Credit: Nuestro Stories
Fame – what child of the 80s didn’t want to be part of the film’s group of talented teenagers who danced and dreamed at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City? How many of us hoped that people would remember our names? Irene Cara, born Irene Cara Escalera in 1959, was one of those teenagers in the film Fame and will be remembered – forever.
Cara passed away at just 63, and her fans couldn’t believe it. The actress had been the target of a death hoax earlier, but this time, sadly, it was true. It is a loss for an entire generation that sang Fame (I want to live forever) and jazz walked to Flashdance and New York City.
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The legend, Irene Cara
Born in the Bronx, Cara’s father was an Afro-Puerto Rican, and her mother was of Cuban descent. She was just three years old when she was one of five finalists for the “Little Miss America” pageant. She played the piano “by ear,” studying music, acting, and dancing. Cara started performing on Spanish-language television and appeared on the Original Amateur Hour (singing in Spanish), Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, and PBS’s educational program The Electric Company.
But her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 film Fame catapulted her career. Cara’s signing earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and her recording of the song “Fame” became an international hit, as did the film’s other single, “Out Here on My Own.”
She earned Grammy nominations in 1980 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical. In addition, Billboard named her Top New Single Artist, while Cashbox Magazine awarded her Most Promising Female Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist.
It’s interesting to note that Cara graduated from the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan, a rival of the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, the inspiration for the performing arts school in Fame.
But in the 1983 film Flashdance, Cara hit the pinnacle of her music career with the movie’s title song: “Flashdance… What A Feeling.” She co-wrote it with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey. (Cara penned the lyrics with Forsey riding in a car in New York heading to the studio to record it.) She went on to win the 1983 Academy Award for Best Song, the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, the 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the American Music Awards for Best R&B Female Artist and Best Pop Single of the Year.
Other credits include the 1976 film Sparkle, along with several Broadway productions. She recently was living in Florida and working with her band Hot Caramel.
Debbie Allen, who starred in the television version of Fame, tweeted, “My Heart Is Broken. #IreneCara was gifted and beautiful. Her talent and her music will LIVE FOREVER! REMEMBER HER NAME!
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