Would you recognize this woman as Rita Hayworth? Before she hit megastardom Hayworth underwent a huge transformation on instruction from her studio under the direction of stylist stylist Helen Hunt. It was thought that her latin looks would ‘limit’ the roles she would be cast for and she underwent a major makeover to change herself from Rita Cansino (as she was previously known) to become the iconic Rita Hayworth. Changes included weight loss, dying her naturally dark hair to auburn and electrolysis to raise her hairline on her forehead.

The transformation took around 3 years by 1941 the iconic beauty we know as Rita Hayworth had been created. The photo above was taken in 1937. See more photos of Rita Hayworth here.

Source and copyright: his image is in the public domain because the copyright of this photograph, registered in Argentina, has expired.  Source and copyright: This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice.