San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Acclaimed singer-actress powered top pop anthems
NEW YORK — Oscar-, Golden Globe- and two-time Grammy-winning singer-actress Irene Cara, who starred and sang the title song in the 1980 hit movie “Fame” and then belted out the era-defining hit “Flashdance ... What a Feeling” from 1983’s “Flashdance,” has died at age 63.
Her publicist, Judith Moose, announced the news on social media, writing that a cause of death was “currently unknown.” Moose confirmed the death to the Associated Press on Saturday. Cara died at her home in Florida. The day of her death was not disclosed.
“Irene’s family has requested privacy as they process their grief,” Moose wrote. “She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films.”
Cara had three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — “Breakdance,” “Fame” and “Flashdance ... What a Feeling,” which spent six weeks at No. 1. She was the force behind some of the most joyful, high-energy pop anthems of the early ’80s.
Tributes poured in Saturday on social media, including from singers Deborah Cox, who called Cara an inspiration, and Holly Robinson Peete, who recalled seeing Cara perform: “The insane combination of talent and beauty was overwhelming to me. This hurts my heart so much.”
Cara was born Irene Escalera on March 18, 1959, in the New York City borough of the Bronx. Her mother, Louise Escalera, was a cashier, and her father, Gaspar Escalera, was a musician and worked at a steel factory.
She first came to prominence among the young actors playing performing arts high schoolers in Alan Parker’s “Fame,” with co-stars Debbie Allen, Paul McCrane and Anne Meara. Cara played Coco Hernandez, a striving dancer who endures all manner of deprivations, including a creepy nude photo shoot.
“How bright our spirits go shooting out into space, depends on how much we contributed to the earthly brilliance of this world. And I mean to be a major contributor!” she says in the movie.
Cara sang on the soaring title song with the chorus — “Remember my name/I’m gonna live forever/I’m gonna learn how to fly/I feel it coming together/ People will see me and cry” — which would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award for best original song. She also sang on “Out Here on My Own,” “Hot Lunch Jam” and “I Sing the Body Electric.”
Allen took to Twitter on Saturday to mourn, posting pictures of them together and calling Cara a “a gifted and beautiful genius. Her talent and her music will live forever! Forever remember her name!”
Three years later, she and the songwriting team of “Flashdance” — music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Cara — accepted the Oscar for best original song for “Flashdance ... What a Feeling.”
The movie starred Jennifer Beals as a steel-town girl who dances in a bar at night and hopes to attend a prestigious dance conservatory. It included the Michael Sembello hit “Maniac,” featuring Beals’ character leaping, spinning, stomping her feet and the slow-burning theme song.
“There aren’t enough words to express my love and my gratitude,” Cara told the Oscar crowd in her thanks. “And last but not least, a very special gentlemen who I guess started it all for me many years ago. To Alan Parker, wherever you may be tonight, I thank him.”
The New York City-born Cara began her career on Broadway, with small parts in short-lived shows, although a musical called “The Me Nobody Knows” ran more than 300 performances. She toured in the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” as Mary Magdalene in the mid-1990s, and the musical ”Flashdance” toured in 2012-14 with her songs.
She also created the all-female band Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel and put out a double CD with the single “How Can I Make You Luv Me.” Other movie credits include “Sparkle” and “D.C. Cab.”
Details on her survivors were not immediately available.