As per Vanity fair, Rita Hayworth got married to an ex-car salesman, Eddie Judson, in 1937. He was much older than her and not exactly the right fit, but Hayworth took a leap of faith. She said, “I married him for love, but he married me for an investment. For five years he treated me as if I had no mind or soul of my own.” Judson wasn’t kind to his young wife and pushed her to get more work and engage in events that would get her access to more publicity. He even forced her to get uncomfortable electrolysis procedures done in a bid to make her look “less Latin.”  Also, as per The New York Times, Judson didn’t hesitate to threaten Hayworth if she didn’t listen to him. This included threats of harming her physically and disfiguring her.

Additionally, he tried to coerce her into getting physically involved with other men who could help land her more work. At one point, he tried to force Hayworth to go and seduce Columbia’s influential head honcho, Harry Cohn. Hayworth firmly put her foot down and didn’t fulfill his wishes, angering Cohn. This encouraged Cohn to mistreat Hayworth later when they worked together and treat her with disdain. However, Hayworth stayed strong and held her ground, refusing to budge or let Cohn affect her.

When Rita Hayworth’s marriage with Aly Khan started breaking down, she knew she was in for a tough ride. According to Vanity Fair, things had soured to the point that she would isolate herself to get away from paparazzi and other unscrupulous people. Also, Khan wasn’t supportive at all when they were married and was busy trying to date other women while Hayworth tried to figure out a way to stay on her feet.   

At some point, Hayworth decided that she couldn’t take it anymore and needed to leave their extravagant lifestyle behind. When she vocalized her thoughts, Khan accused Hayworth of drinking. This angered the actress greatly, who then decided to take her daughters and make a run for it from Europe back to their home in New York in 1951. She was afraid the prince would try to take the girls away from her. The pair did have a custody battle at one point, and Hayworth even briefly lost custody “to the state.” Thankfully, she later won custody.

Unbeknownst to her, Rita Hayworth’s face was once used to promote an atomic bomb. According to Gizmodo, while originally, folks weren’t too sure whether this was factual, it turns out that someone really did use the actress’ face on a bomb. The rumors were, in fact, started by Hayworth’s former spouse, Orson Welles, who said in a radio show that the actress’ photo was on a bomb called the Able bomb, a weapon that was used in Bikini Atoll back in 1946. Of course, those responsible for this knew how popular Hayworth was back then and hoped to benefit from it in some manner.

The actress was uncomfortable with this. As per The Daily Telegraph, Hayworth was very upset when she found out about the bomb. Welles recalled, “Rita used to fly into terrible rages all the time, but the angriest was when she found out that they’d put her on the atom bomb. Rita almost went insane, she was so angry.”

Rita Hayworth may have had a long line of suitors and admirers, but that didn’t make life any easier for the starlet who was heartbroken and lonely for a major part of her life. As per Closer Weekly, Hayworth was aware of how misunderstood she was. She once told one of her former lovers, Kirk Douglas, “Men go to bed with ‘Gilda’ — but they wake up with me.” Douglas couldn’t quite be there for Hayworth himself. He said, “I felt something deep within her that I couldn’t help — loneliness, sadness — something that would pull me down. I had to get away.”

Hayworth once said that she was a good person but couldn’t help but somehow be attracted to “mean personalities.” Five unfulfilling marriages left behind a void in Hayworth’s life. According to her close friend and rumored lover, actor Glenn Ford, Hayworth could rely on him whenever she needed someone to confide in. He declared, “To the world, she was a sex symbol, but with me, she could just be herself.”

It took awhile but it eventually became obvious that alcoholism wasn’t the problem. Rita Hayworth had Alzheimer’s. According to Vanity Fair, her symptoms had started showing up in the 1960s, but no one was able to diagnose her, and her memory problems were attributed to alcoholism. She was struggling to accomplish basic tasks, such as remember her lines while filming. Her makeup artist, Lynn del Kail, told the actress’ biographer, “I’d take her into her room and I’d teach her one line. Then she’d go out and they’d shoot the one line. And then we’d go back into the room and do another line.”

Hayworth was alone and simply confused, seeking company wherever she could find someone to talk to. For example, she often interacted with one of her neighbors, who was also an actor and would try to spend time with her whenever possible. She also displayed erratic behavior, something that wasn’t quite understood by those around her. Saldy, her Alzheimer’s diagnosis only came to light in 1980. By this point, she’d spent many years suffering without knowing what was happening to her.

Princess Yasmin Aga Khan Jeffries, Hayworth’s daughter, spoke about her mother’s state of mind (via the Orlando Sentinel). She said, “It was the outbursts. She’d fly into a rage. I can’t tell you. I thought it was alcoholism — alcoholic dementia. We all thought that…You can’t imagine the relief just in getting a diagnosis. We had a name at last: Alzheimer’s!”