Hayworth was born as Margarita Carmen Cansino in Brooklyn, New York, the oldest child of two dancers. Her father, Eduardo Cansino, was of Spanish Roma/Gitano descent from Castilleja de la Cuesta, a little town near … See more

During her time at Fox, Hayworth was billed as Rita Cansino and appeared in unremarkable roles, often cast as the exotic foreigner. In late 1934, aged 16, she performed a dance sequence in the Spencer Tr… See more

Hayworth confided to Orson Welles that her father began to sexually abuse her as a child when they were touring together as the Dancing Cansinos. Her biographer, Barbara Leaming, wrote that her mother may have b… See more