Irene Cara

Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959Efn|Cara's year of birth is disputed. The majority of sources claim 1959, and Cara herself implied she was born in 1961 by claiming she turned 59 years old via a 2020 tweet, despite stating she was 24 in a 1983 interview with Dick Clark on American Bandstand (which would indicate a birth year of 1959). Her mother told The New York Times in 1970 that a young Ms. Cara was 11 years old (which would also indicate a birth year of 1959). who rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film Fame, and for recording the film's title song "Fame", which reached No. 1 in several countries. In 1983, Cara co-wrote and sang the song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (from the film Flashdance), for which she shared an Academy Award for Best Original Song and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1984.

Before her success with Fame, Cara portrayed the title character Sparkle Williams in the original 1976 musical drama film Sparkle. Cara died as a result of hypertensive heart disease after hypercholesterolemia at age 63.

Early life Irene Cara Escalera was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, the youngest of five children. Cara had two sisters and two brothers. and Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.

In 1971, she was a regular on PBS's educational program The Electric Company as a member of the Short Circus, the show's band, appearing as a member during the show’s first season. Cara attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan.

Career Cara appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway shows, starting with Maggie Flynn opposite Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy.

title = [Gail] Boggs describes Cara as a "perfectionist" who works on a song until absolutely satisfied with it. Cara earned Grammy Award nominations in 1980 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical. Billboard named her Top New Single Artist, and Cashbox magazine awarded her both Most Promising Female Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist. Asked by Fame TV series producers to reprise her role as Coco Hernandez, she declined, wanting to focus her attention on her recording career; Erica Gimpel assumed the role.

In 1980, she briefly played the role of Dorothy in The Wiz on tour, in a role that Stephanie Mills had portrayed in the original Broadway production. Coincidentally, Cara and Mills had shared the stage together as children in the original 1968 Broadway musical Maggie Flynn, starring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, in which both young girls played American Civil War orphans. In 1983, Cara appeared as herself in the film D.C. Cab. One of the characters, Tyrone, played by Charlie Barnett, is an obsessed Cara fan who decorated his Checker Cab as a shrine to her. "The Dream (Hold On to Your Dream)", her contribution to the film's soundtrack, played over the closing credits of the film, and was a minor hit, peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984.

In 1982, Cara earned the Image Award for Best Actress when she co-starred with Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash in the NBC Movie of the Week Sister, Sister. Cara portrayed Myrlie Evers-Williams in For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story, the PBS TV movie about civil rights leader Medgar Evers, which she co-wrote with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey. Cara wrote the lyrics to the song with Keith Forsey while riding in a car in New York heading to the studio to record it; Moroder composed the music. Cara admitted later that she was initially reluctant to work with Giorgio Moroder because she had no wish to invite comparisons with Donna Summer, another artist who worked with Moroder. The song became a hit in several countries, attracting several awards for Cara. She shared the 1983 Academy Award for Best Original Song with Moroder and Forsey, becoming the first black woman to win an Oscar in a non-acting category and the youngest to receive an Oscar for songwriting. She won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and American Music Awards for Best R&B Female Artist and Best Pop Single of the Year.

In 1984, she was in the comedic thriller City Heat, co-starring with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds and singing the standards "Embraceable You" and "Get Happy". She also co-wrote the theme song "City Heat", sung by the jazz vocalist Joe Williams. In May 1984, she scored her final Top 40 hit with "Breakdance" going to No. 8. "You Were Made for Me" reached No. 78 that summer, but she did not appear on the Hot 100 again. In 1985, Cara co-starred with Tatum O'Neal in Certain Fury. In 1986, Cara appeared in the film Busted Up. She also provided the voice of Snow White in the unofficial sequel to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Filmation's Happily Ever After, in 1993. The same year, she appeared as Mary Magdalene in a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, and Dennis DeYoung.

Cara released three studio albums: Anyone Can See in 1982, What a Feelin' in 1983, Lou Reed, Oleta Adams, and Evelyn "Champagne" King.

In 2005, Cara contributed a dance single, titled "Forever My Love", to the compilation album titled Gay Happening Vol. 12.

Cara was in Hot Caramel, a band which she formed in 1999. Their album, called Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel, was released in 2011. Cara appeared in season 2 of CMT's reality show Gone Country.

Personal life and death Cara married stuntman and film director Conrad Palmisano in Los Angeles on April 13, 1986. Palmisano had accompanied Cara to a state dinner held at the White House in honor of president Raúl Alfonsín of Argentina on March 19, 1985. The couple had no children and divorced in 1991. At the time of her death, Cara was a resident of Florida, living in Largo and maintaining a secondary address in New Port Richey, where her company, Caramel Productions, was located.

Discography

Studio albums Year Album Peak chart positions Record label US USR&B AUS CAN NLD 1967 Ésta es Irene — — — — — Gema Records 1982 Anyone Can See 76 39 — — 48 Network 1983 What a Feelin' 77 45 49 83 — Network/Geffen 1987 Carasmatic — — — — — Elektra 2011 Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel — — — — — CPM "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

4 3 42 — 1 1 1 3 — 1

MC: Gold BPI: Gold NVPI: Gold

— — — — — — — — — —

19 41 — — — — — — — 58

42 — — — — — — — — —

— — — — — — — — — —

1 1 1 3 2 17 1 1 1 2

RIAA: Gold BPI: Gold MC: 2× Platinum 1970: The Me Nobody Knows 1978: Ain't Misbehavin' 1992: Jesus Christ Superstar 1996: What a Feeling!: The Rock & Pop Musicals in Concert

Filmography

Television Year Title RoleNote 1970–71 Love of Life Daisy Allen Daytime drama 1971–72 The Electric Company Iris Band member of the Short Circus; 130 episodes 1976 Kojak Amy Episode: "A Hair-Trigger Away" 1977 What's Happening!! Maria Torres Episode: "Rerun Gets Married" 1979 Roots: The Next Generations Bertha Palmer Haley Miniseries (3 episodes) 1980 Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones Alice JeffersonMovie 1981 Sing Along with Mitch 20th Anniversary Herself Musical special 1981 Irene Irene Cannon Sitcom pilot 1983 For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story Myrlie EversAmerican Playhouse movie 1988 Bustin' Loose Herself Episode: "What's a Nice Girl Like You...?" 1991 Gabriel's Fire Celine Bird Episode: "Birds Gotta Fly" 1992 Hearts Are Wild Dorah Episode 1.8

Film Year Title RoleNote 1975 Aaron Loves Angela Angela 1976 Sparkle Sparkle Williams 1976 Apple Pie Dancer 1980 Fame Coco Hernandez 1982 Killing 'em Softly Jane 1982 Sister, Sister Sisina "Sissy" Lovejoy 1983 D.C. Cab Herself 1984 City Heat Ginny Lee 1985 Certain Fury Tracy 1986 Busted Up Simone Bird 1989 Caged in Paradiso Eva 1989 Happily Ever After Snow White Voice role 1992 Beauty and the Beast Beauty Voice role 1992 The Magic Voyage Marilyn Voice role 1994 The Jungle King Leonette Voice role; direct-to-video 1995 Beyond Awareness to Action: Ending Abuse of Women Herself/host Documentary short 1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Melody Voice role; direct-to-video 2004 Downtown: A Street Tale Neighbor Cameo

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 1983 Academy Awards Best Original Song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" 1984 American Music Awards Favorite Pop/Rock Song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist Herself 1981 Billboard Year-End New Female Single Artist 1983 Top Pop Single Artists – Female 1983 British Academy Film Awards Best Original Song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" 1980 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Fame 1983 Best Original Song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" 1981 Grammy Awards Best New Artist Herself Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female "Fame" 1984 Album of the Year Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture Record of the Year "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or A Television Special Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture 1982 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Miniseries or Drama Special Sister, Sister