The most glamorous Hollywood screen idol of the 1940s, it was Rita Hayworth for whom the press coined the phrase "love goddess." Expertly packaged and produced by various different men throughout her career, Rita Hayworth was transformed from a half-Spanish dancing girl into an "American classic" and the favorite pin-up to thousands of GIs. Best known for her role as the femme fatale Gilda in Charles Vidor's 1946 film of the same name, she embodied a dangerous brand of femininity.

She was born Margarita Carmen Cansino in Queens, New York, to an Irish mother and Spanish father. The Cansinos were a family of professional dancers. "They had me dancing almost as soon as I could walk," Hayworth later recalled. As a voluptuous thirteen-yearold Hayworth became her father's co-star and began captivating audiences with her sensual stage presence. It was in 1933 that Hayworth was spotted by...