Leaming, Barbara (Hayworth, Rita)

If This Was Happiness: A Biography of Rita Hayworth

ISBN: 0670819786
New York, NY: Viking Penguin, 1989. First Edition. Hardcover. "The list of really mythic female stars is a short one- Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, and...? Whoever else would be on that list, Rita Hayworth would certainly be included- the Titian-haired "Love Goddess," star of Gilda, Blood and Sand, The Lady from Shanghai, Pal Joey, and countless other films, whose pinup photograph was so incendiary (and so famous) that GIs pasted it on the first atom bomb detonated at Bikini Atoll. Now her story is finally told by Barbara Leaming...and what a story it is! A painful childhood...a brutal Pygmalion-like transformation from contract player to star...marriages to Orson Welles, Aly Khan, and the singer Dick Haymes- and affairs with the likes of David Niven and Howard Hughes...a drawn-out custody battle for her daughter, accompanied by charges of child neglect; a tragic compulsion toward men who would victimize her; and finally, the long slide into the mist of Alzheimer's disease, agonizingly misdiagnosed as alcoholism- all this makes for page-turning reading." (from front flap) The acclaimed biography of Rita Hayworth (b. Margarita Carmen Cansino, 1918-1987), the legendary Golden Age-Hollywood film star, by Barbara Leaming (b. 1943?), the popular & prolific American biographer of larger-than-life historical figures including Orson Welles, the iconic American film director & actor who was among Hayworth's husbands. Including three sections of captioned historical photographs of Hayworth & Co. throughout her dramatic life. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition, first printing as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. From the collection of Barbara (1935-2023) & Irving (1933-2018) Nusbaum, world travellers, connoisseurs, eminent collectors of art & books- the dearly beloved parents of this grieving writer. A most-entertaining & fascinating Leaming collectible about the singularly triumphant- & tragic- life of an American icon, in its rarest contemporary form & with distinguished provenance. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; occasional spotting to side edge of text block; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only a bit of rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; very slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same & flaps; small price sticker ("$19.95") affixed over price reference at upper right area of front flap (presumably by previous seller, or possibly publisher). Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #6320]

Price: $30.00