Rita Hayworth & Alzheimer’s disease By the late 1950s, Hayworth began to display symptoms of early onset Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, her confusion and fading memory were misdiagnosed by her friends and family as alcoholism. In the 1970s, as Hayworth’s mental status worsened, she experienced several distressing public spectacles. The worst was in 1976, when she became agitated on a plane trip to London, and photos of the disheveled actress were broadcast worldwide. Although the original patient d