This week brought the birthdate of Hollywood screen siren, Rita Hayworth, who came into the world on October 17 1918 and departed in 1987.
She began acting in her teens under her real name, Rita Cansino. When she came to devise a new screen identity she drew on her mother’s maiden name, Haworth, but threw in the ‘y’ to make it more memorable.
Rita was not only an actress but also an accomplished dancer. Fred Astaire described her as his favourite.
A 1944 photograph taken for Life magazine, in which she was snapped posing in black lace, became the pin-up that American servicemen prized. Such was its popularity that it was reportedly pasted to the test atomic bomb that was detonated on Bikini Atoll in 1946.
She was married and divorced five times. Among her husbands was troubled genius Orson Welles who, in what appears to be an act of control, cast her in a movie but made her change her trademark, long, curled, red hair for a short, blonde cut.
Rita Hayworth died not knowing that she would be rediscovered by a new generation thanks to the hit movie, The Shawshank Redemption, based on the Stephen King story.
When wrongly convicted inmate of Shawshank prison, Andy DuFresne, needs a large item to cover up the escape tunnel at which he is patiently chipping away, bit by bit, night by night, he manages to acquire from his pal, Red, a poster of Rita as Gilda – the femme fatale who drove Glenn Ford mad with desire in the film named after her character.
“So what is the connection with Heswall?” you ask.
It is pretty slender but a connection nonetheless. Years ago hair and beauty experts Andrew and Liz Collinge were invited to recreate various classic Hollywood looks for a series of Channel 4 short films called Icons. Fans and historians analysed the enduring appeal of the greatest screen sirens and the Collinges revealed the secrets of their style.
One of them was devoted to Rita Hayworth, and here it is.
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