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Rita Hayworth
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Born: Oct 17, 1918
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Spanish dancer Eduardo Cansino's daughter Margarita trained as a
dancer from early childhood. At age 12, mature-looking Rita joined
Eduardo's stage act, in which she was spotted 3 years later by Fox
studio head Winfield Sheehan, leading to her first studio contract
and film debut at age 16 in _Dante's Inferno (1935)_ (qv). Her Fox
contract was dropped after 5 small roles, but expert, exploitative
promotion by first husband Edward Judson soon brought Rita a new
contract at Columbia, where studio head 'Harry Cohn (I)' (qv)
changed her name to Hayworth and approved raising her hairline by
electrolysis. After 13 mainly minor roles, Columbia lent her to
Warner Brothers for her first big success, _Strawberry Blonde, The
(1941)_ (qv); her splendid dancing with Astaire in _You'll Never
Get Rich (1941)_ (qv) made her a star. In person Rita was shy,
quiet, and unassuming; only when the cameras rolled did she turn on
the explosive sexual charisma that in _Gilda (1946)_ (qv) made her
a superstar. To Rita, though, domestic bliss was a more important,
if elusive, goal, and in 1949 she interrupted her career for
marriage, unhappy almost from the start, to playboy 'Prince Aly
Khan' (qv). Her films after divorce from Aly include perhaps her
best straight acting performances, _Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)_
(qv) and _They Came to Cordura (1959)_ (qv). From 1960 (age 42),
early onset of Alzheimer's disease (undiagnosed until 1980) limited
Rita's powers; the last few roles in her 60-film career were
increasingly small. Almost helpless by 1981, Rita was cared for by
daughter Yasmin until her death at age 68.
click here to see her in action
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Rita Hayworth Nude and Sexy
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