Onward & Upward

Ever since plump brunette dancer Margarita Carmen Cansino became a slim red-haired actress named Rita Hayworth, she has striven purposefully to live up to her rising station in life. When she dropped Husband No. 1, Eddie Judson (who also served as a valuable business manager), she contented herself with the casual observation: "I didn't have any fun." When she divorced Husband No. 2, Orson Welles, she felt called upon to explain somewhat more precisely: "I just can't take his genius any more." But when it came to explaining the decline of her romance with Husband No. 3, it was obvious that something more was required.

Rita did not disappoint her faithful followers. From Manhattan, she regally announced her plans for a "legal and permanent separation" from Aly Khan, heir to fabulous wealth and her erstwhile partner in an international courtship that lifted eyebrows around the world:

"I have reached this difficult decision after long consideration and without recrimination or external influence . . . Various factors, including my husband's extensive social obligations and far-flung interests, unfortunately make it impossible to establish or maintain the kind of home I want and my children* need. Their future welfare is my only concern."

Her lawyer added that Rita would take the necessary legal steps in "the western states"--presumably a delicate reference to plain old Reno.

* Two daughters, Rebecca, 6, by Orson Welles, Yasmin, 16 months, by Aly Khan.

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