Carmen Miranda

Carmen Miranda (b. February 9, 1909, Marco de Canaveses, Portugal; d. August 5, 1955 Hollywood, California from untreated toxemia and heart failure stemming from pregnancy), born Maria do Carmo Miranda Da Cunha, was a Portuguese - Brazilian samba singer and motion picture star.

Life and Career

Miranda reached her peak point of fame in the early 1940s. She arrived in the United States in 1939 and had become the country's highest-paid entertainer by 1943. According to TV's The Biography Channel, Miranda was the highest paid woman in the United States in 1945, earning more than $ 200,000 that year. Her nickname, "The Brazilian Bombshell", captured her true spirit and the heart of her Latin culture. Miranda's Hollywood debut was Down Argentine Way where she had the chance to work with Betty Grable. Her last Hollywood movie was in 1953 in Scared Stiff with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.

Related Topics:
1940s - 1939 - 1943 - United States - 1945 - Nickname - Latin - Hollywood - Down Argentine Way - Betty Grable - 1953 - Scared Stiff - Jerry Lewis - Dean Martin

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Miranda was born in the small northern Portuguese town of Marco de Canaveses and went to school at the Convent of Saint Teresinha. Her very Catholic parents did not approve of her dreams of pursuing show business, so she hid it from them best she could. In her spare time, she often sang at parties and festivals around the town where she was discovered and received the chance to perform on a local radio station.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Radio

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She was noted as a musical innovator in Brazil, one of the first samba superstars long before her arrival in the US. However, her roles in US movies featured her as a stylized comic "South American" singer and she was often shown wearing platform sandals and towering headdresses made of fruit, becoming known as "the lady in the tutti-frutti hat." At only 5'3"/160cm, these accoutrements made her appear almost larger than life on screen. This image was much satirized and taken up as camp, even in animated cartoon shorts. The animation department at Warner Brothers seemed to be especially fond of the actress's image. Animator Virgil Ross used the image in "Tropical Hare" with Bugs Bunny who, appropriately enough, made his entrance as a stowaway in the fruit hat. Today, the "Carmen Miranda" persona is a popular turn (or performance) for female impersonation and drag performance.

Related Topics:
Camp - Warner Brothers - Virgil Ross - Bugs Bunny - Female impersonation - Drag performance

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She was well aware of the tensions in her career. Her song, "Bananas Is My Business," was based on a line in one of her movies and directly addressed her image. A sour welcome back to Brazil in 1940 resulted in a response in Portuguese in a song called "Disseram Que Eu Voltei Americanizada," or "They Say I've Become Americanized." Helena Solberg made a documentary of her life, Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business in 1995.

Related Topics:
1940 - Portuguese - Helena Solberg - 1995

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Carmen Miranda, who neither drank nor smoked, died of a heart attack one day after an appearance on The Jimmy Durante Show. Although she was mildly addicted to prescription medications, she did not use cocaine nor carry the drug in her platform shoes as documented in the controversial book, "Hollywood Babylon". Her body was flown back to Brazil soon afterwards and the government declared a period of national mourning. She was interred in the Cemitério São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro.

Related Topics:
The Jimmy Durante Show - Cocaine - "Hollywood Babylon" - Cemitério São João Batista - Rio de Janeiro

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Her personal physician Dr. M. Barryman, who would later sign her death certificate, was the father of actor Michael Barryman.

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