Early Life
Rita Hayworth was an American actress and dancer who became a star in the 1940's and 50's. She is most known for playing a temptress and victim in the film Gilda (1946). When she was just a teenager, she acted under the name Rita Cansino in many great films such as Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935).
Rita develops Alzheimer's....
Rita Hayworth was unable to start a Broadway career in the early seventies because she could not remember any of her lines, a major symptom of Alzheimer’s. She was diagnosed in 1980. Her case brought about much awareness of Alzheimer’s since she was always under the public eye and it helped the country to learn a lot about Alzheimer’s and to recognize the affects of it. Rita’s case also brought about a lot of federal funding for Alzheimer’s research (Hayworth, Rita).