Margarita Carmen Cansino grew up with a sickening, isolating secret: her father was sexually abusing her. Her mother - probably the only other person who knew about it - slept in a bed with the child in a vain attempt at protection. According to Ms. Leaming, her father's abusive treatment was the key to her emotional development and led to a lifetime of disastrous relationships. In 1927, Eduardo Cansino, a Spanish-born flamenco dancer whose work in vaudeville was admired by Fred Astaire, moved his young family from Brooklyn to California. A failure in films because of his poor English, Cansino began taking his daughter, Margarita - or Carmen, as he called her - out of school to dance as his partner on casino stages in Tijuana. Telling people she was his wife, he dyed the child's hair black, put scarlet lipstick on her mouth and dressed her in garish, sexy clothes. The 'roly-poly' 12-year-old obediently flashed her eyes and tantalized. The sexual abuse continued in private. Cansino further exploited her by introducing her to movie producers such as Joe Schenck, who gave her a screen test that led to work as an ethnic extra in films being shot in Mexico.

In 1937, a 41-year-old lounge lizard and sometime car dealer named Eddie Judson married 18-year-old Margarita. Like her father, Judson saw the girl as, in her own words, 'an investment.' He even demanded that Cansino turn previously earned money over to him. Judson promoted his wife's film career by dying her hair auburn and raising her hairline with electrolysis. He also rented gowns for her, took her to nightclubs, paid press photographers to take her picture, fabricated awards for her and answered all remarks addressed to her. Hayworth silently welcomed his 'protection,' probably believing she was unable to take care of herself. Her husband repeatedly threatened her with physical abuse and disfigurement. He also offered her body to any man he thought would advance her career.

When he saw the famous Life pinup photograph, Orson Welles decided to marry her, and he did so in 1943. The frayed 'boy genius' later directed the 'love goddess' in the acclaimed film 'The Lady From Shanghai.' However, the real Hayworth's emotional needs made Welles uncomfortable, and he cheated on her regularly with prostitutes and with other actresses, including Judy Garland.

The dissolute Prince Aly Khan fell in love with Hayworth's image, too. The international playboy of the 1940's, he was famous for his wealth, his racehorses and his love life. The prince was still married, and his internationally publicized courtship of, marriage to and subsequent divorce from Hayworth were among the factors that ultimately led his father, the Aga Khan - the spiritual leader of 15 million Muslims - to reject his son as his heir and ultimately designate his grandson to succeed him.

After her divorce from Aly Khan in 1951, Hayworth's life went downhill fast. Custody battles over her daughters by Welles and the prince were bitter and public. Exploitative men were routine. She married the singer Dick Haymes, widely known in Hollywood as Mr. Evil, who took financial advantage of her. She began drinking heavily; irrational outbursts became common. By 1962, it was increasingly hard for her to remember dialogue. She seemed to blank out; once she even failed to recognize her former husband Orson Welles when he kissed her hello. In 1980, at the age of 62, she was finally diagnosed as a victim of advanced Alzheimer's disease, a less understood condition then than it is today. Her favorite daughter, Princess Yasmin Khan, became her legal guardian and lovingly cared for Hayworth until her death in May 1987.