Carmen Miranda(1909-1955)
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Carmen Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha on February 9,
1909, near Porto, Portugal, in the town of Marco de Canavezes. Not long
after her birth her family moved to Brazil, where her father was
involved in the produce business. The family settled in the
then-capital city of Rio de Janeiro.
'
After leaving school, Carmen got a
job at a local store, and often began singing on the job. Before long
she was discovered and got a singing job on a local radio station. She
ultimately got a recording contract with RCA. By 1928 she was a genuine
superstar in Brazil. As with other popular singers of the era, she
eventually made her way into the film world. She made her debut in the
Brazilian documentary
A Voz do Carnaval (1933). Two
years later she appeared in her first feature film,
Alô, Alô, Brasil (1935).
However. it was Estudantes (1935) that
seemed to solidify Carmen in the minds of the Brazilian movie
audiences. Now they realized she could act as well as sing. Although
there was three years between "Alo, Alo Carnaval" and
Banana-da-Terra (1939), Carmen
continued to churn out musical hits in Brazil. The latter film would be
the last in her home country.
In late 1939 Carmen arrived, with much
fanfare in the press, in New York City. She was now ready to capture
Americans' hearts with her talent. She appeared in some musical revues
on Broadway and, just as everyone thought, was a huge hit. In 1940
Carmen was signed to appear in the Twentieth Century-Fox production
Down Argentine Way (1940),
with Betty Grable and
Don Ameche. The only complaint that critics
had was the fact that Carmen was not on the screen enough.
In 1941 she
was, again, teamed with Ameche in addition to
Alice Faye in
That Night in Rio (1941). The
film was extremely popular with the theater patrons. Her unique songs
went a long way in making her popular. It was after
Week-End in Havana (1941) that
American cartoon artists began to cash in on Carmen's ever-growing
popularity. In the 1930s and 1940s cartoons were sometimes shown as a
prelude to whatever feature film was showing. Sure enough, the cartoon
version of Carmen came wriggling across the screen, complete with her
trademark fruit hat and wide, toothy grin.
In 1942 Carmen starred in
Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
with Betty Grable and Cesar Romero,
both of whom she had worked with before. It was shortly after this that
America began adopting her style of dress as the latest fad. 1944 saw
her in three films:
Something for the Boys (1944),
Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)
and Greenwich Village (1944).
The first two did well at the box-office, but the last one left a lot
to be desired. It was her last busy year in film. Carmen made one film
each in 1945, '46, '47 and '48. After that she didn't make a film for
two years, until
Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), a
production for MGM. Once again didn't make a film for several years,
returning with Scared Stiff (1953).
She did stay busy, singing on the nightclub circuit and appearing on
the relatively new medium of television. However, "Scared Stiff" was
her final performance on the silver screen. On August 4, 1955, she
suffered a heart attack, although she didn't realize it at the time,
during a video taping of
The Jimmy Durante Show (1954).
She went home after attending a party.
Early the next morning, on August 5, Carmen suffered a fatal heart
attack. She was just 46 years old. Her body was flown to her adopted
country of Brazil, where her death was declared a period of national
mourning.
1909, near Porto, Portugal, in the town of Marco de Canavezes. Not long
after her birth her family moved to Brazil, where her father was
involved in the produce business. The family settled in the
then-capital city of Rio de Janeiro.
'
After leaving school, Carmen got a
job at a local store, and often began singing on the job. Before long
she was discovered and got a singing job on a local radio station. She
ultimately got a recording contract with RCA. By 1928 she was a genuine
superstar in Brazil. As with other popular singers of the era, she
eventually made her way into the film world. She made her debut in the
Brazilian documentary
A Voz do Carnaval (1933). Two
years later she appeared in her first feature film,
Alô, Alô, Brasil (1935).
However. it was Estudantes (1935) that
seemed to solidify Carmen in the minds of the Brazilian movie
audiences. Now they realized she could act as well as sing. Although
there was three years between "Alo, Alo Carnaval" and
Banana-da-Terra (1939), Carmen
continued to churn out musical hits in Brazil. The latter film would be
the last in her home country.
In late 1939 Carmen arrived, with much
fanfare in the press, in New York City. She was now ready to capture
Americans' hearts with her talent. She appeared in some musical revues
on Broadway and, just as everyone thought, was a huge hit. In 1940
Carmen was signed to appear in the Twentieth Century-Fox production
Down Argentine Way (1940),
with Betty Grable and
Don Ameche. The only complaint that critics
had was the fact that Carmen was not on the screen enough.
In 1941 she
was, again, teamed with Ameche in addition to
Alice Faye in
That Night in Rio (1941). The
film was extremely popular with the theater patrons. Her unique songs
went a long way in making her popular. It was after
Week-End in Havana (1941) that
American cartoon artists began to cash in on Carmen's ever-growing
popularity. In the 1930s and 1940s cartoons were sometimes shown as a
prelude to whatever feature film was showing. Sure enough, the cartoon
version of Carmen came wriggling across the screen, complete with her
trademark fruit hat and wide, toothy grin.
In 1942 Carmen starred in
Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
with Betty Grable and Cesar Romero,
both of whom she had worked with before. It was shortly after this that
America began adopting her style of dress as the latest fad. 1944 saw
her in three films:
Something for the Boys (1944),
Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)
and Greenwich Village (1944).
The first two did well at the box-office, but the last one left a lot
to be desired. It was her last busy year in film. Carmen made one film
each in 1945, '46, '47 and '48. After that she didn't make a film for
two years, until
Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), a
production for MGM. Once again didn't make a film for several years,
returning with Scared Stiff (1953).
She did stay busy, singing on the nightclub circuit and appearing on
the relatively new medium of television. However, "Scared Stiff" was
her final performance on the silver screen. On August 4, 1955, she
suffered a heart attack, although she didn't realize it at the time,
during a video taping of
The Jimmy Durante Show (1954).
She went home after attending a party.
Early the next morning, on August 5, Carmen suffered a fatal heart
attack. She was just 46 years old. Her body was flown to her adopted
country of Brazil, where her death was declared a period of national
mourning.