Rita Hayworth (real name Margarita Carmen Cansino) (October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was a famous American film star during the 1940s who was sometimes called "The Love Goddess" or "The Great American Love Goddess."

First attracting attention of film producers as part of the dance team "The Dancing Cansinos", she was signed first by Fox studios, then free-lanced for several years before signing with Columbia. After a name change from Rita Cansino to Rita Hayworth, and painful electrolysis to raise her hairline, Rita made a splash as part of the ensemble cast in Howard Hawks' "Only Angels Have Wings". Her "other woman" part in Rouben Mamoulian's "Blood and Sand" solidified her new-found stardom.

Her well-known films include the musicals that mader her famous: You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) (both with Fred Astaire), and Cover Girl (1944) with Gene Kelly. Her erotic appeal was notable in Gilda (1946), which encountered some difficulty with censors. The Lady from Shanghai (1948), and the 1953 remake of Sadie Thompson. During the 1940's, she ranked with Betty Grable, Dorothy Lamour, and Lana Turner as one of the most popular pinup girls with servicemen.

Shy and reclusive in real life, Rita was the antithesis of the characters she played. She once complained famously that all the men she knew fell in love with Gilda, but woke up with her. She was married five times, including a union with Orson Welles from 1944-1948 and marriages to Prince Aly Khan and actor-singer Dick Haymes. She was also very close to frequent co-star and next door neighbor Glenn Ford. She had two children: Rebecca Welles and Princess Yasmin Aga Khan. After about 1960 she suffered from early onset of Alzheimer's disease which was not diagnosed until 1980; she continued to act in films until the early 1970s and made a well-publicized appearance on The Carol Burnett Show near the end of her career. Lynda Carter starred in a 1983 biopic of her life.

Following her death in 1987, she was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Rita Hayworth was later used as a main 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 2001.

Filmography

• Anna Case in La Fiesta (1926) (short subject) (role unconfirmed)
• The Devil's Cross (1934)
• In Caliente (1935) (scenes deleted)
• Under the Pampas Moon (1935)
• Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)
• Dante's Inferno (1935) (credited as Rita Cansino)
• Piernas de sada (1935)
• Paddy O'Day (1935)
• Professional Soldier (1935)
• Dancing Pirate (1936)
• Human Cargo (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)
• Champagne Safari (1952) (documentary)
• Affair in Trinidad (1952)
• Salome (1953)
• Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)
• (1954) (documentary)
• Fire Down Below (1957)
• Pal Joey (1957)
• Separate Tables (1958)
• They Came to Cordura (1959)
• The Story on Page One (1960)
• The Happy Thieves (1962)
• Lykke og krone (1962) (documentary)
• Circus World (1964)
• The Money Trap (1965)
• The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966)
• The Rover (1967)
• Sons of Satan (1968)
• The Naked Zoo (1971)
• The Wrath of God (1972)

External links

• IMDb filmography
• Rita Hayworth Photos

References

• Ringgold, Gene. The Films of Rita Hayworth (1974).