Irene Cara

Irene Cara
Cara in 1981
Born
Irene Cara Escalera

(1959-03-18)March 18, 1959
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 25, 2022(2022-11-25) (aged 63)
Largo, Florida, U.S.
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
Years active1965–2022[1][2]
Known for
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1986; div. 1991)​
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
Labels
Websiteirenecara.com

Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959[note 1] – November 25, 2022) was an American singer and actress[13] who rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film Fame, and for recording the film's title song "Fame", which reached No. 1 in several countries. In 1983, Cara co-wrote and sang the song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (from the film Flashdance), for which she shared an Academy Award for Best Original Song and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1984.

Before her success with Fame, Cara portrayed the title character Sparkle Williams in the original 1976 musical drama film Sparkle. Cara died as a result of hypertensive heart disease after hypercholesterolemia at age 63.

  1. ^ a b Dick Clark Interviews Irene Cara, American Bandstand, 1983. Retrieved March 6, 2020 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ a b "Irene Cara:A Show Biz Veteran at Age 22". Ebony. XXXVI (9). Johnson Publishing Company: 88–94. July 1981. ISSN 0012-9011.
  3. ^ Baugh, Scott L. (2012). "Irene Cara 1959-". Latino American Cinema: An Encyclopedia of Movies, Stars, Concepts, and Trends. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9780313380365. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  4. ^ McCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of Hispanic American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland & Company. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7864-3790-0.
  5. ^ Camp, Robert Lee (2008). Your Birthday, Your Card. Sourcebooks. ISBN 9781402212925. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  6. ^ Stange, Ellen Silver (March 10, 2016). New York State of Fame. Page Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-1-68289-026-4 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Hellmann, Paul T. (2009). Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-94859-7. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference people was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn; Fonseca, Anthony J. (December 2018). Hip Hop around the World: An Encyclopedia (2 volumes), edited by Melissa Ursula Dawn Goldsmith, Anthony J. Fonseca. Abc-Clio. ISBN 9780313357596. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  10. ^ @Irene_Cara (March 18, 2020). "Many thanks for the birthday wishes. Despite all the incorrect info on Wikipedia ( there is no T anywhere in my name and I'm 59 today) I wish you all to be safe and healthy. God Bless !" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ "Irene Cara". Twitter. March 18, 2020.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference nytimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ McCann, Bob (2009). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7864-5804-2.


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