14 May 1987: US actress Rita Hayworth dies, aged 68

Born Margarita Carmen Cansino, her father Eduardo was from Seville province

David Balmer

Friday, 14 May 2021, 09:42

On 14 May 1987, American actress and dancer Rita Hayworth, whose father was Andalusian, died aged 68.

Born Margarita Carmen Cansino, her father Eduardo was a flamenco dancer from Castilleja de la Cuesta in Seville province. It was through his dance tutelage that Hayworth launched her glittering career.

Hayworth was born on 17 October 1918 in New York to Eduardo Cansino Reina and Volga Hayworth. She came from a family immersed in dance - her grandfather, Antonio Cansino, ran a famous dance school in Madrid and was a dance instructor at the Royal Opera House. Rita began dancing young and, aged four, she featured in a Broadway production, the Four Cansinos.

Eduardo moved the family to California and, when Rita was twelve, he formed a father-daughter act, the Dancing Cansinos. Initially, Rita's hair was dyed from brown to black to give her a more 'Latin' appearance. In the 1930s, she had a series of small roles in Hollywood films.

Eventually, she was offered a seven-year contract by the head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn. However, he thought her name and appearance were "too Spanish". Thus, she underwent electrolysis to raise her hairline and her hair was dyed dark red. Also, she adopted her mother's maiden name as it was believed emphasising the Anglocentric part of her identity would broaden her appeal.

During the Second World War, Hayworth became the main pin-up girl for American soldiers and later one of the top Hollywood stars of the postwar era, most notably in Gilda in 1946. However, her fame did not bring her happiness and she went through five unsuccessful marriages . One of her ex-husbands, Orson Welles, suggested her struggles were triggered by the physical and sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father growing up.

On a trip to her father's hometown to visit her grandfather and other relatives in 1950, she astounded onlookers with the ease with which she danced flamenco. She also attended a bullfight in Seville during the same visit and made several other trips to Spain in her lifetime.

By her early fifties, Hayworth had developed Alzheimer's and, when coupled with her alcoholism, her health quickly declined. On this day in 1987, she died at her home in Manhattan. A street in Castilleja de la Cuesta, Calle Rita Hayworth, is named after her.

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