Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth: Why the marriage of the Queen of Hollywood and the best cinematographer of the twentieth century was doomed

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

These were two stars of the mid-twentieth century. The brilliant Rita Hayworth gained fame as the first sex symbol and was the ultimate dream of men of all ages and social classes. Orson Welles has been hailed as both the finest filmmaker and the greatest bluff of the century. They wanted to build the perfect Hollywood family. Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth truly and passionately loved each other, but their union was doomed.

Rita Hayworth

She was the eldest child of Eduardo Cancino, a flamenco performer, and his wife Volga Hayworth, a dancer and vaudeville actress. The father dreamed that his daughter would follow in his footsteps, especially since even the most difficult steps were easy for her. The mother's desire to see an actress in her daughter was not taken into account, and from the age of three, Rita was engaged in dancing for several hours a day. She herself did not like these endless rehearsals, but she could not go against her father's will.

Already at the age of 12, she performed in tandem with her father as a professional. Rita was 16 when the head of Fox, Winfried Sheehan, saw the performance of a young girl in a nightclub and immediately agreed on her participation in screen tests. Soon, Rita was already signing a six-month contract with a film studio under the name of Kansino's father.

At first, she played, mainly, Latin Americans, and then it was impossible to call her roles any noticeable. After the merger of the company with 20th Century Fox, the contract with the young actress was not renewed, but she was noticed by Edward Judson, who became for the girl not only a personal producer, but also a spouse. It was he who helped the girl to conclude a seven-year contract with the Columbia Pictures Corporation and introduced her to her manager, Harry Cohn.

The girl took her mother's surname and became famous under the name of Rita Hayworth. Harry Cohn advised her to change her image, emphasizing her British-American origin, which allowed the actress to claim the roles of not only exotic foreigners. Rita dyed her hair auburn color and underwent a special procedure, as a result of which her hairline was lifted and the appearance of her forehead widened. It was after this that Rita Hayworth's brilliant film career began.

However, having become famous, the girl realized how much she loves loneliness. She divorced her husband, accusing him of ill-treatment. Rita became one of the most famous and beloved actresses of the 1940s, and journalists called her nothing but the "Goddess of Love". She led a rather closed lifestyle and did not at all strive for endless parties and camera flashes.

Orson Welles

The actor, director and producer is renowned for his groundbreaking productions in film, theater and radio. He is still considered the best director of all time. Already at the age of 20, he directed high-profile theatrical performances, and at 22, together with John Houseman, he founded the independent theater company Mercury Theater.

He rose to fame in 1938, when his HG Wells production of War of the Worlds went on the air, causing many Americans to think that a real alien invasion had begun and succumbed to panic. In 1941, he directed Citizen Kane, which entered the Top 100 Best American Films of All Time.

Orson Welles was a genius, he could not live a day without new ideas and participation in the most incredible projects. He made films and acted as an actor himself, produced films and productions, played music and performed magic tricks, wrote scripts.

He also gained fame as an incorrigible ladies' man and lover of women. He easily achieved reciprocity and very quickly cooled to the recent subject of his passion. It seems that all the actresses have visited his bedroom, but the director no longer wanted to tie the knot after his divorce from his first wife Virginia Nicholson.

In the early 1940s, Mexican actress Dolores del Rio occupied a permanent place next to him, but he would never have agreed to endure her theatrical bouts of discontent with life for a long time. Therefore, Wells was not even going to propose to her. He did not intend to marry at all, realizing that hardly anyone could endure his frantic energy. However, there were also few girls who agreed to be in the shadow of this too bright and impetuous star all the time.

Doomed love

He was 26 years old when Orson Welles saw Rita Hayward on the screen. He was struck in the very heart, immediately decided that this beauty must certainly become his wife and went to conquer a new peak. He did not take into account only one thing: Rita really loved being alone, and her plans did not include acquaintance with such an incredible bundle of energy as Wells.

He tried to get into her house through the front door, she immediately defiantly locked the door with a key. He was waiting for her on the porch, she slipped away through the back stairs of her own mansion. But one day he met her at the back door, held out a bouquet of purple orchids, and Rita realized that she was missing.

The novel was swift and bright, passion was all-consuming, and the future seemed to both of them endless and happy. If Rita had known how much disappointment this love would bring her, she would have sent the purple bouquet to the trash bin, and her admirer would have simply been pushed out the door …

Colleagues learned about their upcoming wedding on the eve of the wedding, and on September 7, 1943, they returned to the studio a few hours after the ceremony. Their marriage began to fall apart in the first months: their ideas about the ideal family turned out to be too different. In December 1944, a daughter, Rebecca, was born in the family, however, she could not become a fastening link in their union.

Rita Hayworth dreamed of a quiet home, family breakfasts in the mornings and quiet evenings together. Orson Welles wanted to emphasize his status with the beauty of his wife and every day he brought his wife out. When she asked her husband to buy a house, he replied that he did not want to take responsibility. She was weighed down by endless attention, and simple family joys seemed boring to him. Wells was attracted by the extravaganza, he retired from the house even before his wife woke up, and appeared long after midnight.

Orson Welles undoubtedly loved Rita and could have made her happy. But even more he loved cinema, theater, circus, brilliant social life and endless attention to his brilliant person. The lack of attention from her husband humiliated the actress. She was the most desirable woman in Hollywood, and her husband seemed to stop noticing her.

Orson learned that Rita filed for divorce from reporters. Many years later, he admitted that he could not make her happy and did not keep a single promise to his wife. She also considered Wells the main love of her life. Rita Hayworth never learned to be happy, despite her subsequent hobbies and marriages. In her life there were rich fans, including Glenn Ford, and a wedding with the real Prince Ali Khan. At the end of her life, she suffered from alcoholism and Alzheimer's disease, and was looked after by her daughter Yasmin, who was born in a marriage with Ali Khan.

Orson Welles was married to the Italian aristocrat Paola Mori, but in his life there was always a place for hobbies and romances with the first beauties. Just before his death in 1985, he said that Rita Hayworth was "one of the dearest and sweetest women who ever lived …"

Men all over the world went crazy for her. The expression "sex bomb" and the name of the swimsuit "bikini" are associated with her name. The cocktail "Margarita" was named in her honor. And at the end of life Rita Hayworth admitted that she would trade her stellar years for quiet moments of family happiness.