Some re-hash, some new..
The 'Fame' and 'Sparkle' actress won an Oscar in 1984 for her hit "Flashdance… What a Feeling" from the movie 'Flashdance.'
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Irene Cara, Oscar-Winning Singer and Actress, Dies at 63
The 'Fame' and 'Sparkle' actress won an Oscar in 1984 for her hit "Flashdance… What a Feeling" from the movie 'Flashdance.'
By Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Ryan Gajewski
November 26, 2022 7:12am
Irene Cara, the actress and pop star who won an Oscar and a Grammy for the hit “Flashdance… What a Feeling” from
Flashdance and created her own memorable screen moments with films such as
Sparkle and
Fame, has died, according to her rep. She was 63.
Cara died in her Florida home, according to Judith Moose, who
posted about the news on Twitter on Friday night. Moose told
The Hollywood Reporter on Saturday that a cause of death has not yet been determined.
“It is with profound sadness that on behalf of her family I announce the passing of Irene Cara,” Moose wrote in the statement. “Irene’s family has requested privacy as they process their grief. She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films.”
Cara was the unusual performer who was able to attain chart-topping pop success while also shining as an actress. She won her Oscar for the 1983 hit “Flashdance… What a Feeling,” which additionally won her the Grammy for best female pop vocal performance, and she sang the title track for the seminal 1980 movie
Fame.
She also
starred in Fame, the dramatic musical that chronicled the struggles of high school students in a performing arts school. Cara, who played Coco Hernandez, sang the title track and “Out Here on My Own,” which both became hit singles and were nominated for the Oscar for best original song, with “Fame” winning. The songs’ success led to Cara getting nominated in 1980 for the Grammys for best new artist and best female pop vocal performance.
One of her best-known roles was in the 1976 movie
Sparkle, about three singing sisters whose family ties are ruptured as they pursue fame. A 2012 film remake starred Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston, marking the latter performer’s final big-screen role before her death that year.
Born in New York City on March 18, 1959, Cara began singing and dancing at a young age and made early appearances on programs including Johnny Carson’s
The Tonight Show. In the 1970s, she was a regular on PBS’
The Electric Company and was a member of the show’s band. She also had roles in Broadway productions including
The Me Nobody Knows in 1970 and
Via Galactica in 1972 opposite Raul Julia.
Cara went on to appear on the CBS daytime soap
Love of Life, where she originated the role of Daisy Allen. She followed this with the films
Aaron Loves Angela (1975) and
Sparkle (1976), along with roles in the television miniseries
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980).
Following her breakout in
Fame, Cara continued her stage work, including performing as Dorothy in a touring version of
The Wiz in 1980. In 1993, she starred in a touring version of
Jesus Christ Superstar.
Cara earned an NAACP Image Award for best actress for her performance in NBC’s 1982 television movie
Sister, Sister, written by Maya Angelou and also starring Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash.
The 1983 soundtrack album for
Flashdance, featuring Cara’s lead single, was a smash success, spending two weeks atop the
Billboard 200 chart and going six-times platinum. It won three Grammys, one of which was best soundtrack album for a film or TV special, which went to all credited songwriters including Cara.
Other prominent credits included
City Heat (1984) opposite Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds,
Certain Fury (1985) with Tatum O’Neal and voicing Snow White in the animated feature
Happily Ever After (1989).
Cara released several albums of her own, notably 1983’s
What a Feelin’, which featured the hits “Why Me?,” “The Dream (Hold On to Your Dream)” and “Breakdance.”
In 2018, she told
Songwriter Universe that it meant a lot that her now-late parents were able to be part of her success. “I’m just happy that I was able to fulfill their dreams for me before they passed away,” Cara said at the time.
“I wasn’t a child who decided, ‘I want to be in showbiz.’ This was something that was laid out for me by my parents. This was their dream for me, and I fulfilled it. So I’m happy about that.”
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