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 Part of the reasons for the downward spiral was television, but also Rita had been replaced by the new star at Columbia, Kim Novak.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. She appeared in 5 movies with classic leading actor, Glenn Ford: Affair in Trinidad, The Lady in Question, The Loves of Carmen, The Money Trap and Gilda. Ranked #98 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Some legends say the Margarita cocktail was named for her when she was dancing under her real name in a Tijuana, Mexico nightclub. Her dancer father, Eduardo Cansino, himself the son of a dancer, came to New York from Spain in 1913 with sister Elisa. Mother, showgirl Volga Hayworth (sometimes spelled Haworth), met Eduardo on Broadway in 1916; they married 1917. Her first (uncredited) appearance on film was with the dancing Cansino family in a Vitaphone short Anna Case in La Fiesta (aka "La Fiesta"). She appeared 5 times on the cover of "Life" Magazine. 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 singing was dubbed by Nan Wynn (1941-44), Martha Mears (1945), Anita Ellis (1946-48), and Jo Ann Greer (1952-57). Her own singing voice is heard in the introductions to her songs (otherwise dubbed by Jo Ann Greer) in Pal Joey. Daughters: Rebecca Welles (17 December 1944 to 17 October 2004) and Yasmin Khan, born 28 December 1949. Owned the production company "Hillworth Productions A.G." together with her fifth husband, James Hill. She played the sister of Barbara Stanwyck in A Message to Garcia, but after a test screening all her scenes were cut at the request of Darryl F. Zanuck. The image of her face was glued onto an A-bomb which was dropped on the Bikini Atoll during a test in 1946. Interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, USA, in the Grotto section, L196, #6 (to the right of the main sidewalk, near the curb). Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars" in film history (#54). [1995] Through her father she is descended from the Spanish Jews. Through her mother she is part Irish and part English. 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. In the early 1940s she replaced Jean Arthur as the top female star at Columbia Picture. Coincidentally, the two stars share the same birthday (October 17). 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. Niece of actor Vinton Haworth. 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). Nephew: Richard Cansino. 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. Knocked out two of Glenn Ford's teeth during their fight in Gilda. 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. On May 27, 1949, she married Prince Aly Khan. Many people forget that Rita, not Grace Kelly, was the first movie star to become a princess. She was the producers' first choice for Casablanca, but they couldn't get her and were fortunate to settle for Ingrid Bergman. The Maria Vargas character (played by Ava Gardner) in the 1954 Joseph L. Mankiewicz film The Barefoot Contessa) was based on her. She was the first bombshell to appear on one of the posters in The Shawshank Redemption. (The other two were Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch). She was voted the 65th "Greatest Movie Star" of all time by Entertainment Weekly. She was voted the 34th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. Was named #19 Actress, The American Film Institutes 50 Greatest Screen Legends Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue" Was portrayed by Lynda Carter in Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess Subject of The White Stripes Song "Take, Take, Take" from the album Get Behind Me Satan. Is portrayed by Veronica Watt in Hollywoodland Along with James Cagney, is mentioned by name in Tom Waits' song "Invitation To The Blues." Publicist Henry Rogers, hired by Eddie Judson to promote his wife, said of him, "It seemed to me that Eddie would have sold his wife to the highest bidder if it would have advanced her career.". 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. Under of the influence of second husband Orson Welles, Rita began to read classic literature. While pregnant in 1944, she was very impressed by Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe," and named her firstborn daughter Rebecca after the novel's heroine. In Italy, all her films were dubbed by either Tina Lattanzi, most notably in Gilda, and later in her career by Lidia Simoneschi. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 399-400. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. Cousin of Ginger Rogers.