To quote a legendary lyric from her most famous anthem: “I’m gonna live forever — baby, remember my name.”
Irene Cara, the iconic ’80s singer and actress best known for massive soundtrack hits to the films “Flashdance” and “Fame,” has died. She was 63.
The native New Yorker’s publicist announced Cara’s death Saturday morning, saying in a statement she died in her Florida home. The cause of death is unknown and will be released “when more information is available,” the spokeswoman added.
“She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films,” the statement from rep Judith Moore read. “This is the absolute worst part of being a publicist. I can’t believe I’ve had to write this, let alone release the news.”
She was born Irene Cara Escalera in the Bronx on March 18, 1959, to a Puerto Rican father and Cuban-American mother.
“I don’t mean to sound immodest — but I’d never had any doubt that I’d be successful, nor any fear of success,” the singer-songwriter-actress told Cosmopolitan magazine in 1985. “I was raised as a little goddess who was told she would be a star.”
Cara’s top hits were “Fame” in 1980 and 1983’s “Flashdance … What a Feeling,” the latter of which she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
“Flashdance” star Jennifer Beals was among the first of Cara’s colleagues to pay tribute to her talent: “Thank you brilliant Irene for your open heart and your fearless triple threat talent,” Beals, 58, posted to Instagram. “It took a beautiful dreamer to write and perform the soundtracks for those who dare to dream.“
Besides singing the title track in “Fame,” Cara starred in the role of Coco Hernandez, and the song helped make the film’s soundtrack a multi-platinum album. She was nominated for two Grammys following “Fame,” for Best Female Pop Vocal Artist and Best New Artist.
“Fame” co-star and famed choreographer Debbie Allen, 72, also paid homage: “My Heart is Broken. 💔 #IreneCara was such a gifted and beautiful genius. Her talent and her music will LIVE FOREVER! FOREVER REMEMBER HER NAME! #FAME 😢❤️”
Funeral services are pending, and the memorial for her fans will be planned at a future date.
In announcing the death, Moore added a message on Cara’s Twitter page Saturday saying: “Please share your thoughts and memories of Irene. I’ll be reading each and every one of them and know she’ll be smiling from Heaven. She adored her fans.”
Cara launched her career as a child star in the Little Miss America Pageant, followed by a breakout appearance as an 8-year-old on “Ted Mack Amateur Hour.” Continuing her studies in piano and dance, she regularly appeared as a singer-dancer on Spanish-language TV variety shows.
But don’t let those pageant roots fool you, she warned.
“I didn’t get where I am because of looks,” she told Ebony magazine in 1981. “I’ve done it on talent. I’ve never had to depend on my looks for anything. I haven’t sat around and tried to look pretty — I’ve worked my butt off!”
Cara graduated on to the major TV networks with appearances on “The Original Amateur Hour,” “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”
She appeared from 1971-72 on “The Electric Company,” the iconic PBS children’s educational show, where she participated as a member of the group “The Short Circus,” teaching children about grammar through music with A-list co-stars Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman.
Among her many early stage appearances were roles in Broadway’s “Maggie Flynn” (1968) with Shirley Jones, the Obie Award-winning musical “The Me Nobody Knows” (1970), “Via Galactica” (1972) with Raul Julia, and the original 1978 cabaret show of “Ain’t Misbehavin,’ ” with Nell Carter and “Hadestown” Tony winner André DeShields.
In 1975, Cara made her leading lady film debut in “Aaron Loves Angela,” an inner-city redux of “Romeo and Juliet,” followed by a starring role in 1976’s cult classic girl-group drama “Sparkle,” featuring a soundtrack of iconic Curtis Mayfield tracks.
She followed her early star-making roles with supporting appearances in acclaimed TV productions such as “Roots: The Next Generations” in 1979 and “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones” in 1980.
Cara’s acting career floundered after 1984’s “City Heat” with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds and was marked by subpar roles in by B-movies such as 1985’s “Certain Fury” opposite Oscar winner Tatum O’Neal and the 1989 women-behind-bars exploitation drama “Caged in Paradiso.”
In recent years she wowed audiences with a series of nostalgic reality TV singing appearances as she attempted to launch a new musical group named Hot Caramel.
Cara is reportedly survived by multiple family members, who have “requested privacy as they process their grief” at this time, according to her reps.
However, the artist herself was known for cherishing her devoted fanbase over her five-decade-plus career: “It’s important for me to get back to my fans here and around the world,” she told Star magazine during one stalled comeback attempt in 1993. “I feel very, very blessed that so many people have continued to write me and to pour out their love for me and my work.”