Margarita Carmen Cansino was born in New York on October 17, 1918 into a family of dancers. Her father, Eduardo was a dancer as was his father before him. He immigrated from Spain in 1913. Rita's mother met Eduardo in 1916 and were married the following year. Rita, herself, was trained as a dancer in order to follow in her family's footsteps. She joined her family on stage when she was 8 when her family was filmed in a movie called "La Fiesta" (1926). It was her first film appearance, albeit uncredited, but by no means was it to be her last. Rita was seen dancing by a Fox executive and was impressed enough to offer her a contract. Rita's 'second' debut was in the film Cruz Diablo at the age of 16. She continued to play small bit parts in several films under the name of Rita Cansino until she played the second female lead in Only Angels Have Wings when she played Judy McPherson. By this time she was at Columbia where she was getting top billing but it was Warner Brothers film The Strawberry Blonde that seemed to set her apart from the rest of what she had previously done. This was the film that exuded the warmth and seductive vitality that was to make her famous. Her natural, raw beauty was showcased later that year in Blood and Sand filmed in Technicolor. She was probably the second most popular actress after Betty Grable. In "You'll never get Rich" with Fred Astaire, in 1941, was probably the film that moviegoers felt close to Rita. Her dancing, for which she had trained all her life, was astounding. After the hit Gilda, her career was on the skids. Although she was still making movies, they never approached her earlier work. The drought began between The Lady from Shanghai and Champagne Safari. Then after Salome: The Dance of the Seven Veils she was not seen again until Pal Joey. Part of the reasons for the downward spiral was television, but also Rita had been replaced by the new star at Columbia, Kim Novak. After a few, rather forgettable films in the 1960s her career was essentially over. Her final film was The Wrath of God. Her career was really never the same after "Gilda". Her dancing had made the film and had made her. Perhaps Gene Ringgold said it best when he remarked, "Rita Hayworth is not an actress of great depth. She was a dancer, a glamorous personality and a sex symbol. These qualities are such that they can carry her no further professionally". Perhaps he was right but Hayworth fans would vehemently disagree with him. Rita, herself, said, "Every man I have known has fallen in love with Gilda and wakened with me". By 1980, Rita was, wracked with Alzheimer's Disease. It ravaged her so, that she finally died on May 14, 1987 in New York City. She was 68.



Old Louisiana (1937): $200
Rebellion (1936): $200

The annual Rita Hayworth charity gala, managed by daughter Princess Yasmin Khan, raised $1.8 million in 1999 alone for the Alzheimer's Assn. Ranked #98 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Her dancer father, Eduardo Cansino, himself the son of a dancer, came to New York from Spain in 1913 with sister Elisa. Her first (uncredited) appearance on film was with the dancing Cansino family in a Vitaphone short La fiesta (1926) (aka "La Fiesta"). The famous Bob Landry photo of Rita in "Life", 11 August 1941, p. 33, made her the number 2 soldier pin-up of World War II. Her own singing voice is heard in the introductions to her songs (otherwise dubbed by Jo Ann Greer) in Pal Joey (1957). Owned the production company "Hillworth Productions A.G." together with her fifth husband, James Hill. The image of her face was glued onto an A-bomb which was dropped on the Bikini Atoll during a test in 1946. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars" in film history (#54). [1995] In 1947 started her own production company, "Beckworth Corporation" (formed from syllables of her daughters name, Rebecca, and her own surname). It was dissolved in 1954 under advice from her fourth husband, Dick Haymes. The famous red hair was not her natural color (which was black). When she was signed, studio heads decided that her hairline was too low on her forehead, and she underwent years of painful electrolysis to make it higher. Measurements: 36.5-C-24-36 (at peak of WW-II pin-up fame), 35-25-35 (in 1953 at 120 lbs.) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine). It was James Hill, her fifth husband, who recognised her true talent as a comedienne. He tried to encourage her to do more comedy, but she felt that it was too late and instead began to resent him for pushing her into more work. In 1946, an expedition into the wilderness of Canada's unexplored Headless Valley came across an abandoned trapper's shack. In it the expedition found three things: a candle, a can of beans, and a picture of Rita. She was the producers' first choice for Casablanca (1942), but they couldn't get her and were fortunate to settle for Ingrid Bergman. She was the first bombshell to appear on one of the posters in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). (The other two were Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch). She was voted the 34th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue". Subject of The White Stripes song "Take, Take, Take" from the album "Get Behind Me Satan". Along with James Cagney, is mentioned by name in the Tom Waits' song "Invitation To The Blues". Studio chief Harry Cohn only began taking interest in Hayworth as star material after she began undergoing painful electrolysis treatments (at the urging of husband Eddie Judson), which drastically altered her hairline and appearance. In Italy, all her films were dubbed by either Tina Lattanzi, most notably in Gilda (1946), and later in her career by Lidia Simoneschi. Cousin of Ginger Rogers. One of the few actresses to have danced with both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in the movies, other actresses that have also done this includes Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse, Vera-Ellen, Debbie Reynolds, and Leslie Caron.