Carmen Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, 9 February 1909, near Porto, Portugal, in the town of Marco de Canavezes. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Brazil, where her father was involved in the produce business. The family settled in the then capital city of Rio de Janeiro. After leaving school, Carmen got a job at a local store, often began singing on the job. Before long she was discovered and got a singing job on a local radio station. She ultimately got a recording contract with RCA. By 1928 she was a genuine superstar in Brazil. As with other popular singers of the era, she eventually made her way into the film world. She made her debut in the Brazilian documentary A Voz do Carnaval (1933). Two years later she appeared in her first feature film, Alô, Alô, Brasil (1935). However. it was Estudantes (1935) that seemed to solidify Carmen in the minds of the Brazilian movie audiences. Now they realized she could act as well as sing. Although there was three years between “Alo, Alo Carnaval” and Banana-da-Terra (1939), Carmen continued to churn out musical hits in Brazil. The latter film would be the last in her home country. In late 1939 Carmen arrived, with much fanfare in the press, in New York City. She was now ready to capture Americans’ hearts with her talent. She appeared in some musical revues on Broadway and, just as everyone thought, was a huge hit. In 1940 Carmen was signed to appear in the 20th Century-Fox production Down Argentine Way (1940), with Betty Grable and Don Ameche. The only complaint that critics had was the fact that Carmen was not on the screen enough. In 1941 she was, again, teamed with Ameche in addition to Alice Faye in That Night in Rio (1941). The film was extremely popular with the theater patrons. Her unique songs went a long way in making her popular. It was after Week-End in Havana (1941) that American cartoon artists began to cash in on Carmen’s ever-growing popularity. In the 1930s and 1940s cartoons were sometimes shown as a prelude to whatever feature film was showing. Sure enough, the cartoon version of Carmen came wriggling across the screen, complete with her trademark fruit hat and wide, toothy grin. In 1942 Carmen starred in Springtime in the Rockies (1942) with Betty Grable and Cesar Romero, both of whom she had worked with before. It was shortly after this that America began adopting her style of dress as the latest fad. 1944 saw her in three films: Something for the Boys (1944), Four Jills in a Jeep (1944) and Greenwich Village (1944). The first two did well at the box-office, but the last one left a lot to be desired. It was her last busy year in film. Carmen made one film each year 1945 through 1948. After that she didn’t make a film for two years, until Nancy Goes to Rio (1950), a production for MGM. Once again didn’t make a film for several years, returning with Scared Stiff (1953). She did stay busy, singing on the nightclub circuit and appearing on the relatively new medium of television. ‘Scared Stiff’ was her final movie performance. On 4 August 1955, she unknowingly suffered a heart attack during a live broadcast of The Jimmy Durante Show. She went home to Beverly Hills after attending a party (she neither drank nor smoked). On 5 August, Carmen suffered a fatal heart attack. She was just 46 years old.
Carmen Miranda Biography / Wiki
Name | Carmen Miranda |
Also Know | Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha |
Gender | Female |
Known For | Acting |
Place of Birth | Marco de Canaveses, Portugal |
Date of Birth | 1909-02-09 |
Age(as in 2022) | 46 |
Deathday | 1955-08-05 |
Carmen Miranda Acting Movies
Movie Name | Character | Release Date | Overview |
Something for the Boys | Chiquita Hart | 1944-11-01 | The oddly-assorted Hart cousins: revue singer Blossom, con man Harry, and machinist Chiquita (who gets radio through her teeth!), inherit southern pla… |
Greenwich Village | Princess Querida O’Toole | 1944-09-27 | In 1922, a would-be classical composer gets involved with people putting on a musical revue…. |
Banana-da-Terra | 1939-02-10 | 1939 Brazilian musical comedy…. | |
Carmen Miranda | Herself | 1969-01-01 | … |
A Embaixatriz do Samba | Herself | 1991-01-01 | … |
Salsa | 1976-08-18 | Documentary about Salsa music with interviews with major Latin stars… | |
Estudantes | Mimi | 1935-07-08 | Plot unknown…. |
Degraus da Vida | 1930-01-01 | Plot unknown…. | |
Rio 50 Degrees: Carry on CaRIOca | Self (archive footage) | 2014-08-21 | A look at Rio’s cultural, political and technical revolutions since the 1970s to 2011… |
Copacabana | Carmen Novarro / Mlle. Fifi | 1947-05-30 | A talent agent sells his girlfriend to a nightclub — as two separate acts. The deception and constant costume changes are too much for his girl…. |
The Gang’s All Here | Dorita | 1943-12-24 | A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific…. |
Week-End in Havana | Rosita Rivas | 1941-10-17 | A ship company employee, Jay Williams, is sent to Florida where one of the company cruise ships is stuck on a reef off of the coast. He obtains waiver… |
Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business | Herself (archive footage) | 1995-04-13 | A biography of the Portuguese-Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda, whose most distinctive feature was her tutti-frutti hat. From her arrival in the US as … |
That Night in Rio | Carmen | 1941-04-11 | An entertainer in Rio impersonates a wealthy aristocrat. When the aristocrat’s wife asks him to carry the impersonation further, complications ensue…. |
Springtime in the Rockies | Rosita Murphy | 1942-11-06 | Broadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy’s womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner… |
Down Argentine Way | Herself | 1940-10-11 | The story—in which an American heiress on holiday in South America falls in love with an Argentine horse breeder against the wishes of their familie… |
Alô Alô Carnaval | 1936-01-01 | Two authors go look for a business to finance their dream musical…. | |
Scared Stiff | Carmelita Castinha | 1953-04-27 | A nightclub singer and his partner escape mobsters by fleeing to Cuba with a beautiful heiress, who has inherited a haunted castle on an isolated isla… |
A Date with Judy | Rosita Cochellas | 1948-07-29 | Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy’s relationship w… |
Nancy Goes to Rio | Marina Rodrigues | 1950-03-10 | Mother and daughter compete over same singing role and, unbeknownst to each other, the same man…. |
Doll Face | Chita Chula | 1945-12-31 | Burlesque queen Doll Face Carroll is dismissed from an audition for a legitimate Broadway show because she lacks culture. Her boss/manager Mike decide… |
If I’m Lucky | Michelle O’Toole | 1946-09-02 | Out of work swing band maneuvers a gig working for a political campaign, by drawing in and entertaining prospective voters at rallies. The candidate i… |
Tudo é Brasil | Herself (archive footage) | 1997-09-18 | A film essay about Brazil discovered through Orson Welles’ eyes during the shooting of It’s All True…. |
Hello, Hello, Brazil! | Themself | 1935-01-12 | A man is looking for a radio singer named “Dulcineia.” For this, he goes through the biggest hassles and problems. The plot, in fact, is an excuse for… |
Garoto – Vivo Sonhando | Self (archive footage) | 2020-09-10 | A prodigy of stringed instruments, a pioneer of Bossa Nova, a modernizing master of the guitar: AnÃbal Augusto Sardinha, better known as Garoto (1915… |
It’s All True | Herself | 1993-10-17 | A documentary about Orson Welles’s unfinished three-part film about South America…. |
Four Jills in a Jeep | Carmen Miranda | 1944-03-17 | Reenactments of actual USO experiences of its female stars entertaining troops overseas…. |
The All-Star Bond Rally | 1945-05-10 | Inspirational documentary short film featuring Hollywood stars promoting the sales of War Bonds through songs and skits…. | |
Dê Lembranças a Todos | 2018-07-01 | Dorival Caymmi was one of the inventors of the Bahian imagination. In his 94 years of life, Caymmi composed, sang, wrote, illustrated and thought abou… | |
Mulheres de Cinema | 1978-06-06 | Documentary on famous Brazilian actresses, female directors and the role of women in Brazilian film history…. | |
CELEBRAÇÃO – 100 ANOS DO CINEMA NACIONAL | 1997-01-01 | “Portraits and excerpts from Brazilian films from all times. Actors, directors and images that affirm cinema.”… | |
Showbiz Goes to War | Archive Footage | 1982-12-31 | While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the A… |
That’s Entertainment! III | (archive footage) | 1994-07-01 | Some of MGM’S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to G… |
That’s Entertainment! | (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1974-06-21 | Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio’s 50 year history…. |
Credit: TMDB
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