Irene Cara

Irene Cara (born March 18, 1959, Bronx, New York, U.S.—died November 25, 2022, Largo, Florida) was an American singer-songwriter and actress who achieved popular and critical acclaim for her performance in the musical film Fame (1980) and for her recording of the film’s title song. She is also known for her contributions to the soundtrack for the blockbuster film Flashdance (1983) and for cowriting and performing the number-one hit “Flashdance…What a Feeling.”

Early life in show business

Irene Cara Escalera was born in the Bronx, New York, the youngest child of Gaspar Escalera, who was a saxophonist and a factory worker, and Louise Escalera, who worked as a cashier. Escalera grew up in a close-knit musical family and was groomed for show business as a child. She could play the piano by ear at age five. At age seven she performed on Spanish-language television, and by age nine she had made her Broadway debut in the musical Maggie Flynn (1968). Over the next few years she auditioned constantly and worked often. She was the youngest performer in “Sold on Soul!,” a tribute concert for jazz composer Duke Ellington held at Madison Square Garden that featured musical luminaries Sammy Davis, Jr., Stevie Wonder, and Roberta Flack.

Cara began the 1970s as a cast member of the Broadway musical The Me Nobody Knows (1970), and she performed on the educational television series The Electric Company (1971–72) alongside actors Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman. In 1975 she starred in director Gordon Parks, Jr.’s, drama Aaron Loves Angela, a modern film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in New York City. She went on to star in the title role of the musical drama Sparkle (1976), which has become a cult classic in the years since its release. In 1978 she was cast in the original Off-Off-Broadway production of Ain’t Misbehavin’, followed by a featured role the next year in the television miniseries Roots: The Next Generations (1979).

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Fame, Flashdance, and pop music stardom

Cara’s portrayal of the intense, ambitious singer-actress Coco Hernandez in the movie Fame (1980), along with her recording of the film’s hit title song, launched her into stardom. The high-energy pop anthem “Fame” soared to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the film’s soundtrack album spawned another top-selling single for Cara, “Out Here on My Own.” She remained busy in the early 1980s, performing for U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and appearing as Dorothy in the stage musical The Wiz (1980).

In 1982 Cara released the album Anyone Can See, which includes many of her own compositions. Although the album failed to achieve significant commercial success, it showcased her talents as a songwriter and laid the groundwork for her collaboration on the Flashdance soundtrack. In 1983 she teamed up with producers Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey to compose the film’s joyful theme song “Flashdance…What a Feeling,” which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remained there for six weeks. Later that year she released her most popular album, What a Feelin’, featuring “Flashdance…What a Feeling” and the hit song “Breakdance,” which peaked at number 8 on the Hot 100. In 1984 she won a Grammy Award for best female pop vocal performance for “Flashdance…What a Feeling,” and she shared an Academy Award with Moroder and Forsey for best original song.

Cara appears as herself in the comedy film D.C. Cab (1983), and she collaborated with Moroder and music producer Pete Bellotte to write “The Dream (Hold on to Your Dream),” which appears on the film’s soundtrack. In 1984 she performed alongside Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds in the crime-comedy City Heat and cowrote the film’s title song, which was performed by jazz singer Joe Williams. In 1985 she met stuntman Conrad Palmisano while performing in the action film Certain Fury, and they started a romantic relationship. The couple married in 1986 and divorced in 1991. Her 1987 album Carasmatic was not initially released in the United States because of legal issues with Network Records, her former record label, and it was released only in limited quantities in the United Kingdom.

Cara performed sporadically after the peak of her popularity in the early to mid-1980s. She voiced the character of Snow White in the animated musical film Happily Ever After (1989), and she toured in a 1993 revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Cara and her band Hot Caramel released the double album Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel in 2011. She died of cardiovascular disease in 2022 at age 63.

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