Perhaps if we thought for a second of the classic, simple elegance of the Spanish lady it might help us to be "simply" ourselves. Profile of Rita HayworthMargarita Carmen Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined the term "The Love Goddess" to describe Hayworth after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II. Hayworth is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1946 film noir Gilda in which she played the femme fatale in her first major dramatic role. Fred Astaire, with whom she made two films, once called her his favorite dance partner. She is listed as one of the top 25 female motion picture stars of all time in the American Film Institute's survey, AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars. In 1980, Hayworth was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which contributed to her death at age 68. The public disclosure and discussion of her illness drew attention to Alzheimer's, which was largely unknown by most people at the time, and helped to increase public and private funding for Alzheimer's research. Biography of Rita HayworthHayworth was born as Margarita Carmen Cansino in Brooklyn, New York, the oldest child of two dancers. Her father, Eduardo Cansino, was from a little town near Seville, Spain. Her mother, Volga Hayworth, was an American of Irish and English descent who had performed with the Ziegfeld Follies. Margarita's father wanted her to become a professional dancer, while her mother hoped she would become an actress. Her paternal grandfather, Antonio Cansino, was renowned as a classical Spanish dancer. He popularized the bolero, and his dancing school in Madrid was world-famous. She attended dance classes every day for a few years in a Carnegie Hall complex, where she was taught by her uncle. In 1926, at the age of eight, she was featured in La Fiesta, a short film for Warner Bros. In 1927, her father took the family to Hollywood and established his own dance studio there, where he taught such stars as James Cagney and Jean Harlow. In 1931, Eduardo Cansino started to take his 12-year-old daughter to dance in nightclubs and bars in Tijuana, Mexico, as she was too young to work in Los Angels under its law. It is in one of the bars the Caliente club, Winfield Sheehan, the head of the Fox Film Corporation, saw her dancing. He arranged for Hayworth to do a screen test Amman’s signed her for a short-term, six-month contract at Fox, under the name Rita Cansino, the first of two name changes during her film career. During her time at Fox, Hayworth was billed as Rita Cansino and appeared in unremarkable roles, often cast as the exotic foreigner. Sheehan was grooming her for the lead in the 1936 Technicolor film Ramona, hoping to establish her as Fox Film's new Dolores del Río. By the end of her six-month contract, Fox had merged into 20th Century Fox, with Darryl F. Zanuck serving as the executive producer who gave Loretta Young the lead in Ramona, and did not renew Cansino's contract. Sensing her screen potential, salesman and promoter Edward C. Judson got freelance work for her in several small-studio films and married get in Las Vegas. Rita was 18 years old. Eventually Columbia Pictures Studio head Harry Cohn signed her to a seven-year contract, and suggested a name change: Rita Cansino thus became Rita Hayworth, with a darker hair Color and higher hairline. Cohn began to build up Hayworth in 1940 in several feature movies, but she triumphed in the musical You'll Never Get Rich (1941) opposite Fred Astaire. It was one of the highest-budgeted films Columbia had ever made, and the picture was so successful, the studio produced and released another Astaire-Hayworth picture the following year, You Were Never Lovelier. In August 1941, Hayworth was featured in an iconic Life photo in which she posed in a negligee with a black lace bodice. Bob Landry's photo made Hayworth one of the top two pin-up girls of the World War II years (the other was Betty Grable) For two years, Hayworth's photograph was the most requested pin-up photograph in circulation. (In 2002, the satin nightgown Hayworth wore for the photo sold for $26,888.) She divorced Edward C. Judson in 1942 and married Orson Wells, American actor, director and producer, the next year. She had her first child, a daughter named Rebecca in December 1944. Hayworth had top billing in one of her best-known films, the Technicolor musical Cover Girl, released in 1944. The film established her as Columbia's top star of the 1940s, and it gave her the distinction of being the first of only six women to dance on screen with both Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. Her sexy, glamorous appeal was most noted in Charles Vidor's film noir Gilda (1946) with Glenn Ford, which caused censors some consternation. The role, in which Hayworth wore black satin and performed a legendary one-glove striptease, "Put The Blame On Mame", made her into a cultural icon as a femme fatale. In real life, Rita Hayworth is a twice divorced woman now: On November 10, 1947, she was granted a divorce from Orson Wells that became final the following year. In 1948, at the height of her fame, Hayworth traveled to Cannes and was introduced to Prince Aly Khan. They began a year-long courtship, and were married on May 27, 1949. Hayworth left Hollywood and sailed for France, breaking her contract with Columbia. On December 28, 1949, Hayworth gave birth to the couple's only daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan. Though Hayworth was anxious to start a new life abroad, away from Hollywood, Aly Khan's flamboyant lifestyle and duties proved too difficult for Hayworth. She struggled to fit in with his family. Aly Khan and his family were heavily involved in horse racing, owning and racing horses. Hayworth had no interest in the sport, but became a member of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club anyway. She also found it difficult to learn French. What is more, she suspected Aly Khan, most famous playboy of his time, being unfaithful to her. In 1951, Hayworth set sail with her two daughters for New York. Although the couple did reconcile for a short time, they divorced in 1953. Rita Hayworth was forced to return to Hollywood, and to Columbia. She starred in a string of successful pictures there and left Columbia soon after Kim Novak became Columbia's top female star. Since then, although she continued to work until the early 70s, the peak time of Hayworth’s career has passed. Her last film was the Wrath of God(1972), a western. Her private life did not bring her the happiness Hayworth has been searching. Her last two marriages to Argentinian singer Dick Haymes and film producer James Hill both turned out to be a failure, with neither of the marriage lasting more than three years. And her two famous ex husbands Orson Wells and Prince Aly Khan both went on to have fulfilling (or at least rich full) emotional life. Orson Wells married Italian aristocratic actress Paola Mori in 1955, and stay married to her at the time of his death in 1985 although he was also involved with his long time assistant. And Prince Aly Khan, after involving with several women including another Hollywood star Gene Tierney, was engaged with the first Fr much super model Bettina Graziani, and was with her at the time of his untimely death due to a car accident in 1960. Arita Hayworth has long suffered from alcoholism. As early as in the 1940s when she was still married to Orson Wells, he noted her problem with drinking. It got worse as the years pass and ultimately affected her career as an actress. But Hayworth's alcoholism hid symptoms of what was eventually understood to be Alzheimer’s disease, which she was diagnosed in 1981. When the diagnosis when public, Rita Hayworth became the first public face of this disease. Rita Hayworth lapsed into a semicoma in February 1987. She died at age 68 from complications associated with Alzheimer's disease three months later on May 14, 1987, at her home in Manhattan. Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, daughter of Rita Hayworth and Prince Ali Khan, created Alzheimer's Association in honor of her mother.
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Profile of Rita LydigRita Hernandez de Alba de Acosta Stokes Lydig (October 1875 – October 27, 1929) was an American socialite regarded as "the most picturesque woman in America." She was photographed by Adolf de Meyer, Edward Steichen, and Gertrude Käsebier, sculpted in alabaster by Malvina Hoffman, and was painted by Giovanni Boldini and John Singer Sargent, among others. Biography of Rita LydigRita de Acosta was born in New York City in 1875 to Ricardo de Acosta (1837–1907), a steamship-line executive of Cuban descent, and a Spanish mother, Micaela Hernández de Alba y de Alba (1853–1921), reputedly a relation of the Dukes of Alba. Her sister Mercedes de Acosta, a lover of movie star Greta Garbo, was an author, a scriptwriter, and social critic. Another sister, Aida de Acosta, became the first female to fly a powered aircraft solo. Rita de Acosta was married twice. Her first marriage was on January 3, 1895 when the 16 year old Rita became the first wife of multimillionaire William Earl Dodge Stokes (1852–1926), who built The Ansonia on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The couple lived at 262 West 72nd Street and became the parents of one son, William Earl Dodge Stokes Jr. (1896–1982). The marriage was unhappy, reportedly due to Stokes's temper and physical cruelty, and when it was dissolved by divorce in 1900, she received a settlement of nearly two million dollars, a record for the time. In 1902, she married Major Philip Mesier Lydig, a wealthy and socially prominent retired officer in the United States Army, with whom she lived at 4 Washington Square North, New York. They separated in 1914 and divorced in 1919. Rita lived in New York, Paris and London, and was famous for her extravagant lifestyle. As a socialite, Rita Lydig enjoyed friendships with musicians, artists, intellectuals, and philosophers such as Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Leo Tolstoy, Sarah Bernhardt, Ethel Barrymore and Claude Debussy, etc. But meanwhile, she also supported the suffragette cause. In 1921, Lydig announced her engagement to Reverend Percy Stickney Grant (1860–1927), rector of the Church of the Ascension, but Grant broke the engagement in 1924 and died two years later, but he left Lydig all of his personal fortune. Lydig was grief stricken by the death of Grant, and she spent large sums of money on fashion, art, furniture, and other objects to console herself. Heavily in debt, she was forced to sell her Washington Square home and its contents, was declared bankrupt and moved to Gotham Hotel. Rita died of pernicious anaemia at the Gotham Hotel on October 27, 1929 at the age of 54. She was buried with her mother and sister Mercedes at Trinity Church Cemetery in lower Manhattan, New York City. In 1954 her sister Mercedes de Acosta donated Rita de Acosta de Lydig's clothing and shoes to the Brooklyn Museum, from where they were transferred in 2009 to Metropolitan Museum of Art and became the basis for the start of the Costume Institute at the Met. Further interestArticlesWebsiteJean René Lacoste (dit Le Crocodile, ou L'Alligator), né le 2 juillet 1904 à Paris et décédé à Saint-Jean-de-Luz au Pays basque le 12 octobre 1996, est un champion de tennis, industriel, ingénieur et designer français, fondateur de la marque Lacoste. Membre des « Quatre Mousquetaires » avec Henri Cochet, Jean Borotra et Jacques Brugnon, il a remporté sept tournois majeurs en simple et a fait partie de l'équipe de Coupe Davis victorieuse en 1927 et 1928. René Lacoste est né à Paris dans le 10e arrondissement, au 38 rue Albouy, fils de Jean-Jules qui devint dirigeant (administrateur délégué) de la firme automobile Hispano-Suiza, et fut décoré Chevalier (1917) puis officier (1925) et enfin commandeur (1932) de la Légion d'Honneur. Il fut aussi finaliste du premier championnat de France d'aviron à Mâcon, en 1890, et vainqueur du Championnat régional du Sud-Ouest. Il était le Président de la Société Nautique de la Basse Seine. Promis à de brillantes études et devant préparer Polytechnique, René Lacoste décide finalement en 1922 d'y renoncer afin de se consacrer entièrement au tennis. L'origine de son surnom, « le crocodile » varie selon les sources. L'explication la plus cohérente, tant du point de vue des personnes impliquées que du lieu et de l'année, est que ce surnom lui fut attribué par la presse américaine, à la suite d'un pari qu'il aurait fait en 1923 avec Allan Muhr, alors capitaine de l'équipe de Coupe Davis, à Boston. Une autre version, plus répandue, reprend l'histoire du pari, mais avec le capitaine Pierre Gilou. Sauf que ce même Pierre Gilou ne devint capitaine de l'équipe de France que quelques années plus tard, et surtout pas à Boston. L'histoire du pari est ainsi racontée : René Lacoste regardait dans une vitrine une valise en peau de crocodile; Pierre Gilou lui fit le pari de la lui acheter si Lacoste gagnait un match décisif. Le match fut perdu, mais l'image du crocodile perdura. D'autant plus que le tempérament de Lacoste correspondait bien à celui d'un crocodile: il ne lâchait jamais sa proie. Il a été l'un des « Quatre Mousquetaires » du tennis français avec Henri Cochet, Jean Borotra et Jacques Brugnon, et a remporté la Coupe Davis pour la France en 1927 et 1928. Sur le plan individuel, il a remporté à trois reprises les Internationaux de France de tennis (1925, 1927, 1929), deux fois le tournoi de Wimbledon (1925, 1928) et deux fois l'US Open (1926, 1927). Il fut désigné meilleur joueur du monde en 1926 et 1927. Associé à Jean Borotra, il compte également deux Internationaux de France en double en 1925 et 1929 et un Wimbledon en 1925. Il arrête le tennis en 1929 à seulement 25 ans en raison de problèmes de santé récurrents. En effet, depuis la Guerre, il est régulièrement victime d'insuffisance respiratoire. Il se marie le 30 juin 1930 à la golfeuse Simone Thion de La Chaume. Avant son mariage, René Lacoste résidait avec sa famille rue Armand-Silvestre à Courbevoie. Il fut par la suite propriétaire d'un logement dans les Immeubles Walter. En 1932, le capitaine Pierre Gillou le rappelle pour renforcer l'équipe de France de Coupe Davis contre les américains. Lacoste se remet à l'entraînement et atteint même les huitièmes de finale à Wimbledon. À quelques jours de la rencontre, il est cependant contraint de déclarer forfait en raison d'une angine. René Lacoste crée en 1933 la marque avec le logo issu de son surnom (crocodile) et vend l'année suivante des chemises de haute qualité au grand public. La production est arrêtée entre 1940 et 1946 à cause de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Sont lancés en 1960 les polos rayés, puis l'eau de toilette en collaboration avec Jean Patou en 1968. René Lacoste débute ses activités d'industriel en fondant une marque de textile portant son nom dont le logo est un crocodile. Le produit est vendu en France dès l'année suivante, puis sera exporté en Europe et dans le monde entier à partir des années 1950. Lacoste était également un inventeur. Parmi ses inventions, on compte notamment une machine à lancer les balles en 1928, la pastille anti-vibration en 1960 (puis l'anti-vibrateur Damper en 1974) et la première raquette de tennis en acier en 1963 qui causa une révolution dans le domaine du tennis qui a mis en cause la suprématie de la raquette en bois et ouvert la voie aux modèles d'aujourd'hui. Il a été nommé officier de la Légion d'honneur en 1977, et président d'honneur de la FFT. Il est également membre du International Tennis Hall of Fame depuis 1976. René Lacoste meurt le 12 octobre 1996 à l'âge de 92 ans, un mois avant la victoire française de la coupe Davis 1996. English BiographyJean René Lacoste ( 2 July 1904 – 12 October 1996) was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929. Lacoste started playing tennis at age 15 when he accompanied his father on a trip to England. His first participation in a Grand Slam tournament was the 1922 Wimbledon Championships in which he lost in the first round to Pat O'Hara Wood. Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers with Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, and Henri Cochet, French tennis stars who dominated the game in the late 1920s and early 1930s. His breakthrough came in 1925 when he won the singles title at the French Championships and at Wimbledon, in both cases after a victory in the final against compatriot Jean Borotra. And he was ranked No.1 for 1926 and 1927. He won seven Grand Slam singles titles at the French, American, and British championships and was an eminent baseline player and tactician of the pre-war period. In 1929 he won his seventh, and last, Grand Slam singles title in France and then withdrew from competitive tennis due to failing health, including respiratory disease. On 30 June 1930 Rene Lacoste married golfing champion Simone de la Chaume. Their daughter Catherine Lacoste was a champion golfer and president of the Golf Club Chantaco, founded by her mother, at a few kilometres from St. Jean-de-Luz. In 1933, Lacoste founded La Société Chemise Lacoste with André Gillier. The company produced the tennis shirt, also known as a "polo shirt," which Lacoste often wore when he was playing; this had a crocodile (often thought to be an alligator) embroidered on the chest. In 1963, Lacoste's son Bernard took over the management of the company. In 1961, Lacoste created an innovation in racket technology by unveiling and patenting the first tubular steel tennis racket. When Lacoste died, the French Advertising agency Publicis, which had been managing his company's account for decades, published a print ad with the Lacoste logo and the English words "See you later...," reinforcing the idea that the animal was perhaps an alligator. Further interest |
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