Inside Rita Hayworth’s Tragic Yet Iconic Life

Rita Hayworth is one of old Hollywood's most recognizable and glamorous Stars me but while her roles have remained iconic many important facts about her life have been forgotten Rita's rise to the top was filled with pain and turmoil as was much of her adult life off screen but through her immense talent in tenacity she managed to carve out a legacy as one of the most iconic Hollywood actresses of all time human nature is eternal more than just a glamorous bombshell she will also always be remembered for being a kind and caring person in his last ever interview Orson Welles called her one of the dearest and sweetest women that ever lived so today we're digging into some things you might not have known about the legendary actresses often less than glamorous real life story harida was born Margarita Carmen cancino in Brooklyn New York on October 17 1918. performing was in her blood her mother was a zig-filled Folly her father Eduardo was a professional dancer and her paternal grandfather was also a world-renowned classical Spanish dancer Rita was given dance lessons as soon as she learned to walk and though she later admitted she didn't like it very much she was too afraid to confront her overbearing controlling and allegedly sexually abusive father about it so she was forced to continue with daily dance lessons for her entire childhood I had been studying since I was about five years old China was 13 I was dancing professionally Rito's father was convinced that the family could become famous through their dancing and so in 1927 moved the family across the country to Hollywood to make it happen since she was too young to work dancing in nightclubs at the time eventually her father started taking her across the border to work with him in Tijuana Mexico while she would go on to play vivacious glamorous characters Rita herself was very reserved and shy growing up Loretta Parkin a neighbor of the casino family in California said for Rita there was no life no school no friends no girlfriends just sitting sitting sitting till it was time to go to Tijuana eventually Eduardo's hopes came true and Rita was scouted by the head of the Fox film Corporation Winfield Sheehan Rita was set up with a screen test back in Los Angeles and started on the path to her Hollywood career [Music] Rita signed a six-month contract with fox in 1935 and appeared in small parts in films like Dante's Inferno and Charlie Chan in Egypt but in the end her contract wasn't renewed she worked her first Hollywood contract as Rita cancino but eventually changed her last name to Hayworth on the advice of her first agent who also became her first husband Edward C Judson despite being 22 years older than her Judson was controlling in much the same way as her father and was also equally as dead set on making Rita a star he got her a few small freelance Parts in films with various Studios until they got lucky in 1936 with meet Nero wolf with Columbia Pictures Rita was signed to a seven-year contract by Columbia Studio head Harry Cohn once he saw her on screen I want you to find my brother Something's Happened to him he's gone while her father had made her dye her brown hair black when she began dancing in nightclubs in Mexico once she was under cone's control she was made to lighten her hair Beyond even its natural color to the red that became her signature color Cohn wanted her to look less ethnic so in addition to changing her hair color she was also forced to undergo painful electrolysis procedures to raise her hairline Rita would continue to have a difficult working relationship with the domineering Studio boss for the rest of her working career with Columbia in an interview with the saint peterberg times in 1968 Rita said he was very possessive of me as a person he didn't want me to go out with anybody have any friends no one can live that way so I fought him you want to know what I think of Harry Cohn he was a monster [Music] in the late 1930s Rita began getting bigger Parts in larger films and finally got a major breakthrough with the 1941 musical you'll never get rich that's much better thank you thank you the musical allowed Rita to Showcase her hard-earned dancing skills next to Industry Legend Fred Astaire and the film was a huge success for Colombia the Pair worked so well together in fact that they made You Were Never Lovelier together the next year and Fred Astaire even allegedly once admitted that Rita not long time Dan's partner Ginger Rogers was actually his favorite star to dance with surprisingly one of Rita's first big brushes with super stardom came not from a film but a photograph in her second spread for Life Magazine one image featuring Rita in a lacy nightgown made her the second most popular pinup with American soldiers during World War II between this and her successful musicals Rita was finally on her way to the top in Hollywood then four to six weeks Rita Hayworth this unknown Act was on the cover of look magazine during the 1940s she became a huge box office draw and the biggest star at Columbia with hits like the musical Cover Girl and the iconic Gilda the 1946 classic featured Rita as the titular Gilda a bombshell Femme Fatale out to make her ex Jealous by parading around with other guys the film features one of Rita's most iconic scenes Gilda performing a striptease while singing put the blame on Mame and the film has been referenced countless times in pop culture over the years thanks to this video's sponsor Factor you can enjoy delicious food at an affordable cost factor is America's number one ready to eat meal kit fuel up for summer with their Endless Options of wholesome convenient dishes if you often find yourself too busy to plan meals shop at the grocery store prep cook and clean then Factor can really come in handy instead of grabbing a frozen meal at the supermarket or ordering takeout dive into factors incredible ever-growing menu of nutritious your wallet and belly will thank you factor has spoiled me with so many great dishes and features such diverse offerings that I can always find what I'm in the mood for planning what I'll eat for the week is actually fun as factored as most of the work for me and delivers meals straight to my door this week I'm planning on treating myself to factors upscale surf and turf options I can't wait to try the roasted garlic filet mignon and shrimp and their Cajun spiced shrimp and salmon Factor has saved me a ton of money that I was wasting on unhealthy foods and I've gotten back a lot of time that I'd have otherwise squandered deciding what to eat this June get factor and enjoy eating well without the hassle head to factormeels.com the take 50 and use the code the take 50 to get 50 off your first box that's the take 50 at factormeals.com the take 50 to get 50 off your first box in 1943 Rita married iconic auteur Orson Welles on her lunch break during a filming day of Covergirl and they went on to have a daughter named Rebecca Rita allegedly chose the name because she had become enamored with Walter Scott's Ivanhoe after Orson had gotten her into reading classic literature their marriage was incredibly tumultuous and they eventually agreed to split in 1946. though Rita did agree to star in his 1947 film the lady from Shanghai which was a flop financially but for which she got great reviews for her performance the pair officially divorced in 1948. the same year she met her next husband Grace Kelly is often credited as being Hollywood's princess but in fact Rita became Hollywood's first princess when she married Prince Ali Khan in 1949. so the oldest Hollywood fairy story comes true former dancing girl weddings Prince unfortunately for Rita becoming a princess wasn't a fairy tale she had a difficult time making life work in France especially since she didn't speak French and that compounded with Prince Ali's alleged infidelity meant the marriage was doomed it just didn't work out as a marriage but their friendship remained and their love for each other remained Rita left him in 1951 and they officially divorced in 1953 though she had hoped to escape Hollywood with her marriage to the prince once they separated she had to head back to work her comeback film Affair in Trinidad had a bit of a troubled shoot but in the end was a success earning even more than Gilda okay throughout much of her adult life Rita struggled with alcoholism those close to her believed that she drank to deal with the pain of her childhood and the stresses of Fame her daughter with Prince Ali Khan Yasmin once said she had difficulty coping with the ups and downs of the business her condition became quite bad it worsened and she did have an alcoholic breakdown and landed in the hospital starting in the late 1960s she began having trouble with her memory from Forgetting her lines on set to forgetting who people were and becoming easily confused in 1972 while filming the wrath of God Rita had to have her part fed to her line by line because she was unable to remember an entire scene at once and a confused and disheveled Rita had to be escorted off of a plane in 1976 after an outburst which led to negative press attention and scrutiny her ex-husband Orson Welles recalled that when he approached Rita at a party in the late 1970s it took her several minutes of conversation to be able to remember who he was at which point she realized who I was and she began to cry quietly the reality was that her drinking was covering up symptoms of a much worse problem the onset of Alzheimer's disease she wasn't unable to really Express herself and so her way of coping was to have a drink due to Alzheimer's disease being at the time poorly documented and everyone in her life assuming she was just suffering from alcoholic dementia Rita wasn't officially diagnosed until 1980. by July 1981 Rita was in such poor health that the state of California had to appoint her daughter Yasmin as her caretaker and administrator of Affairs Rita's diagnosis with the disease was made public in 1981 and as medical historian Baron L learner noted she became the first public face of Alzheimer's helping to ensure that future patients did not go undiagnosed the attention she brought to the disease helped increase Federal funding for research and in 1985 Yasmin founded the Rita Hayworth Gala a benefit to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association after her long battle with the illness Rita passed away in her Manhattan apartment on May 14 1987 at the age of 68. Rita's life might seem to follow the glam generous yet tragic trajectory we so often see on screen but her story is much more complex and important than any Trope that people might try to box her into you should see me around the house that's the real me her story highlights how important it is not to attempt to force anyone to be just any one thing or ignore that there might be more going on under the surface that's the take click here to watch the video we think you'll love or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications

Channel: The Take

Views: 35,341

Keywords: rita hayworth, gilda, factor, the take, screen icons, explained, breakdown, orson welles, colombia, the money trap, salome, cover girl, down to earth, the lady from shanghai

Id: _A6Qwh9en-I

Length: 11min 23sec (683 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 24 2023