Carmen Miranda
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Carmen Miranda (born February 9, 1909 in Marco de Canaveses , Portugal , † August 5, 1955 in Beverly Hills , USA ), actually Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha , was a Portuguese - Brazilian singer and actress . She made her Tutti-Frutti Hat ( Tutti-Frutti Hat ) world famous. Maria received her nickname Carmen after the main character of the same name from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen .
Life
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Carmen Miranda was born in Portugal, the second of six children of José Maria Pinto da Cunha, but the family moved to Brazil before Carmen was two years old and settled in Rio de Janeiro . At the age of fifteen she started working as a hat maker in a fashion store . Soon afterwards, she successfully started her own business with her acquired knowledge in this area.
In 1926 she made her first experiences as an actress in small roles, sang for the first time on the radio in 1928 and recorded her first record in 1929 with the Samba Samba nicht vá sim'bora and the Choro Se o samba é moda . Her successful career in Brazil began in the 1930s with the composition Taí by Joubert de Carvalho . She sang the most famous compositions of her time by Assis Valente and Ary Barroso , accompanied by the Bando da Lua group . She had her first short film appearance in 1933 as a Carneval singer in the musical A Voz do Carnaval by Adhemar Gonzaga and Humberto Mauro . Many concerts, recordings and film roles followed, such as in 1939 in Banana da Terra , in which she wore her famous Baiana costume and the composition O que é que a baiana tem? made known. When performing, she sometimes wore heels 18 cm high.
In 1939 she went to the United States to give a guest appearance on Broadway . At that time, South American rhythms were popular and band leaders like Xavier Cugat enjoyed great success. Miranda won audiences with her own style of interpretation in the Revue Streets of Paris and at the height of her success 20th Century Fox gave her a contract as an actress. Her first film appearance in Galopp ins Glück , in which she had a relatively short revue number, made Miranda a popular actress in musicals . Mostly she was used as a spirited South American and her headdress made of fruit earned her the title The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat . She usually appeared next to stars like Betty Grable or Alice Faye and often stole the show from the established stars with her over-the-top performance, which is why she was also known as the Brazilian Bombshell . She had the climax of her career in 1943 in The Gang's All Here , which contains one of the most bizarre choreographies by Busby Berkeley ever. In 1946 she was considered one of the best-paid actresses in Hollywood. With the end of the war, Miranda's career quickly ended. She also worked alongside Elizabeth Taylor in Eddy for Judy and ended her film career in the early 1950s on the side of the comedian duo Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in Starr von Angst . Miranda, who married David Alfred Sebastian in 1947, concentrated in the following years on appearances in various countries around the world without ever having given a concert in her home country Portugal.
On August 4, 1955, Carmen Miranda suffered a minor heart attack during an episode of the Jimmy Durante Show . She finished the show but died of a second heart attack the next morning. Carmen Miranda was buried in the São João Batista Cemetery in Rio de Janeiro. Her entire estate was bequeathed to the Museu Carmen Miranda in Rio de Janeiro, which opened in 1976. Her voice, stage presence and exotic costumes quickly made her a myth. The award-winning documentary Bananas Is My Business by Helena Solberg gives an insight into her life.
In 1998, 43 years after Miranda's death, the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive was renamed Carmen-Miranda-Platz.
Carmen Miranda had a sister six years her junior, Aurora Miranda , who was also a singer and actress. She was best known in South America, but also appeared in the Walt Disney film Three Caballeros as a Brazilian singer from Salvador / Bahia .
Filmography
- 1933: A Voz do Carnaval
- 1935: Alô, Alô, Brasil
- 1935: Estudantes
- 1936: Alô, Alô, Carnaval
- 1939: Banana da Terra
- 1940: Laranja da China
- 1940: Gallop into Luck ( Down Argentine Way )
- 1940: Carioca / One Night in Rio ( That Night in Rio )
- 1941: Week-End in Havana
- 1942: Frühlingsrausch ( Springtime in the Rockies )
- 1943: The Gang's All Here
- 1944: Greenwich Village
- 1944: Something for the Boys
- 1945: Doll Face
- 1946: If I'm Lucky
- 1947: Copacabana
- 1948: Whirlwind about Judy / Rendezvous with Judith ( A Date with Judy )
- 1950: Nancy goes to Rio ( Nancy Goes to Rio )
- 1953: Frozen in Fear ( Scared Stiff )
Selection of known interpretations
- 2 × 2
- Adeus batucada
- Alô ... alô?
- Boneca de Piche
- Camisa listada
- Chegou a hora da fogueira
- Como vaes você
- Disseram que eu voltei americanizada
- E o mundo not se acabou
- Eu também
- Fez bobagem
- Mamãe eu quero
- Maria boa
- Me dá ... me dá
- Moleque indigesto
- Well batucada da vida
- O que é que a baiana tem?
- Samba rasgado
- South American Way
- Taí (Ta-hí)
- Tico-Tico no Fubá
- Uva de caminhão
- Voltei per morro
Web links
- Carmen Miranda on MusicaPopular.org
- Carmen Miranda in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Museu Virtual Carmen Miranda
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Miranda, Carmen |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Carmo Miranda da Cunha, Maria do (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Brazilian singer and actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 9, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Marco de Canaveses , Portugal |
| DATE OF DEATH | 5th August 1955 |
| Place of death | Beverly Hills |