After Rita Hayworth And Orson Welles’ Marriage Fell Apart, The Starlet Shared The Sad Reason Why

Hayworth’s comments on her disintegrating marriage weren’t particularly a secret. In fact, she even spoke to Hollywood journalist Hedda Hopper about the state of her union. And that’s when she shared the truth about their break-up – something that would surprise those who had made assumptions about the seemingly mismatched pair. 

It wasn’t quite a surprise that Hayworth and Welles had divorced, though, and that lack of shock stemmed from the couple’s obvious troubles. Yes, they were two very different people. But the couple had friction behind closed doors, too. The storm in their relationship had apparently been brewing for a long time. 

The two had actually separated once and were on the path to divorce before they got back together. Though the reunion – and movie they made during that time – wasn’t enough to diffuse the longstanding tension. It all came to a head in 1947 when they split for good, and Hayworth took to the pages of Modern Screen magazine to tell everyone the real reason why.

Actor, writer and producer Orson Welles got a unique job offer in early 1942. He came on board of a goodwill mission to Brazil – helping create a documentary on the country’s Carnival celebrations. And while in South America, the legendary talent got his hands on a copy of the American magazine Life. 

There in the pages was a picture of a stunning woman who caught Welles’ eye. He told biographer Barbara Leaming for her book If this was Happiness, “I saw that fabulous still in Life magazine, where she’s on her knees in bed.” We imagine you can guess who the alluring model was.

It was, of course, Rita Hayworth, and Welles made a pact with himself as soon as he saw her picture. The director admitted to Leaming, “... I decided, ‘When I come back, that’s what I’m going to do!’” So, he laid the foundation for a connection before he’d even flown back to Hollywood. 

Welles started by writing fan mail to Hayworth and sending them from Brazil to Hollywood. Then, as soon as the producer got back to town he called her nearly every hour until they finally spoke, according to Hopper. The actress eventually agreed to go out with Welles, but, when it came time for the date, she stood him up!

Though the joke was on Hayworth, who first brushed off Welles’ advances. She agreed to reschedule the date and showed up the second time around. Apparently, the duo went and ate chow mein in Chinatown. By the time the they said goodbye that night, Hayworth later admitted that she had already fallen for him. 

Things were going well for Hayworth at that time, too. She had landed a part in Cover Girl, which would go on to be one of her best-known movies. The screen siren would dance alongside Gene Kelly in the flick – meaning she had lots of rehearsals to attend and choreography to learn. 

But Welles and Hayworth wanted their time together, too. And he suggested that she co-star in his carnival act for the USO, which continues to provide entertainment to the U.S. armed forces. Although the Cover Girl starlet had a lot on her plate, she decided to perform for the GIs – that is, until her shooting schedule became a bit too much to bear.

All of this time together revealed Hayworth’s true colors to Welles. Most people knew and know her as the sensual character she played in the 1946 film noir Gilda. Though he found her to be much different in real life. He told Leaming, “The whole wicked Gilda figure was absolutely false. It was a total impersonation…”  

Instead, Welles found Hayworth to be quite shy, so he found ways to get the actress to come out of her shell. According to Vanity Fair, Welles sweetly devised a game that got Hayworth talking. He’d pretend to read her mind so the actress would have to speak up and tell him what she was really thinking. 

Soon enough, Welles broke down her walls, and soon they had both fallen head over heels. So, on one of her lunch breaks while filming Cover Girl, the couple snuck off to get married. The pair even had actor Joseph Cotton there to stand by them as the best man! 

A secretary named Shifra Haran spoke to Leaming because she had seen the famous pair on the day they decided to get married. Apparently, she couldn’t believe just how enamored with one another they were. Haran said, “I never saw a happier, more tickled, more delighted, adorable couple in the world.”  

Hayworth had to get back to work – quite immediately, actually. Yet the newlywed bliss lasted for a while after she and Welles got married seemingly on a whim. They moved into a mansion in Brentwood, California, and Vanity Fair notes that the director had a solarium added onto the property so his new wife could sunbathe in the buff. 

Even with a new house in Hollywood, the A-list couple had dreams that they hoped would take them beyond Tinseltown. For her, that’d be perfect, according to Welles. He later recalled to Leaming, “[Hayworth] hated being a movie star! She never got a moment’s pleasure out of being a famous movie star. It gave her nothing.”

Evidently, Hayworth would have had no issue with Welles’ out-of-Hollywood aspirations. He wanted to launch a political career and had some high-ranking supporters – including President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Apparently, Hayworth even studied up on the progressive causes he cared about so she could impress her beau. 

According to Vanity Fair, Hayworth often read the same books as Welles and did all she could to be the partner he wanted. Fellow movie star June Allyson told Leaming that the Cover Girl star once told her, “I really wanted to be everything [Welles] wanted of me.”  

This turned out to be a pattern in all of Hayworth’s relationships – she thought this was how a woman was meant to behave. But that kind of conduct couldn’t keep her husband’s interest. Welles was notoriously egocentric, and he eventually stepped out on the wife with whom he was once enamored.

Hayworth was actually pregnant with their daughter Rebecca when Welles had his first documented affair with married heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. According to Vanity Fair, the latter subsequently divulged that she and the famed director had enjoyed an instant connection. As Vanderbilt put it, “Something happened when our eyes met.” 

Vanderbilt wasn’t the only other woman in Welles and Hayworth’s marriage, though. Leaming claimed that he had dalliances with prostitutes and another affair with Judy Garland. Also, he became tired of his wife’s alleged neediness and temper. Hayworth’s drinking habits didn’t help rekindle the relationship, either. 

In the end, it was Hayworth who filed for divorce the first time around. Afterward, though, she had a hard time coping with the split. At a Christmas party, fellow actress Shelley Winters claimed that she saw the Gilda star laying beneath a pile of coats – secretly weeping as the festivities carried on.

That heartbreak wouldn’t last, though. Welles jetted off to New York City to produce a Broadway play. He funded his theatrical exploits with a cash advance from a Hollywood heavyweight who wanted the director to helm a film upon his return. But when the play went bust, it forced him back to Tinseltown to make good on all of those bets. And that’s when he reunited with his estranged wife. 

Hayworth and Welles’ reconciliation didn’t take much time after his return to Los Angeles. They didn’t just get back together personally – the two decided to work together, too. The film noir was called The Lady From Shanghai, and it would have Hayworth in front of the camera and Welles behind it.  

Hedda Hopper wrote about Hayworth in a 1947 edition of Modern Screen. And in it, she detailed the way that Welles had wooed his once-estranged wife “as he never courted anyone before.” Many of his kind gestures took place on set, too. In one over-the-top example, the director ordered that a barnacle-covered rock in the middle of Acapulco Bay be scoured. That way, Hayworth could lie on it comfortably during a shot for the movie!

When filming took Welles and Hayworth into the jungle, he hired a bodyguard to keep wild animals at bay. And, of course, he regaled her with gifts and attention. According to journalist Hopper, the movie’s director followed his star around – often applying her sun protection so she wouldn’t get burned.

Still, Hopper couldn’t help but wonder why Hayworth had given Welles a second chance. The Gilda star answered the inquiry with a shrug and a very simple explanation. She said, “We’re in love, [Welles] and I. It’s as simple as that.” But even Hopper didn’t believe this was enough of an answer – especially considering how notoriously egotistical Welles could be.

But the same piece revealed that the very reasons why Hayworth had fallen in love with Welles ended up tearing them apart. As Hopper put it, “Nobody counts but Orson once he takes off on an airy flighty of genius.” At one time, this was what drew Hayworth into the arms of the famed director.

But Welles could never really tear himself away from his work – even after he and Hayworth welcomed their daughter Rebecca. His wife would plan vacations to her favorite place: Mexico. And as per Hopper, her husband preferred to pluck away on his typewriter rather than enjoy their time together on the beach.

Yet Hayworth took issue with the way Welles treated her, too. As Hopper so bluntly put it, he “[refused] to regard Rita as a human being and a wife.” The director instead expected her to work just as hard as he did, despite her protestations – and suggestion that he take breathers, too. 

In one of Hopper’s anecdotes, Welles finished up recording a scene, at which point his wife and star asked him to take a break with her. His response? “Tomorrow,” according to the journalist who observed it. With that, he disappeared into the editing room to perfect each shot of his film.

It wasn’t just Hayworth who suffered, though. Her daughter with Welles – Rebecca – also barely got to see her father. On one trip back to Hollywood while filming The Lady From Shanghai, Hayworth expected him to pop in and visit their little girl. Welles claimed to have done so, but he had actually just brought her along for the ride to the airport – that was it.

So, as her husband’s workload continued to increase, Hayworth found herself at a breaking point. She admitted to Hopper, “I had to get away or I’d have collapsed. So I walked out.” Of course, Hayworth wasn’t the only one to feel this way about Welles. Even those who admired him – and then got the chance to work with him – came to dislike his intense working style.

As Hopper put it, “People who work with [Welles] often idolize the guy like GIs worshipped Ike Eisenhower.” Though she added that “they can’t stand him long.” And that’s because his intensity overwhelmed everyone around him and often left them in the dust. The reporter concluded, “No one can keep up with him – let alone a wife.” 

Still, even with a second divorce on the horizon, Hopper wondered if Hayworth and Welles could really stay away from each other for good. The journalist was sceptical; she imagined “kissings and makings up” if the duo spent enough time together. After all, reuniting would make them back into the perfect family unit with their daughter.

Months after her interview with Hopper, though, Hayworth made it clear that she’d be sticking to her guns. The actress went to court in November 1947 in pursuit of a divorce. And she didn’t sit idly by and wait for the paperwork. Instead, the Cover Girl star took the stand to explain why she wanted to leave.

Hayworth cited her husband’s alleged up-and-down behavior, his obsession for work and the extra-long absences that kept him away from the family. As she put it on the stand, “Mr. Welles showed no interest in establishing a home. Mr. Welles told me he should never have married me in the first place, as it interfered with his freedom in his way of life.” 

The shocking end of this story comes years after the couple got their divorce, though. Hayworth went on to marry three more men: Prince Aly Khan, Dick Haymes and James Hill. And yet, according to Vanity Fair, she always considered Welles to be “the great love of [her] life.”

And Hayworth wasn’t alone in holding him in such high regard. Welles would later admit that he loved her until his passing in 1985. Not only that: the director lamented the way that he had treated her. But she only saw the positive in their ill-fated union. According to Vanity Fair, Hayworth said, “You know the only happiness I’ve ever had in my life has been with you.” That’s a touching sentiment from a woman who just wanted love – and had a hard time getting it from her non-stop director husband.