hayworthrita

The legendary Rita Hayworth, daughter of Eduardo Cansino, a dancer from Madrid, Spain, and Volga Hayworth, was born as Margarita Carmen Dolores in New York City. During the Depression the family moved to California where Rita became a dancer taught by her father. Because of her age, father and daughter gave dance recitals in Mexican border towns, eventually acting in bit parts in the movies. In 1937 she signed with Columbia Studios achieving minor recognition in the film, Angels Have Wings. A string of film successes ensued and by the end of World War II Hayworth become the studio’s major star. Appearing in the blockbuster, Gilda in 1946 and followed by a series of successful musicals, Hayworth solidified an international reputation. She married prominent men, among them, Orson Welles and Prince Ali Kahn, and had two daughters, Rebecca Welles and the Princess Yasmin. With the exception of one or two films like Blood and Sand, Hayworth often played Anglo women in the movies. She succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease and died in 1987.