Andrew Embiricos, Rita Hayworth’s grandson, was found dead Sunday after apparently suffocating himself with a plastic bag. He reportedly had long battled drug addiction and even tried to commit suicide in the past. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time.
Andrew was Rita Hayworth’s grandson by her daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan. He had missed some appointments Sunday, which prompted his friend Aaron Edwards to visit his Manhattan apartment to check up on him. How sad that Edwards will forever have to have that memory of finding Andrew already gone. Andrew’s grandfather was Prince Aly Aga Khan, the third husband of Hayworth.
Embiricos’ grandparents split two years after they wed in 1949, with Hayworth filing for divorce in the latter part of 1951 after Khan was seen dancing with actress Joan Fontaine. Hayworth then moved back to the United States and took Yasmin with her, wanting to raise her Catholic in the United States, not Muslim like her husband wished. Yasmin grew up in the U.S. and her father was killed in a car accident when she was 10.
Embiricos’ father is Basil Embiricos, whom Yasmin married in 1985. Andrew was their only child, and Yasmin and Basil divorced in 1987.
Michael Musto, who is a reporter with Village Voice, knew Rita Hayworth’s grandson and described him as a “strikingly handsome, personable guy who radiated charm no matter what crisis he was weathering.” He went on to say that Embiricos was HIV positive and went to rehab on more than one occasion to seek help with drug abuse. It’s interesting to note that Musto questions if Embirico did in fact commit suicide. Why? Because he apparently was kinky and thinks that Andrew might have been experimenting with autoeroric asphyxiation.
Just a sad, sad story. RIP in Andrew Embiricos.
