Rita Hayworth
photo credit: Ballistik Coffee Boy
Birth Name: Margarita Carmen Cansino
Date of Birth: October 17, 1918
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: May 14, 1987
Place of Death: New York City, New York, U.S.
Ethnicity:
*father – Spanish [Andalusian]
*mother – Irish, smaller amounts of English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Czech [Bohemian], Dutch, and German
Rita Hayworth was an American actress and dancer.
Her father, Eduardo Cansino Reina, was a Spanish flamenco dancer, from Castilleja de la Cuesta, Andalusia, Spain.
Her mother, Volga Margaret (Hayworth), was of at least half Irish descent, with her other roots being English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Czech [Bohemian], Dutch, and German.
Rita had two children, a daughter with her former husband, actor and filmmaker Orson Welles; and a daughter, philanthropist Yasmin Aga Khan, with her former husband, Prince Aly Khan. Her nephew is actor Richard Cansino.
Rita’s father was said to have Sephardi Jewish ancestry to some degree. It is not clear if this Sephardi Jewish ancestry has been verified/documented. Many people of Spanish origin have Sephardi roots, and many people with the surname Cansino are of Jewish heritage. Rita is also sometimes described as having had Romani ancestry, without any particular evidence.
Rita’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced back to her sixth great-grandfather, Juan Cansino [Pérez], who was likely from Carmona, Seville.
Rita’s paternal grandfather was Juan Antonio Anselmo de los Dolores Cansino Avecilla (the son of Joaquín Cansino Espinal and María del Rosario Avecilla Ojeda). Juan was born in Paradas, Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Joaquín was the son of Vicente Cansino Hoyos and Clara Espinal. María del Rosario was the daughter of Miguel Avecilla and Bárbara Ojeda.
Rita’s paternal grandmother was Carmen Reina Montero (the daughter of José Reina Sánchez and Reyes Montero Espinal). José was the son of José Reina Calderón and Juana Sánchez. Rita’s great-great-grandfather José’s maternal great-grandfather, Cristóbal Elías Calderón Barrionuevo y de Orbaneja, was a Knight of the Order of Santiago. Rita’s great-grandmother Reyes was the daughter of Antonio Montero and Dolores Espinal.
Rita’s maternal grandfather was Allynn Duran Hayworth (the son of Barnabas L. Hayworth and Sarah Abigail Hunt). Allynn was born in Indiana. Barnabas was the son of Jeremiah Hayworth/Haworth and Elizabeth Cartwright. Sarah was the daughter of Nathan Hunt and Nancy Teague.
Rita’s maternal grandmother was Margaret Ellen O’Hare (the daughter of Patrick O’Hare and Bridget Magdalene Hennessy). Margaret was born in Washington, D.C., to Irish parents.
Sources: Notes on Rita’s mother’s ancestry – http://www.haworthassociation.org
Genealogies of Rita Hayworth – https://www.wikitree.com
https://familysearch.org
Genealogies of Rita Hayworth (focusing on her mother’s side) – http://www.findagrave.com
https://www.geni.com
Rita’s mother on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
One of her father’s relatives is a Spanish writer, Rafael Cansinos.
According to this http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Cansinos_Assens , Rafael Cansinos discovered the Jewish heritage of his paternal family side, which deeply influenced him. If this is true, then Rita Hayworth is also Jewish, even if it’s just a distant heritage.
Beautiful.
Hate to dissapoint you lil vacha and Ban Viking…Rita was not a Sephardic Spanish jew. My family knew heres and we are from the same part of Spain which is andalucia! Her father was from Sevilla…she was 100 % andalucian spanish and not a spanish jew!
Furthermore for the record, many sephardic jews have spanish names or they sound similar since they had been there for many years, and some mixed. So again many people in spain have that surname and are christians, just like hernandez or gomez or espinoza or many others like garcia or sanchez..gee whiz..get educated!! Many of them took on spanish surnames to prevent discrimination, or they were converts and they had to take on their adopted names, thus not to be perseucted.
Real jewish surnames are ones that sound hebrew, for instance like Levy..of course that is without saying, or Cohen or Kohin. But come on really..do not show your ignorance. She was not a Spanish Jew… She was just a plain ole spaniard…spanish. And take it from me, my family knew her father and we were involved in music. Her father was involved in flamenco..not too many sephardics are involved in flamenco. Also it was not till most recent, that jews were welcome back, and no he was not a secret jew either!!
Its never been proving that her dad was of Jewish descent.
HEY ETHNIC, RITA HAYWORTH IS ACTUALLY SEPHARDIC JEWISH, IRISH, AND ENGLISH. HER FATHER IS IS SEPHARDIC JEWISH HENCE THE NAME CANSINO IS SEPHARDIC AND HER MOTHER WAS ENGLISH AND IRISH. =] CAN U FIX IT PLZ OH AND YU CAN GOOGLE IT FOR A SOURCE. THANKS! =]]
I never knew she was Sephardic Jewish. All her life she would just say she was half Spanish. This is interesting and cool.