Irene Cara: Oscar-Winning Singer and Actress, Dies at 63
The ‘Fame’ and ‘Sparkle’ actress won an Oscar in 1984 for her hit “What a Feeling” from the movie Flashdance.
Irene Cara, the actress and pop star who won an Oscar and a Grammy for the hit “What A Feeling” from Flashdance and created her own memorable screen moments with films such as Sparkle and Fame, has died, according to her rep. She was 63.
Cara died in her Florida home, according to Judith Moore, who posted the death on Twitter on Friday night. Moore said on Saturday that a cause of death has not yet been determined.
Cara was the unusual performer who was able to attain chart-topping pop success while also shining as an actress. She won her Oscar for the 1983 hit “What a Feeling” and also sang the title track for the seminal 1980 movie Fame.
Cara first rose to fame when she was cast in the 1980 musical Fame, which she sang the title track for and starred in as Coco Hernandez.
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Cara later sang and co-wrote “Flashdance… What A Feeling” for the soundtrack of the 1983 blockbuster Flashdance, with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.
“Flashdance… What A Feeling” earned the star two wins at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards in 1984 — best pop vocal performance, female, and best album of original score written for a motion picture or a television special — and an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 1983 Oscars.
Getty /Bob Riha, Jr.
In a later statement, Cara’s rep confirmed that she and the star’s business manager were notified of Cara’s death late Friday evening. “Believe me, I wish it weren’t true,” she wrote.
She added that the pair are now “working on amazing projects that would have made her and her fans incredibly happy. Her manager and I will finish them. She’d want that.”
