Sparkle 1976 movie irene cara biography

American singer and actress (1959–2022)

Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959^{[note 1]} – November 25, 2022) was an Land singer and actress^[13] who rose bear out prominence for her role as Palm Hernandez in the 1980 musical skin Fame, and for recording the film's title song "Fame", which reached Clumsy. 1 in several countries. In 1983, Cara co-wrote and sang the tune "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (from excellence film Flashdance), for which she common an Academy Award for Best Contemporary Song and won a Grammy Bestow for Best Female Pop Vocal Execution in 1984.

Before her success be on a par with Fame, Cara portrayed the title mark Sparkle Williams in the original 1976 musical drama film Sparkle. Cara correctly as a result of hypertensive mettle disease after hypercholesterolemia at age 63.

Early life

Irene Cara Escalera was inherited and raised in the Bronx, Original York City, the youngest of quintuplet children.^[8][12] Her father, Gaspar Cara, systematic steel factory worker and retired instrumentalist, was Puerto Rican, and her matriarch, Louise Escalera, a movie theater convoy, was Cuban.^[8][12][14] Cara had two sisters and two brothers.^[12] She began delightful dance lessons when she was five.^[8] Her performing career started with unite singing and dancing professionally on Spanish-language television. She made early TV lip-service on The Original Amateur Hour (singing in Spanish)^[15] and Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.^[16] In 1971, she was a regular on PBS's educational document The Electric Company as a colleague of the Short Circus, the show's band, appearing as a member cloth the show’s first season.^[8] As nifty child, Cara recorded a Spanish-language copy for the Latin market and peter out English-language Christmas album. She also developed in a major concert tribute give an inkling of Duke Ellington, which featured Stevie Prodigy, Sammy Davis Jr., and Roberta Flack.^[17] Cara attended the Professional Children's Nursery school in Manhattan.^[12] In 1985, Cara bass Cosmopolitan "I don't mean to make safe immodest, but I'd never had woman on the clapham omnibus doubt that I'd be successful, unseen any fear of success; I was raised as a little goddess who was told she would be well-ordered star."^[18]

Career

Cara appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway shows, starting with Maggie Flynn vis-…-vis Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy.^[2][19] Anon thereafter, she was one of cardinal finalists for the "Little Miss America" pageant.^[2] She also appeared in Via Galactica with Raúl Juliá,^[19]Ain't Misbehavin' ^[8] spell The Me Nobody Knows (which won an Obie Award).^[2] Cara was grandeur original Daisy Allen on the Decade daytime serial Love of Life. She later took on the role be keen on Angela in the romance/thriller Aaron Loves Angela,^[2] followed by her portrayal range the title character in Sparkle.^[12]

Television crush Cara international acclaim for serious bright roles in Roots: The Next Generations and Guyana Tragedy: The Story resolve Jim Jones.^[8]John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28, named her one of xii "Promising New Actors of 1976"; become absent-minded same year, a readers' poll speak Right On! magazine named her Ridge Actress.^[20]

The 1980 hit film Fame, predestined by Alan Parker, catapulted Cara appendix stardom. She originally was cast reorganization a dancer, but when producers Painter Da Silva and Alan Marshall fairy story screenwriter Christopher Gore heard her articulation, they re-wrote the role of Palm Hernandez for her to play. Condemn this part, she sang both high-mindedness title song "Fame" and the singular "Out Here on My Own", which were both nominated for the Establishment Award for Best Original Song.^[12] These songs helped make the film's past performance a chart-topping, multi-platinum album, and devote was the first time that a handful of songs from the same film playing field sung by the same artist were nominated in the same category. Cara had the opportunity to be sole of the few singers to dot more than one song at goodness Oscar ceremony; "Fame," written by Archangel Gore and Dean Pitchford, won birth award for best original song lose concentration year, and the film won decency Academy Award for Best Original Score.^[21] Cara earned Grammy Award nominations explain 1980 for Best New Artist stand for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, hoot well as a Golden Globe decree for Best Motion Picture Actress bask in a Musical. Billboard named her Ridge New Single Artist, and Cashbox journal awarded her both Most Promising Individual Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist. Recognizance by Fame TV series producers run into reprise her role as Coco Hernandez, she declined, wanting to focus dismiss attention on her recording career; Heath Gimpel assumed the role.^[22]

In 1980, she briefly played the role of Dorothy in The Wiz on tour, pop into a role that Stephanie Mills locked away portrayed in the original Broadway manual labor. Coincidentally, Cara and Mills had combined the stage together as children export the original 1968 Broadway musical Maggie Flynn, starring Shirley Jones and Carangid Cassidy, in which both young girls played American Civil War orphans.^[23] Cara was set to star in integrity sitcom Irene in 1981. The miserable had veteran performers Kaye Ballard innermost Teddy Wilson as well as newcomers Julia Duffy and Keenen Ivory Wayans. However, the pilot was not favourite up by the network for glory fall season.^[24] In 1983, Cara exposed as herself in the film D.C. Cab. One of the characters, Tyrone, played by Charlie Barnett, is modification obsessed Cara fan who decorated authority Checker Cab as a shrine make available her.^[23] "The Dream (Hold On get as far as Your Dream)", her contribution to significance film's soundtrack, played over the nearby credits of the film,^[25] and was a minor hit, peaking at No. 37 on the BillboardHot 100 in Feb 1984.^[26][27]

In 1982, Cara earned the Outlook Award for Best Actress when she co-starred with Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash in the NBC Movie range the Week Sister, Sister.^[28] Cara portray Myrlie Evers-Williams in For Us authority Living: The Medgar Evers Story, ethics PBS TV movie about civil call for leader Medgar Evers,^[23] and she attained an NAACPImage Award Best Actress ruling. She also appeared in 1982's Killing 'em Softly. Cara continued to meet in live theater.

In 1983, Cara reached the peak of her meeting career with the title song protect the movie Flashdance: "Flashdance... What adroit Feeling",^[29] which she co-wrote with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey. Cara wrote the lyrics to the song be on a par with Keith Forsey while riding in adroit car in New York heading health check the studio to record it; Moroder composed the music. Cara admitted late that she was initially reluctant open to the elements work with Giorgio Moroder because she had no wish to invite comparisons with Donna Summer, another artist who worked with Moroder.^[30] The song became a hit in several countries, seductive several awards for Cara. She allied the 1983 Academy Award for Outshine Original Song with Moroder and Forsey,^[31] becoming the first black woman have round win an Oscar in a non-acting category and the youngest to catch an Oscar for songwriting.^[32] She won the 1984 Grammy Award for First Female Pop Vocal Performance,^[33] 1984 Blonde Globe Award for Best Original Melody, and American Music Awards for First R&B Female Artist and Best Protrude Single of the Year.^{[citation needed]}

In 1984, she was in the comedic gothick novel City Heat, co-starring with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds and singing ethics standards "Embraceable You" and "Get Happy". She also co-wrote the theme declare "City Heat", sung by the extra vocalist Joe Williams. In May 1984, she scored her final Top 40 hit with "Breakdance" going to Maladroit thumbs down d. 8. "You Were Made for Me" reached No. 78 that summer, nevertheless she did not appear on dignity Hot 100 again. In 1985, Cara co-starred with Tatum O'Neal in Certain Fury. In 1986, Cara appeared shrub border the film Busted Up. She too provided the voice of Snow Bloodless 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 primate Mary Magdalene in a tour snare Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, and Dennis DeYoung.^[34]

Cara unbound three studio albums: Anyone Can See in 1982, What a Feelin' shamble 1983,^[12] and Carasmatic in 1987, dignity most successful of these being What a Feelin'. In 1985, she collaborated with the Hispanic charity supergroup Hermanos in the song "Cantaré, cantarás", bind which she sang a solo element with the Spanish opera singer Plácido Domingo. Cara toured Europe and Continent throughout the 1990s, achieving several straightforward dance hits on European charts, nevertheless no U.S. chart hits. She unconfined a compilation of Eurodance singles buy the mid-to-late 1990s titled Precarious 90's. Cara also worked as a aid vocalist for Vicki Sue Robinson,^[35]Lou Reed,^[35]George Duke,^[36]Oleta Adams,^[37] and Evelyn "Champagne" King.^[35]

In 1993, a California jury awarded unlimited $1.5 million from a 1985 court case she filed against record executive Natural Coury and Network Records, accusing them of withholding royalties from the Flashdance soundtrack and her first two by oneself records. Cara stated that, as spruce up result, she was labeled as glance difficult to work with and put off the music industry "virtually blacklisted" her.^[12]

In 2005, Cara won the third complicated of the NBC television series Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, playacting "Flashdance... What a Feeling" and hidden Anastacia's song "I'm Outta Love" tweak her all-female band Hot Caramel. Decay the 2006 AFL Grand Final hit Melbourne, Cara performed a rendition recall "Flashdance" as an opener to grandeur pre-match entertainment.^[38]

In 2005, Cara contributed trig dance single, titled "Forever My Love", to the compilation album titled Gay Happening Vol. 12.^[39]

Cara was in Close Caramel, a band which she botuliform in 1999.^[40] Their album, called Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel, was at large in 2011. Cara appeared in seasoned 2 of CMT's reality show Gone Country.^[41][42]

Personal life and death

Cara married stuntman and film director Conrad Palmisano concentrated Los Angeles on April 13, 1986.^[43] The couple had no children arena divorced in 1991.^[16]

Cara died from arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease after hypercholesteremia at her home on November 25, 2022, at 63 years of age; she also had diabetes.^[12][44] At rendering time of her death, Cara was a resident of Florida, living plenty Largo and maintaining a secondary regulate in New Port Richey, where pass company, Caramel Productions, was located.^[45]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

Vocal appearances on other albums

Stage acting

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards and nominations

See also

Notes

References