Her father did not approve of Miranda's plans to enter show business her mother supported her, despite being beaten when her father discovered that his daughter had auditioned for a radio show (she had sung at parties and festivals in Rio). She was educated at the Convent of Saint Therese of Lisieux. This passion for opera influenced his children, and Miranda's love for singing and dancing, at an early age. She was christened Carmen by her father because of his love for Bizet's Carmen. Although Carmen never returned to Portugal, she retained her Portuguese nationality. Her mother followed in 1910 with their daughters, Olinda (1907–1931) and Carmen, who was less than a year old. In 1909, her father emigrated to Brazil and settled in Rio de Janeiro, where he opened a barber shop. The family's emigration to Brazil was already scheduled however, upon finding herself pregnant, Carmen Miranda's mother preferred to wait for her daughter's birth. She was the second daughter of José Maria Pinto da Cunha (17 February 1887 – 21 June 1938) and Maria Emília Miranda (10 March 1886, Rio de Janeiro – 9 November 1971). Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha in Várzea da Ovelha e Aliviada, a village in the northern Portuguese municipality of Marco de Canaveses. Įarly life Travessa do Comércio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Miranda lived at number 13 when she was young. A museum was built in Rio de Janeiro in her honor and she was the subject of the documentary Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business (1995). Miranda is considered the precursor of Brazil's 1960s Tropicalismo cultural movement. In 1941, she was the first Latin American star to be invited to leave her hand and footprints in the courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theatre and was the first South American honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Despite being stereotyped, Miranda's performances popularized Brazilian music and increased public awareness of Latin culture. She focused on nightclub appearances and became a fixture on television variety shows. Miranda came to resent the stereotypical "Brazilian Bombshell" image she had cultivated and attempted to free herself of it with limited success. Although she was hailed as a talented performer, her popularity waned by the end of World War II. Miranda made fourteen Hollywood films between 19. By 1945, she was the highest-paid woman in the United States. In 1943, Miranda starred in Busby Berkeley's The Gang's All Here, which featured musical numbers with the fruit hats that became her trademark. That year, she was voted the third-most-popular personality in the United States she and her group, Bando da Lua, were invited to sing and dance for President Franklin D. The following year she made her first Hollywood film, Down Argentine Way with Don Ameche and Betty Grable and her exotic clothing and Lusophone accent became her trademark. In 1939, Broadway producer Lee Shubert offered Miranda an eight-week contract to perform in The Streets of Paris after seeing her at Cassino da Urca in Rio de Janeiro. The 1939 musical Banana da Terra (directed by Ruy Costa) gave the world her "Baiana" image, inspired by Afro-Brazilians from the north-eastern state of Bahia. Hello, Hello Brazil! and Hello, Hello, Carnival! embodied the spirit of these early Miranda films. Miranda's 1930 recording of "Taí (Pra Você Gostar de Mim)", written by Joubert de Carvalho, catapulted her to stardom in Brazil as the foremost interpreter of samba.ĭuring the 1930s, Miranda performed on Brazilian radio and appeared in five Brazilian chanchadas, films celebrating Brazilian music, dance and the country's carnival culture. As a young woman, she designed hats in a boutique before making her first recordings with composer Josué de Barros in 1929. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", she was known for her signature fruit hat outfit that she wore in her American films. Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha GCIH, OMC (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally as Carmen Miranda ( Portuguese pronunciation: ), was a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer, dancer and actress.
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