Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and pin-up girl.[1][2][3][4][5][6] She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and appeared in 61 films in total over 37 years. The press coined the term "The Love Goddess" to describe Hayworth, after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II.[7]
Rita Hayworth
October 17, 1918
May 14, 1987 (aged 68)
- Actress
- dancer
- pin-up girl
1931–1972
2, including Yasmin Aga Khan
- Eduardo Cansino (father)
- Volga Hayworth (mother)
- Richard Cansino (nephew)
- Vinton Hayworth (uncle)
Hayworth is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1946 film noir Gilda, opposite Glenn Ford, in which she played the femme fatale in her first major dramatic role. She is also known for her performances in Only Angels Have Wings (1939), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), Blood and Sand (1941), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Pal Joey (1957), and Separate Tables (1958). Fred Astaire, with whom she made two films, You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942), once called her his favorite dance partner. She also starred in the Technicolor musical Cover Girl (1944), with Gene Kelly. She is listed as one of the top 25 female motion picture stars of all time in the American Film Institute's survey, AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Hayworth received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1645 Vine Street in 1960.[6]
In 1980, Hayworth was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, which contributed to her death in 1987 at age 68. The public disclosure and discussion of her illness drew attention to Alzheimer's, and helped to increase public and private funding for research into the disease.
Legacy[edit]
The public disclosure and discussion of Hayworth's illness drew international attention to Alzheimer's disease, which was little known at the time,[39] and it helped to greatly increase federal funding for Alzheimer's research.[93]
The Rita Hayworth Gala, a benefit for the Alzheimer's Association, is held annually in Chicago and New York City.[105] The program was founded in 1985[106] by Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, in honor of her mother. She is the hostess for the events and is a major sponsor of Alzheimer's disease charities and awareness programs. As of August 2017, a total of more than $72 million had been raised through events in Chicago, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida.[105][107][108]
On October 17, 2016, a press release from the Springer Associates Public Relations Agency announced that Rita Hayworth's former manager and friend, Budd Burton Moss, initiated a campaign to solicit the United States Postal Service to issue a commemorative stamp featuring Hayworth. Springer Associates also announced that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would be lobbied in hopes of having an honorary Academy Award issued in memory of Hayworth.[109] The press release added that Hayworth's daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Los Angeles, and numerous prominent personalities of stage and screen were supporting the Moss campaign. The press release stated the target date for fulfillment of the stamp and Academy Award to be on October 17, 2018, on what will be the centennial of Hayworth's birth.
Cultural references[edit]
The film I Remember Better When I Paint (2009) describes how Hayworth took up painting while struggling with Alzheimer's.[110]
In 1983, Lynda Carter, who was of a similar Irish and Hispanic ancestry, played and danced as Hayworth in a TV biopic Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess.
In the Baptiste episode "Shell", Baptiste talks to Kim about Hayworth in an attempt to gain information from her about Natalie after noticing that she has several DVDs of Hayworth's films; the Dream Room has a poster of Gilda.[111]
Hayworth's name can be heard on the Madonna hit from 1990 "Vogue", ("Rita Hayworth gave good face") among other artists from classical Hollywood cinema. Her name is also mentioned in Tom Waits's song "Invitation to the Blues" from his 1976 album Small Change.
In the Sicilian scenes of the film The Godfather, the bodyguard of Michael Corleone is heard shouting the name "Rita Hayworth" to GI's passing by in jeeps.
Hayworth is the main topic of the song, "Take, Take, Take"[112] by the White Stripes and also referenced in "White Moon[113]"; both from their Get Behind Me Satan album, released in 2005. In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone, Jack White says, "Rita Hayworth became an all-encompassing metaphor for everything I was thinking about while making the album.[114]"
The film The Shawshank Redemption was adapted from a Stephen King novella, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption", from his 1982 collection Different Seasons. A succession of posters, starting with one of Rita Hayworth, hides a hole in a jail cell wall in the novella. In the film, a poster of Rita Hayworth was used for the first third of the film, then changed to a poster of Marilyn Monroe for the middle third, then Raquel Welch for the last third. The film also includes a scene where the prison movie night shows Rita Hayworth's film Gilda.