1972, the 54-year-old Hayworth wanted to retire from acting, but she needed money, therefore, agreed to film The Wrath of God. But due to her poor health and her worsening mental state, she could not remember her lines.
In truth, Hayworth was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, although she would not be officially diagnosed with the condition until 1980. The publicity surrounding Hayworth’s battle brought national awareness of the disease and brought about federal funding for Alzheimer’s research.
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