Rita Hayworth

Margarita Carmen Cansino, The Love Goddess or Eduardo Cansino's daughter was born on October 17, 1918 in Brooklyn New York. She began dancing as a young child and by the age of 12 she joined her father's stage act. She gained her first studio contact at 16 and acted in Dante's Inferno (1935). He husband Edward Judson promoted her to Columbia Pictures where Harry Cohn changed her name to Hayworth and raised her hairline by electrolysis. She played in The Strawberry Blond in 1941 and You'll Never Get Rich with Fred Astaire in 1941.
Rita was reputed to be shy and quiet but when the cameras rolled she turned into a sexual dynamo. Gilda (1946) made Rita a superstar, but domestic bliss was more important to her. Her second marriage was to Prince Aly Khan. She divorced Khan and her best acting performances came in Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) and They Came to Cordura (1959). By 1960 Rita began the first stages of Alzheimer's disease and was unable to act. She was totally helpless by 1981 and cared for by her daughter Yasmin Khan until she died at 68 (May 14, 1987).
Rita's last film was The Wrath of God in 1972. She left behind five ex-husbands, James Hill, Dick Haymes, Prince Aly Khan, Orson Welles and Edward Judson. She had two daughters. Everyone remembers Rita for her red hair and voluptuous figure as well as her sultry voice.