Carmen Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha on February 9, 1909 in the north of Portugal in a small town called Marco de Canaveses. Not long after her birth, Carmen's family moved to Brazil where her father was involved in the produce business. The family settled in the capital city of Rio de Janeiro.
After leaving school, Carmen got a job at a local store where she spent time singing on the job. Before long, she was discovered and began singing on a local radio station. Ultimately, Carmen wound up with a recording contract with RCA.
By 1928, she was a genuine superstar in Brazil. As with other popular singers of the era, Carmen eventually made her way into the film world.
She made her debut in the Brazilian documentary A VOZ DO CARAVAL. Two years later Carmen appeared in her first feature film entitled ALO, ALO BRASIL. But it was ESTUDANTES that seemed to solidify Carmen in the minds of the movie going public. Now they realized she could act as well as she could sing.
Although there was three years between ALO, ALO CARNAVAL (1936) and BANANA DA TERRA (1939), Carmen continued to churn out musical hits in Brazil. The latter film would be her last in her home country.
Later in '39, Carmen arrived to much fanfare with the press in New York City. She was now ready to capture American's 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 of DOWN ARGENTINE WAY with Betty Grable and Don Ameche. The only complaint that the critics had was the fact that Carmen was not on the screen enough.
In 1941, she was, again, teamed with Ameche and also Alice Faye in THAT NIGHT IN RIO. Once again, this movie was extremely popular with the theater patrons. Her unique songs went a long way in making her popular.
It was after the film WEEKEND IN HAVANA (1941), that American cartoon artists began to cash in on Carmen's ever growing popularity. In the 1930's and 1940's, 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 with Betty Grable and Cesar Romero, both with 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, such as SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS, FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP, and GREENWICH VILLAGE. 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. Two years without a film and Carmen was back in NANCY GOES TO RIO in 1950, a production for MGM. Once again she went into a drought only to return in 1953 in SCARED STIFF. 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, Carmen suffered a heart attack, although she didn't realize it at the
time, while taping a segment for the Jimmy Durante Show. She went home after attending a party
(she neither drank or smoked). Early the following 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.
Look here for some nice pictures of Carmen Miranda
Carmen Pic 1
Carmen Pic 2
Carmen Pic 3
Carmen Pic 4
Carmen Pic 5
Carmen Pic 6
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� 1999 Denny C. Jackson dejackso@iglou.com
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