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 Being
Honored by the entertainment industry with an Academy Award,
two Grammy's, a Golden Globe, plus a nod from fans via a People's
Choice won all within the same year might, for some, be considered
the pinnacle of a performer's career. For actress/dancer/singer/songwriter
Irene Cara, who garnered all of these awards for co-writing
and performing What a Feeling, the title song from the motion
picture blockbuster Flashdance, it simply serves as an auspicious
beginning to the productive years ahead.
First captivating audiences, specifically her family, sometime
after her fifth birthday playing piano by ear, Irene soon
moved into serious studies of music, acting, and dance. She
began performing professionally embarking on an impressive
stage debut in Maggie Flynn, a Jack Cassidy-Shirley Jones
Broadway musical. Her first national TV series was by way
of a year's stint on the Electric Company, playing a member
of the rock group, The Short Circus delivering musical grammar
lessons through the educational program.The series starred
Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and a very young Morgan Freeman.
Ms. Cara had already recorded her first record in Spanish
for the Latin Market by age 8 and a Christmas LP in English
soon after.
By the time she was 10, she had starred on and off Broadway,
she had appeared in a major concert tribute to Duke Ellington
with Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr. and Roberta Flack.
As a pre-teenager, she starred in the title role of her debut
motion picture Aaron Loves Angela which lead to the title
role in the cult-classic musical drama Sparkle.
Ms. Cara is one of the select group of mega-talented performers
who have successfully made the transition from theater-to
television, -to records, -to feature films, having combined
the latter with a recording career. Television brought Irene
international acclaim for serious dramatic roles in two outstanding
mini series, Roots: The Next Generation, the critically acclaimed
adaptation of Alex Haley's moving novel and The Guyanna Tragedy:
The Story of Jim Jones.
However, it was the box office smash Fame, in 1980, which
catapulted Irene to stardom. As Coco Hernandez she sang both
the title song Fame and the film's second hit single Out Here
On My Own, resulting in a multi-platinum soundtrack that shot
to the top of the charts. She went on to make Academy Award
history that year when, for the first time, two songs from
one film were nominated in the same category. Additionally,
Irene is the only performer ever to sing two Academy Award
nominated songs, Fame and Out Here On My Own in one evening.
It would be Fame that would go on to win the coveted award
that year.
Fame's impact, provided largely by Ms. Cara, brought her 1980
Grammy nominations for "Best New Female Artist"
and "Best New Pop Artist," as well as a Golden Globe
nomination for "Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical."
Billboard Magazine named Irene "Top New Single Artist,"
while Cashbox awarded her both "Most Promising Female
Vocalist" and "Top Female Vocalist."
In 1982 she received the Image Award for Best Actress when
she co-starred with Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash in the
NBC Movie of the Week, Sisters. Further demonstrating her
diversity, Irene portrayed Myrlie Evers in the PBS movie about
Civil Rights Leader Medger Evers.The film called For Us the
Living, cast Irene opposite Howard Rollins of A Soldier's
Story fame.
In 1983, for her success with Flashdance, She was presented
with five major awards, including "Top Female Vocalist-Pop
Singles,""Black Contemporary Female Vocalist-Pop
Singles,""Top Pop Crossover Artist-Black Contemporary
Singles," and "Pop Single of the Year." As
a songwriter Irene's talent earned her an Academy Award, two
Grammy's, a Golden Globe and a People's Choice Award for Flashdance…What
a Feeling.
In 1885 she starred opposite Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds
and Richard Roundtree in the Warner Brothers gangster comedy
City Heat in which Irene played a speak easy night club singer.
Ms. Cara co-wrote the movie's theme song sung by the legendary
jazz vocalist Joe Williams.
She has toured throughout Asia and Europe and made major appearances
in Atlantic City and on all the top television shows in Europe,
Latin America and Japan. She is currently working on a new
cd with an all female band of the most talented musicans very
aptley called Hot Caramel. Recently, she has enjoyed a top
five hit duet throughout Europe with the Swiss/German Star
DJ Bobo.She has also written her first screen play entitled
A Waltz with Destiny, a dramatic musical film of which she
has also composed the music.
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