South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Singer, actor defined ’80s with music for ‘Fame,’ ‘Flashdance’
Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winning singer-actor Irene Cara, who starred and sang the title cut from the 1980 hit movie “Fame” and then belted out the era-defining “Flashdance ... What a Feeling” from 1983’s “Flashdance,” has died. She was
63.
Her publicist, Judith Moose, announced the news on social media, writing that a cause of death was “currently unknown.” Cara died at her home in Florida. The exact 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, including “Breakdance,” “Out Here on My Own,” “Fame” and “Flashdance ... What a Feeling,” which spent six weeks at No. 1. She was behind some of the most joyful, highenergy pop anthems of the early ’80s.
Tributes poured in Saturday on social media, including from singer Deborah Cox, who called Cara an inspiration, and actor 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.”
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 Mear. Cara played Coco Hernandez, a striving dancer who endures all manner of
deprivations, including a 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.” It 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 Saturday to mourn, posting pictures of them together and calling Cara “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 hit song “Maniac,” featuring Beals’ character leaping, spinning and stomping her feet.
“There aren’t enough words to express my love and my gratitude,” Cara told the Oscar crowd in her speech. “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-born Cara began her career on Broadway, with small parts in short-lived shows, although a musical, “The Me Nobody Knows,” ran over 300 performances. She toured in “Jesus Christ Superstar” as Mary Magdalene in the ’90s and the musical “Flashdance” toured 2012-14 with her songs.