Rita Hayworth

Today, someone suffering from forgetfulness is immediately assumed to have Alzheimer's disease. But it was only a few decades ago that famed actress Rita Hayworth's Alzheimer's was persistently misdiagnosed. One of World War II's most popular pin-up girls, Hayworth began having trouble remembering her lines during the 1960s, while in her 40s. She drank heavily at times, and her fellow actors largely suspected alcohol as the cause. So did her doctors.

You can almost hear the clanging of the typewriters in the writers courtyard at Hollywood's Sunset Gower Studios, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The Spanish-style courtyard of offices housed such scribes as Ben Hecht ("His Girl Friday") and Sidney Buchman ("Mr. Smith Goes to Washington") when the facility was home to Columbia Pictures. According to Brent M. Christo, sales and marketing coordinator for Sunset Gower and the neighboring Sunset Bronson Studios, one of the bungalows was the office of Oscar-winning producer-director Frank Capra ("It Happened One Night," "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town")

Born Margarita Cansino in Brooklyn, NY, in 1918, Rita Hayworth began her career as professional nightclub dancer before entering movies as a teenager in 1935's "Dante's Inferno. " In 1937, she was signed by Columbia Studios and got her big break as Richard Barthelmess' wife in the 1939 Howard Hawks' classic, "Only Angels Have Wings. " During the 1940s, Hayworth was known as "The Love Goddess" and she starred in musicals ? she was dubbed because she couldn't sing ? film noirs and period dramas.

Budd Burton Moss is in his upstairs office at his Westwood Village house, working his computer to find work for actor Maxwell Caulfield. He signs on to a Hollywood casting service - to which he subscribes for $250 a month - that lists the acting roles that production companies around town are seeking to fill. Moss notices the synopsis of an episodic TV crime show that is looking for someone to play the part of an attorney. With a few clicks on his computer, he pulls up a photo of Caulfield dressed in a suit and tie and composes a quick note to the show's producers, inviting them to attend the play "Helen," in which Caulfield was performing at the Getty Villa.

Rita Hayworth, a shy Spanish dancer who was transformed into the titian-haired movie "love goddess" of the 1940s only to rebel against the studio system that created her, has died in New York City, it was reported Friday. Miss Hayworth, a victim of Alzheimer's disease that robbed her of speech and memory during the last years of her life, died Thursday night at the home of Princess Yasmin Khan Embiricos, her daughter from her storybook marriage to Prince Aly Khan.

More than 500 mourners, including film greats, fans, relatives and friends, crowded into the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills on Monday to hear film star Rita Hayworth eulogized as a "sweet, kind, gentle lady" who was actually shy away from the cameras. This recollection of Miss Hayworth, the Spanish dancer-turned-love goddess and one of the favorite pinups of GIs of World War II, was given by Jane Withers, a child actress in the 1930s and a friend of Miss Hayworth.

James Hill, a film producer and writer once married to Rita Hayworth and who put her in one of her last major films, "Separate Tables," and later wrote a biography of the actress revered as "the love goddess," has died. He was 84. Hill, who also had a long professional association with the late actor Burt Lancaster, died Thursday in Santa Monica of complications of Alzheimer's disease. Married to Hill from 1958 to 1961, Hayworth died in 1987, also of Alzheimer's.

Rita Hayworth, the shy Spanish dancer who films transformed into a "love goddess" of the 1940s and who became a princess in real life, is dead, it was reported today. She was 68 and died Thursday night, said an aide to Princess Yasmin Khan, Miss Hayworth's daughter from her marriage to Prince Aly Khan, son of the Aga Khan, who was spiritual leader of 9 million Ismaili Muslims.

"A Farewell Tribute to Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth" will reopen the Vagabond Theater next Friday. One of Los Angeles' pioneer art and repertory theaters, the Vagabond, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., has been refurbished by veteran exhibitor Louis Federici after having been closed more than a year.

The interview with Princess Yasmin Aga Khan Jeffries on the last years of her mother, actress Rita Hayworth--which appeared in The Times' View section last week--produced two vivid flashes for me. The first was the Life magazine cover portrait of Hayworth, kneeling on a couch in a negligee, that I saw on every barracks wall in World War II from San Francisco to the most remote Pacific atoll. It was, without question, the sexiest piece of art I've ever seen--and she was completely covered.

Born Margarita Cansino in Brooklyn, NY, in 1918, Rita Hayworth began her career as professional nightclub dancer before entering movies as a teenager in 1935's "Dante's Inferno. " In 1937, she was signed by Columbia Studios and got her big break as Richard Barthelmess' wife in the 1939 Howard Hawks' classic, "Only Angels Have Wings. " During the 1940s, Hayworth was known as "The Love Goddess" and she starred in musicals ? she was dubbed because she couldn't sing ? film noirs and period dramas.

Today, someone suffering from forgetfulness is immediately assumed to have Alzheimer's disease. But it was only a few decades ago that famed actress Rita Hayworth's Alzheimer's was persistently misdiagnosed. One of World War II's most popular pin-up girls, Hayworth began having trouble remembering her lines during the 1960s, while in her 40s. She drank heavily at times, and her fellow actors largely suspected alcohol as the cause. So did her doctors.

When Joan Leslie won a contract at Warner Bros. at age 15, she was instructed to report to the swimming pool at the Lakeside Country Club two blocks from the studio. Her duty: to pose for photographs in bathing suit and shorts. This was her introduction to cheesecake, also known as leg art, a Hollywood ritual from the 1930s into the 1960s. Studios issued photos of curvy starlets -- and stars -- to the nation's newspapers and magazines, and they were printed widely.

Rita Hayworth once said, "Most men fell in love with Gilda ... and wakened with me." It encapsulated a life that was at once glamorous and terribly sad. Bestowed by Hollywood with the surreal title "The Love Goddess," Hayworth was one of the greatest sex symbols of the 1940s and '50s. But as with so many of Hollywood's leading ladies -- from Clara Bow to Marilyn Monroe -- Hayworth never found the love or security in her personal life that she so desperately sought.

James Hill, a film producer and writer once married to Rita Hayworth and who put her in one of her last major films, "Separate Tables," and later wrote a biography of the actress revered as "the love goddess," has died. He was 84. Hill, who also had a long professional association with the late actor Burt Lancaster, died Thursday in Santa Monica of complications of Alzheimer's disease. Married to Hill from 1958 to 1961, Hayworth died in 1987, also of Alzheimer's.

It's one of the priciest, most upscale new lunch spots on the Hollywood block. Its classic Art Deco style dining room is appointed with customized Tiffany china and flatware, expensive fresh flowers and a baby grand in the corner. Framed black-and-white photographs of stars from Hollywood's Golden Era adorn the walls. Waiters in black-and-gold striped vests and crisp white shirts serve you with a smile.

Jo Ann Greer sang for such stars as Rita Hayworth, Esther Williams, June Allyson, Kim Novak and Gloria Grahame in the movies, but never received on-screen credit. On Saturday, the vocalist will make an appearance at a screening of the 1953 3-D film "Miss Sadie Thompson," in which she sang for Hayworth. She will answer questions about movie dubbing following the showing at 7:45 p.m., at the Vagabond Theatre, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

Rita Hayworth once said, "Most men fell in love with Gilda ... and wakened with me." It encapsulated a life that was at once glamorous and terribly sad. Bestowed by Hollywood with the surreal title "The Love Goddess," Hayworth was one of the greatest sex symbols of the 1940s and '50s. But as with so many of Hollywood's leading ladies -- from Clara Bow to Marilyn Monroe -- Hayworth never found the love or security in her personal life that she so desperately sought.

Jo Ann Greer sang for such stars as Rita Hayworth, Esther Williams, June Allyson, Kim Novak and Gloria Grahame in the movies, but never received on-screen credit. On Saturday, the vocalist will make an appearance at a screening of the 1953 3-D film "Miss Sadie Thompson," in which she sang for Hayworth. She will answer questions about movie dubbing following the showing at 7:45 p.m., at the Vagabond Theatre, 2509 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles.

The interview with Princess Yasmin Aga Khan Jeffries on the last years of her mother, actress Rita Hayworth--which appeared in The Times' View section last week--produced two vivid flashes for me. The first was the Life magazine cover portrait of Hayworth, kneeling on a couch in a negligee, that I saw on every barracks wall in World War II from San Francisco to the most remote Pacific atoll. It was, without question, the sexiest piece of art I've ever seen--and she was completely covered.