Carmen Miranda Bio, Age, Cause of Death, Education, Parents, Net Worth, Siblings, Career
Carmen Miranda Biography
Carmen Miranda was a Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress, and film star of Portuguese origin who rose to prominence in the 1930s. Miranda is known as “The Brazilian Bombshell” because of her trademark fruit hats, which she wore in her American films.
As a young lady, she worked as a hat designer in a store before making her debut recordings with composer Josué de Barros in 1929. Miranda’s 1930 performance of Joubert de Carvalho’s “Ta (Pra Você Gostar de Mim)” catapulted her to fame in Brazil as the best samba interpreter.
Carmen Miranda Age
Miranda was 46 years old at the time of her death. She was born on 9 February 1909 in Marco de Canaveses, Portugal.
Carmen Miranda Cause of Death
Miranda died on August 5, 1955, in Beverly Hills, California. She died of a fatal heart attack after returning home from work.
Carmen Miranda Family and Parents
Miranda was born to José Maria Pinto da Cunha and Maria Emlia Miranda in Várzea da Ovelha e Aliviada. Her family relocated to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where his father established a barbershop. Carmen’s father was not supportive of her showbiz career, but her mother was. Her father died on the 21st of June, 1938, and her mother died on the 9th of November, 1971.
Carmen Miranda Siblings
Miranda grew up with her siblings Aurora Miranda, Olinda Miranda, Cecilia Miranda de Carvalho, Cecilia Miranda, Oscar Miranda, and Amaro Miranda.
Carmen Miranda Education
Miranda studied at Convent of Saint Therese of Lisieux.
Carmen Miranda Death
Miranda had performed at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas three months before her death in April 1955, before retiring to Los Angeles. She was suffering from a recurring bronchial ailment at the time. She was filming a segment for the NBC variety show The Jimmy Durante Show on the day she died.
She complained about feeling ill before filming, but she was able to finish the show. After filming, she hosted a small party for some of her friends and cast members. She went upstairs, undressed, and smoked a cigarette. She later collapsed and died as a result of a heart attack.
Carmen Miranda Husband and Married
Miranda was married to David Alfred Sebastian. Miranda and her husband were married on March 17, 1947, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills. Patrick J. Concannon officiated at their wedding.
They split up briefly in September 1949 but reconciled months later. Before moving to the United States, she dated Mario Cunha, Carlos da Rocha Faria, and Alosio de Oliveira.
During her time in the United States, she dated John Payne, Arturo de Córdova, Dana Andrews, Harold Young, John Wayne, Donald Buka, and Carlos Niemeyer.
Carmen Miranda Net Worth
Miranda has an estimated net worth of $47 million as an actress and singer.
Carmen Miranda Fruit Hat
A fruit hat is a festive and colorful hat style popularized by Carmen Miranda and associated with tropical locations. Fashionistas, movie characters, comic strip characters, and Halloween characters have all donned this style of hat.
Carmen Miranda Career
Miranda performed on Brazilian radio throughout the 1930s and appeared in five Brazilian chanchadas or films that celebrated Brazilian song, dance, and carnival culture. Hello, Hello, Brazil! and Hello, Hello, Carnival! encapsulated Miranda’s early work. Her “Baiana” persona, which was influenced by Afro-Brazilians from the northeastern state of Bahia, was introduced to the world in the 1939 musical Banana da Terra (directed by Ruy Costa).
In 1939, after seeing Miranda perform at Cassino da Urca in Rio de Janeiro, Broadway producer Lee Shubert offered her an eight-week contract to play in The Streets of Paris. The following year, she starred in her first Hollywood film, Down Argentine Way, alongside Don Ameche and Betty Grable, and her exotic attire and Lusophone accent became her trademark.
That year, she was named the third most popular person in the United States, and she and her band, Bando da Lua, were invited to sing and dance for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Miranda made an appearance in Busby Berkeley’s The Gang’s All Here in 1943, which featured musical sequences with her trademark fruit hats.
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Miranda appeared in fourteen Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953. Despite being praised as a gifted musician, her fame had faded by the end of World War II. Miranda grew to despise the traditional “Brazilian Bombshell” image she had cultivated and attempted, with limited success, to break free from it.
She mostly performed in nightclubs and eventually became a regular on television variety shows. Miranda’s performances, while stereotypical, promoted Brazilian music and increased public awareness of Latin culture. In 1941, she was the first Latin American celebrity to be asked to leave her hand and footprints in the courtyard of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and she was the first South American to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Miranda is regarded as a forerunner of the 1960s Tropicalismo cultural movement in Brazil. A museum was built in her honor in Rio de Janeiro, and she was the subject of the documentary Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business (1995).
Miranda Short Bio
- Full name: Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha
- Age: 46 years old
- Date of Birth: 9 February 1909
- Date of Death: 5 August 1955
- Parents: José Maria Pinto da Cunha and Maria Emília Miranda
- Siblings: To be updated
- Husband: To be updated
- Children: Aurora Miranda, Olinda Miranda, Cecilia Miranda de Carvalho, Cecilia Miranda, Oscar Miranda, and Amaro Miranda
- Education: Convent of Saint Therese of Lisieux
- Occupation: Singer, dancer, actress
- Net Worth: $47 million
