Born Rita Cansino in New York, Irish-Latin
Rita Hayworth came from show business roots with an actor mother and dancer father. She studied both acting and dancing in her younger years, favoring dancing which provided more opportunity. It was her dancing that got her initially noticed by movie studios. Being cast as nothing more than the eye catching dancer in bit roles, Rita started her rise to stardom by adopting her mother's family name, changing studios and focusing on being a dramatic actress. Once becoming a star, she was able to combine her acting with singing and dancing in movies. Arguably her most famous on-screen moment was as her most iconic role as
Gilda (1946) performing the musical number "Put the Blame on Mame". She gave up her acting career to become one of the most famous real life princesses in the world, but returned to acting a few years later.
—Huggo