Rita Hayworth Biography

Name:Rita Hayworth
Date of Birth:October 17, 1918
Place of Birth:Brooklyn, New York
                     U.S.
Date of Death:May 14, 1987
Place of Death:New York


American motion-picture actress and dancer who rose to glamorous stardom in the 1940s and '50s.

The daughter of Spanish-born dancer Eduardo Cansino and his partner, Volga Haworth, Hayworth as a child worked as a professional dancer with her parents' nightclub act. While still a teenager, she appeared on-screen under her given name of Rita Cansino in films such as Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935), Dante's Inferno (1935), and Meet Nero Wolfe (1936). On the advice of her first husband, Edward Judson (who became her manager), she changed her name and dyed her hair auburn, cultivating a sophisticated glamour that first registered with her role as an unfaithful wife who tries to seduce Cary Grant in Only Angels Have Wings (1939).

After a few inconsequential films, Hayworth gradually rose to the rank of star, playing femmes fatales in quality melodramas such as The Lady in Question (1940), Blood and Sand (1941), and The Strawberry Blonde (1941). Rita Hayworth dancing skills were well-showcased opposite Fred Astaire (who in later years cited Hayworth as his favourite dance partner) in You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) and with Gene Kelly in Cover Girl (1944), a film that helped establish both Hayworth and Kelly among the top stars of the day. It was also during this time that she became a favourite pinup of American servicemen; her publicity still, depicting the lingerie-clad Hayworth kneeling seductively on a bed, became an indelible image of World War II.

The definitive Hayworth film is undoubtedly Gilda (1946), in which she appeared opposite Glenn Ford, her frequent costar. A classic of film noir, Gilda featured Hayworth as the quintessential “noir woman,” a duplicitous temptress and an abused victim in equal measure. A daring, quirky film for its time, Gilda was rife with sexually suggestive imagery and dialogue (such as Hayworth's “If I'd have been a ranch, they would have called me the Bar Nothing”) and featured Hayworth's striptease to the song “Put the Blame on Mame,” perhaps the actress's most famous film scene. Two years later, Hayworth starred in another film noir classic, The Lady from Shanghai (1947). Directed by Hayworth's then-husband, Orson Welles, it is perhaps the most labyrinthine film in the genre, Hayworth's portrayal of a cynical seductress is one of her most praised performances. It was also about this time that Life magazine dubbed Hayworth “The Love Goddess,” an appellation that, much to the actress's chagrin, would remain with her for life.