The only actor ever to have their name written on an atomic bomb
One of the biggest movies in recent memory may have revolved around the development of the atomic bomb, but let’s hope Cillian Murphy doesn’t end up having his name slapped on the real thing to celebrate his work in Oppenheimer.
It’s unlikely to happen, but if it does, then the world is about to become a great deal scarier. The threat of all-out nuclear conflict is been hanging over the planet for decades as various nations develop their own arsenal, but only once has the name of a Hollywood superstar been stencilled onto a device that was subsequently detonated.
The fourth atomic bomb to ever be successful – for want of a better word – was tested in the summer of 1946, with a B-29 Superfortress plane dropping its payload at Bikini Atoll. The purpose of the tests was to determine what would happen were a device to be detonated within proximity of enemy warships, with ‘Operation Crossroads’ the first time the United States had unleashed its nuclear capabilities since Nagasaki.
Injecting some Hollywood flavour into the proceedings, the bomb officially designated as ‘Able’ was colloquially rebranded as ‘Gilda’, named after the Rita Hayworth movie of the same name. Charles Vidor’s classic noir came bearing the tagline of “Beautiful, Deadly…Using all a woman’s weapons,” which was co-opted by the soldiers who stencilled the title of the film onto the bomb and attached a picture of the star for good measure.
Hayworth was married to Orson Welles at the time, and the filmmaker couldn’t help but celebrate the occasion on a radio broadcast. “Footnote on Bikini. I don’t even know what this means or even if it has meaning, but I can’t resist mention of the fact that this much can be revealed concerning the appearance of tonight’s atom bomb,” he said. “It will be decorated with a photograph of sizeable likeness of the young lady named Rita Hayworth.”
Barbara Leaming‘s biography of Welles relayed that Hayworth was furious at her likeness gaining so much publicity for being carried on a weapon of mass destruction, and she was ready to go public with her opposition. “Rita almost went insane, she was so angry,” the actor and filmmaker explained. “She was so shocked by it. She wanted to go to Washington to hold a press conference, but Harry Cohn wouldn’t let her because it would be unpatriotic.”
Hayworth was so apoplectic that Columbia Pictures co-founder Cohn had to step in and prevent her from telling the world how disgusted she was with her visage taking pride of place on an atomic bomb, which may have been the best move career-wise considering the frosty political climate in America at the time. Still, it’s best to hope that the incident is never repeated and no other A-lister follows suit, otherwise, it’s World War III.
