Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino, the daughter of Eduardo Cansino (Sr.) and Volga Haworth (sic) in Brooklyn, New York. She was trained as a dancer from childhood, and was on stage by the age of six as a member of The Cansinos, a famous family of Roma Gitano Spanish dancers working in vaudeville. At age sixteen Rita attracted the attention of film producers as part of "The Dancing Cansinos" and was signed by Fox Studios in 1935. After her option was not renewed by Fox, Rita freelanced at minor film studios before signing with Columbia Pictures in 1937.
Rita's metamorphosis began after a name change from Rita Cansino to Rita Hayworth and extensive painful electrolysis to raise her hairline. After two more years of minor roles she gave an impressive performance in Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings (1939) as part of an ensemble cast headed by Cary Grant . Her sensitive portrayal of a disillusioned wife sparked the interest of other studios. Between assignments at Columbia Pictures she was borrowed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer for George Cukor's Susan and God (1940) with Joan Crawford and Warner Brothers for Raoul Walsh's The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney.
While on loan to Fox Studios for Rouben Mamoulian's Blood and Sand (1941) starring Tyrone Power, Rita achieved stardom with her sizzling performance as the amoral and seductive Doña Sol des Muire. This Technicolor film forever branded her as one of Hollywood's most beautiful redheads. Ironically, Carole Landis was the original choice for the role but was replaced by Rita Hayworth prior to filming because she refused to dye her blonde hair red. Fox then borrowed Rita from Columbia and dyed her raven hair auburn which soon became Hayworth's best remembered feature. Her stardom was solidified when she made the cover of Time Magazine as Fred Astaire's new dancing partner in You'll Never Get Rich (1941).
The "love goddess" image was cemented with Bob Landry's 1941 Life magazine photograph of her (kneeling on a bed in a silk and lace nightgown), which caused a sensation and became (at over five million copies) one of the most requested wartime pinups. During World War II she ranked with Betty Grable, Dorothy Lamour, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner as the pinup girls most popular with servicemen. Rita would also become Columbia's biggest star of the 1940s, under the watchful eye of studio chief Harry Cohn, who recognized her value. After she made Tales of Manhattan (1942) at Twentieth Century Fox opposite Charles Boyer, Cohn would not allow Hayworth to be loaned out to other studios.
Hayworth's well-known films include the musicals that made her famous: You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never Lovelier (1942) (both with Fred Astaire, who wrote in his autobiography that Rita "danced with trained perfection and individuality"), My Gal Sal (1942) with Victor Mature, and her best known musical, Cover Girl (1944) with Gene Kelly. Although her singing voice was dubbed in her movies, Rita was one of Hollywood's best dancers, imbued with power, precision, tremendous enthusiasm, and an unearthly grace. Cohn continued to effectively showcase Hayworth's talents in Technicolor films: Tonight and Every Night (1945) with Lee Bowman, and Down to Earth (1947), with Larry Parks. Her erotic appeal was most notable in Gilda (1946), a black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor, which encountered some difficulty with censors. This role — in which Hayworth in black satin performed a legendary one-glove striptease — made her into a cultural icon as the ultimate femme fatale. Alluding to her bombshell status, in 1946 her likeness was placed on the first nuclear bomb to be tested after World War II at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as part of Operation Crossroads.
Hayworth performed one of her best remembered dance routines, the samba from 1945's Tonight and Every Night, while pregnant with her first child, Rebecca Welles. Hayworth was also the first dancer to partner both Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on film - the others being Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse, Vera Ellen, and Leslie Caron.
Hayworth gave one of her most acclaimed performances in Orson Welles' The Lady from Shanghai (1948), though it failed at the box office. The failure was in part attributed to the fact that director/co-star Welles had Hayworth's famous red locks cut off and the rest dyed blonde for her role. This was done without Harry Cohn's knowledge or approval who was furious over the change. Her next film, The Loves of Carmen (1948) with Glenn Ford, was the first film co-produced by Columbia and Rita's own production company, The Beckworth Corporation (named for her daughter Rebecca). It was Columbia's biggest moneymaker for that year. She received a percentage of the profits from this and all of her subsequent films until 1955, when Hayworth dissolved Beckworth to pay off debts she owed to Columbia.
Rita left her film career in 1948 to marry Prince Aly Khan, the heir to the Aga Khan III, leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims. The couple moved to Europe, causing a media frenzy. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, in writing and directing 1954's The Barefoot Contessa, was said to have based his title character, Maria Vargas (played on film by Ava Gardner), on Hayworth's life and her marriage to Khan.
After the marriage collapsed in 1951, Hayworth returned to America with great fanfare to film a string of hit films: Affair in Trinidad (1952) with favorite costar Glenn Ford, Salome (1953) with Charles Laughton and Stewart Granger, and Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) with Jose Ferrer and Aldo Ray, for which her performance won critical acclaim. Then she was off the big screen for another four years, due mainly to a tumultuous marriage to singer Dick Haymes. In 1957, after making Fire Down Below with Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon, and her last musical Pal Joey with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak, Rita finally left Columbia. She got good reviews for her acting in such films as Separate Tables (1958) with Burt Lancaster and The Story on Page One (1960) with Anthony Franciosa, and continued working throughout the 1960s. Hayworth made her last film, The Wrath of God , in 1972.
After about 1960, Hayworth suffered from extremely early onset of Alzheimer's disease, which was not diagnosed until 1980. She continued to act in films until the early-1970s and made a well-publicized appearance on The Carol Burnett Show near the end of her career. In 1977, Hayworth was the recipient of the National Screen Heritage Award (see above photo). Lynda Carter starred in a 1983 biopic of her life. She lived in an apartment at the San Remo in New York City.
Following her death from Alzheimer's in 1987 at age 68, she was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California; location: Grotto, Lot 196, Grave 6 (right of main sidewalk, near the curb). Her marker includes the inscription ""To yesterday's companionship and tomorrow's reunion."
One of the major fundraisers for the Alzheimer's Association is the annual Rita Hayworth Gala, which is held in New York City and Chicago. Hayworth’s daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, has been the hostess for these events, which since 1985 have raised more than $42 million for the Association.
Reprise
Rita Hayworth Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Kicked the lantern in Chicago town
They say that started the fire
That burned Chicago down
That's the story that went around
But here's the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
That kiss burned Chicago down
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
Remember the blizzard, back in Manhattan
In eighteen-eighty-six
They say that traffic was tied up
And folks were in a fix
That's the story that went around
But here's the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
Mame gave a chump such an ice-cold "No"
For seven days they shovelled snow
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
When they had the earthquake in San Francisco
Back in nineteen-six
They said that Mother Nature
Was up to her old tricks
That's the story that went around
But here's the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
One night she started to shim and shake
That brought on the Frisco quake
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
They once had a shootin' up in the Klondike
When they got Dan McGrew
Folks were putting the blame on
The lady known as Lou
That's the story that went around
But here's the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
Mame did a dance called the hoochy-coo
That's the thing that slew McGrew
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
The song "Put the Blame on Mame" is a classic and sultry tune sung by Rita Hayworth in the 1946 movie "Gilda". The lyrics are a set of verses telling different stories of natural disasters and historical events that are all attributed to Mame, who is portrayed as a seductive and dangerous woman. Each time, the chorus encourages the listener to put the blame on Mame.
The verses are quite clever, as they use double entendres and references to events of the time, such as the Chicago Fire, the San Francisco earthquake, and the Klondike Gold Rush, to create a narrative that both captures the imagination and plays with popular culture. The song's real genius, however, is in the way it portrays Mame – a mysterious, powerful, and ultimately dangerous figure that captures the essence of Rita Hayworth's role as Gilda in the movie.
Line by Line Meaning
When Mrs. O'Leary's cow
When the infamous event occurred
Kicked the lantern in Chicago town
Igniting the fire that devastated the city
They say that started the fire
According to common accounts
That burned Chicago down
Resulting in the massive destruction of the city
That's the story that went around
The popular narrative of the event
But here's the real low-down
However, here is the true explanation
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Hold Mame responsible
Mame kissed a buyer from out of town
Mame's actions caused the disaster
That kiss burned Chicago down
Her actions led to the catastrophe
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Thus, Mame is accountable
Remember the blizzard, back in Manhattan
Recall the historical event in Manhattan
In eighteen-eighty-six
The year when it took place
They say that traffic was tied up
It was reported that the transportation system was ineffective
And folks were in a fix
People were in a difficult situation
That's the story that went around
This was the popular version of events
But here's the real low-down
However, the actual reason was different
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Mame is responsible
Mame gave a chump such an ice-cold "No"
Mame's negative response affected someone
For seven days they shovelled snow
As a result, they had to shovel snow for seven days
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Therefore, Mame is to be held accountable
When they had the earthquake in San Francisco
During the earthquake in San Francisco
Back in nineteen-six
In the year 1906
They said that Mother Nature
It was claimed that natural forces were behind it
Was up to her old tricks
Mother Nature was supposedly causing more trouble
That's the story that went around
This was the story people told
But here's the real low-down
Somewhat unsurprisingly, here's the actual reason
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Mame is the guilty party
One night she started to shim and shake
Mame began to shimmy and shake one night
That brought on the Frisco quake
Her actions somehow caused the earthquake
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Thus, Mame is responsible
They once had a shootin' up in the Klondike
The incident in Klondike
When they got Dan McGrew
After the shooting of Dan McGrew
Folks were putting the blame on
People were assigning responsibility to
The lady known as Lou
A woman called Lou was accused
That's the story that went around
The tale that people shared
But here's the real low-down
In reality, this is what happened
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Mame is the one at fault
Mame did a dance called the hoochy-coo
The dance Mame performed was known as the hoochy-coo
That's the thing that slew McGrew
It was this dance that caused McGrew's death
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Mame is responsible for the tragedy
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALLAN ROBERTS, DORIS FISHER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
John M
Beautifully done video.....never can get enough of all the stills of Rita Hayworth.
Michal Rodriguez
Una de las más bellas y talentosa actriz del cine clásico
Laura Jayne
lovely pictures :)