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Events[link]

• February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York
• May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of year.
• 1983 was a landmark year in film. More films have gotten an R rating than any other year thus far.

Top grossing films (U.S.)[link]

source: http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1983&p=.htm

Awards[link]

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Terms of Endearment

Best Director: James L. Brooks - Terms of Endearment

Best Actor: Robert Duvall - Tender Mercies

Best Actress: Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment

Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson - Terms of Endearment

Best Supporting Actress: Linda Hunt - The Year of Living Dangerously

Best Foreign Language Film: Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander), directed by Ingmar Bergman, Sweden

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Terms of Endearment

Best Actor (tie): Tom Courtenay - The Dresser

Best Actor (tie): Robert Duvall - Tender Mercies

Best Actress: Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Yentl

Best Actor: Michael Caine - Educating Rita

Best Actress: Julie Walters - Educating Rita

Other

Best Director: Barbra Streisand - Yentl

Best Foreign Language Film: Fanny and Alexander, Sweden

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考, Narayama bushiko), directed by Shohei Imamura, Japan

Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival):

Prénom Carmen (First Name: Carmen), directed by Jean-Luc Godard,

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

Ascendancy, directed by Edward Bennett, United Kingdom

The Beehive (La Colmena), directed by Mario Camus, Spain

Films released in 1983[link]

U.S.A. unless stated

A

• A Nos Amours (To Our Love), starring Sandrine Bonnaire - (France)
• Adi Shankaracharya, starring Sarvadaman Banerjee - (India)
• All the Right Moves, starring Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson
• Americana, directed by and starring David Carradine
• And the Ship Sails On (E la nave va), directed by Federico Fellini - (Italy)
• Another Time, Another Place, starring Phyllis Logan - (U.K.)
• Ardh Satya (Half Truth), directed by Govind Nihalani, Silver Lotus Award for best Indian Actor Om Puri - (India)
• L'Argent, directed by Robert Bresson - (France)
• The Atlantis Interceptors (I predatori di Atlantide) - (Italy)
• Avtaar, directed by Mohan Kumar - (India)

B

• BMX Bandits, starring Nicole Kidman - (Australia)
• Baby It's You, directed by John Sayles, starring Rosanna Arquette and Vincent Spano
• Bad Boys, starring Sean Penn, Esai Morales, Ally Sheedy, Clancy Brown
• Le Bal (The Ball), directed by Ettore Scola - (Italy/France)
• Balkan Express - (Yugoslavia)
• The Ballad of Narayama (Narayama bushiko), directed by Shohei Imamura (remake of the 1958 film) - (Japan) - Palme d'Or award
• Barefoot Gen (Hadashi no gen) - (Japan)
• La Bestia y la Espada Magica (The Beast and the Magic Sword) - (Spain/Japan)
• Betrayal, starring Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley - (U.K.)
• The Big Chill, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams
• Bill Cosby: Himself, a stand-up comedy performance
• Bloodbath at the House of Death, starring Kenny Everett - (U.K.)
• Blue Thunder, directed by John Badham, starring Roy Scheider, Daniel Stern, Malcolm McDowell
• Born in Flames, a documentary film by Lizzie Borden
• Brainstorm, starring Christopher Walken and, in her final film, Natalie Wood
• Breathless, directed by Jim McBride, starring Richard Gere
• Bush Christmas, debut of Nicole Kidman - (Australia)

C

• Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?, starring Karen Black
• Careful, He Might Hear You - (Australia)
• Carmen, directed by Carlos Saura - (Spain)
• Christine, directed by John Carpenter, starring Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton, Kelly Preston
• A Christmas Story, starring Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon
• City of Pirates (La Ville des pirates) - (France)
• Class, starring Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Jacqueline Bisset, Cliff Robertson
• Confidentially Yours (Vivement Dimanche), directed by François Truffaut, starring Fanny Ardant and Jean-Louis Trintignant - (France)
• Cracking Up, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis
• The Crimson Permanent Assurance, a Monty Python's short film directed by Terry Gilliam - (U.K.)
• Cross Creek, starring Mary Steenburgen, Peter Coyote, Rip Torn, Alfre Woodard
• Curse of the Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards - (U.K.)
• Cujo, starring Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro

D

• D.C. Cab, starring Adam Baldwin, Mr. T, Gary Busey
• Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island
• Danton, directed by Andrzej Wajda, starring Gérard Depardieu - (France/Poland/West Germany)
• Dark Habits (Entre tinieblas), directed by Pedro Almodóvar - (Spain)
• The Day After (made for television), starring Jason Robards, Steve Guttenberg, JoBeth Williams, John Lithgow
• The Dead Zone, directed by David Cronenberg, starring Christopher Walken
• Deadly Run (Mortelle randonnee), starring Michel Serrault and Isabelle Adjani - (France)
• Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle), directed by Luc Besson - (France)
• The Dresser, directed by Peter Yates, starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay - (U.K.)
• Duvar - (Turkey)

E

• Easy Money, starring Rodney Dangerfield, Joe Pesci, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jennifer Jason Leigh
• Eddie and the Cruisers, starring Michael Pare and Tom Berenger
• Eddie Macon's Run, starring Kirk Douglas and John Schneider
• Educating Rita, directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters - (U.K.)
• El Norte - (U.K./U.S.A.)
• Entre Nous (Between Us), starring Miou-Miou and Isabelle Huppert - (France)
• Eréndira, starring Irene Papas - (Mexico)
• Eureka, directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring Gene Hackman, Rutger Hauer, Mickey Rourke

F

• The Family Game (家族ゲーム), directed by Yoshimitsu Morita - (Japan)
• Flashdance, directed by Adrian Lyne, starring Jennifer Beals and Michael Nouri
• Forbidden Relations (Visszaesök) - (Hungary)
• The Fourth Man (De Vierde Man), directed by Paul Verhoeven - (Netherlands)
• Funny Dirty Little War (No habrá más penas ni olvido) - (Argentina)

G

• Gabriela, Cravo e Canela, starring Sônia Braga and Marcello Mastroianni - (Brazil)
• Get Crazy, starring Malcolm McDowell
• Gorky Park, starring William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Joanna Pacula, Ian Bannen, Brian Dennehy

H

• Heart Like a Wheel, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Bonnie Bedelia and Beau Bridges
• Heat and Dust, directed by James Ivory, starring Julie Christie and Shashi Kapoor - (U.K.)
• Hercules, starring Lou Ferrigno and Sybil Danning
• High Road to China, starring Tom Selleck and Bess Armstrong
• The Honorary Consul, starring Michael Caine and Richard Gere - (U.K.)
• The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott, starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon - (U.K.)

I-J

• The Illusionist - (Netherlands)
• Independence Day, starring Kathleen Quinlan, David Keith, Dianne Wiest
• Jaws 3-D, starring Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Louis Gossett, Jr.
• Un jeu brutal

K

• The Keep, directed by Michael Mann, starring Scott Glenn
• The King of Comedy, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis
• Krull, starring Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony and Liam Neeson - (U.K.)

L

• Last Year's Snow Was Falling (Padal proshlogodniy sneg) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Local Hero, directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Peter Riegert and Burt Lancaster - (U.K.)
• Lone Wolf McQuade, starring Chuck Norris
• The Lonely Lady, starring Pia Zadora
• The Lords of Discipline, starring David Keith and Mark Breland
• Losin' It, starring Tom Cruise and Shelley Long
• Lovesick, starring Dudley Moore, Elizabeth McGovern, Alec Guinness

M

• The Makioka Sisters (Sasame-yuki), directed by Kon Ichikawa - (Japan)
• Man of Flowers - (Australia)
• The Man with Two Brains, directed by Carl Reiner, starring Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner
• Masoom (The Innocent) - (India)
• Max Dugan Returns, directed by Herbert Ross, starring Marsha Mason, Jason Robards, Donald Sutherland, Matthew Broderick
• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu), directed by Nagisa Oshima, starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto - (Japan/U.K.)
• Mickey's Christmas Carol, a featurette which brings the character Mickey Mouse back to cinemas for the first time since 1953.
• Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, directed by Terry Jones, starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Jones - (U.K.)
• Mr. Mom, starring Michael Keaton and Teri Garr
• My Tutor, starring Caren Kaye and Matt Lattanzi

N

• Nankyoku Monogatari (South Pole Story) - (Japan)
• Nate and Hayes, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Michael O'Keefe
• National Lampoon's Vacation, directed by Harold Ramis, starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo
• Never Cry Wolf, starring Charles Martin Smith
• Never Say Never Again, starring Sean Connery as James Bond with Kim Basinger and Klaus Maria Brandauer - (U.K.)
• A Night in Heaven, starring Christopher Atkins and Lesley Ann Warren
• Nightmares, starring Cristina Raines and Emilio Estevez
• Nostalghia, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky - (U.S.S.R./Italy)

O

• Octopussy, starring Roger Moore as James Bond with Maud Adams and Louis Jourdan - (U.K.)
• Of Unknown Origin - (U.S.A./Canada)
• One Deadly Summer (L'été meurtrier), starring Isabelle Adjani - (France)
• The Outsiders, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, Diane Lane

P-Q

• Pauline at the Beach (Pauline à la plage), directed by Éric Rohmer - (France)
• Phar Lap - (Australia)
• The Pirates of Penzance, a film version of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta starring Kevin Kline - (U.S.A./U.K.)
• The Ploughman's Lunch, starring Jonathan Pryce - (U.K.)
• Prénom Carmen (First Name: Carmen), directed by Jean-Luc Godard - (France) - Golden Lion award
• Project A, starring Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• Psycho II, starring Anthony Perkins, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Vera Miles

R

• Rembetiko - (Greece)
• Reuben, Reuben, starring Tom Conti and the debut of Kelly McGillis
• The Right Stuff, directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Scott Glenn, Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid
• Risky Business, starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay
• Rock and Rule, an animated rock musical - (Canada)
• Rumble Fish, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Vincent Spano, Diana Scarwid, Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper
• Running Brave, starring Robby Benson

S

• Sadma (Trauma) - (India)
• Sans Soleil (Sunless), directed by Chris Marker - (France)
• Scarface, directed by Brian De Palma, starring Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia
• The Scarlet and the Black, directed by Jerry London, starring Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer, John Gielgud
• Shaka Zulu
• Silkwood, directed by Mike Nichols, starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher
• Skullduggery, directed by Ota Richter, starring David Calderisi, Wendy Crewson, Thom Haverstock - (Canada)
• Sleepaway Camp
• The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
• So Long, Stooge (Tchao Pantin), directed by Claude Berri - (France)
• Something Wicked This Way Comes, starring Jason Robards and Jonathan Pryce
• Star 80, directed by Bob Fosse, starring Mariel Hemingway and Eric Roberts
• The Star Chamber, starring Michael Douglas
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, directed by Richard Marquand, starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
• Staying Alive, directed by Sylvester Stallone, starring John Travolta, Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes
• The Sting II, starring Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Karl Malden, Oliver Reed, Teri Garr
• Strange Brew, starring Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas - (Canada)
• Strange Invaders, starring Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen, Diana Scarwid
• Stray Dogs (Deulgae) - (South Korea)
• Sudden Impact, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood with Sondra Locke
• Sugar Cane Alley (Rue Cases-Negres) - (France/Martinique)
• Superman III, starring Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Margot Kidder
• The Survivors, starring Walter Matthau and Robin Williams

T

• Tender Mercies, directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Robert Duvall and Tess Harper
• Terms of Endearment, directed by James L. Brooks, starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
• Testament, starring Jane Alexander and William Devane
• To Be or Not to Be, starring Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Tim Matheson
• Tough Enough, starring Dennis Quaid, Warren Oates, Stan Shaw
• Trading Places, directed by John Landis, starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche
• Trenchcoat, starring Margot Kidder and Robert Hays
• Twilight Zone: The Movie, segments directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller
• Twice Upon a Time
• Two of a Kind, directed by John Herzfeld, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

U

• Uncommon Valor, starring Gene Hackman, Fred Ward and Patrick Swayze
• Under Fire, starring Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy
• Utu - (New Zealand)

V

• Valley Girl, starring Deborah Foreman and Nicolas Cage
• Videodrome, starring James Woods and Deborah Harry - (Canada)
• Vigilante
• Vlyublyon po sobstvennomu zhelaniyu - (U.S.S.R.)

W

• WarGames, directed by John Badham, starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman and Ally Sheedy
• Wartime Romance (Voenno-polevoy roman), directed by Pyotr Todorovsky - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Winds of War, TV mini-series, starring Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw and Polly Bergen
• Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
• Without a Trace, starring Kate Nelligan and Judd Hirsch

YZ

• Yellowbeard, starring Graham Chapman and Peter Boyle - (U.K.)
• Yentl, directed by and starring Barbra Streisand with Mandy Patinkin and Amy Irving - Golden Globe Award for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
• Yor Hunter From The Future - (Italy/France)
• Zelig, directed by and starring Woody Allen

Births[link]

• January 2 - Kate Bosworth, American actress
• February 23 - Emily Blunt, English actress
• March 10 - Carrie Underwood, American singer and actress
• May 5 - Henry Cavill, British actor
• May 6 - Gabourey Sidibe, American actress
• May 14 - Amber Tamblyn, American actress
• June 10 - Leelee Sobieski, American actress
• August 3 - Mamie Gummer, American actress
• August 11 - Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor
• August 14 - Mila Kunis, American actress
• August 29 - Jennifer Landon, American actress
• September 21 - Maggie Grace, American actress
• December 20 - Jonah Hill, American actor
• December 29 - Alison Brie, American actress

Deaths[link]

• January 8 - Gale Page, actress
• January 19 - Robert Carson, screenwriter
• January 27 - Louis de Funès, actor
• February 25 - Tennessee Williams, playwright
• March 14 - Maurice Ronet, actor, director, writer
• April 4 - Gloria Swanson, actress
• April 16 - Fifi D'Orsay, actress
• April 23 - Buster Crabbe, actor
• June 12 - Norma Shearer, Academy Award winning actress
• July 5 - Harry James, bandleader who appeared in some films, and was once married to actress Betty Grable
• July 29 - Raymond Massey, actor, father of actor Daniel Massey and actress Anna Massey
• July 29 - David Niven, Academy Award winning actor
• August 3 - Carolyn Jones, actress
• August 5 - Judy Canova, entertainer
• August 29 - Simon Oakland, actor
• October 8 - Joan Hackett, actress
• October 10 - Ralph Richardson, actor, one of the theatrical knights of the English stage
• October 15 - Pat O'Brien, actor
• November 15 - John Le Mesurier, British actor
• November 28 - Johnnie Davis, actor, singer
• November 28 - Christopher George, leading film/television actor
• November 29 - Natalie Wood, actress
• December 5 - Robert Aldrich, director
• December 8 - Slim Pickens, actor
• December 28 - William Demarest, actor

Film debuts[link]

• Rowan Atkinson - Never Say Never Again
• Steven Bauer - Scarface
• Juliette Binoche - Liberty Belle
• Matthew Broderick - Max Dugan Returns
• John Cusack - Class
• Warwick Davis - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Vincent D'Onofrio - The First Turn-On!
• Andy García - Blue Skies Again
• Nicole Kidman - Bush Christmas
• Ray Liotta - The Lonely Lady
• Rob Lowe - The Outsiders
• Virginia Madsen - Class
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - Scarface
• Andrew McCarthy - Class
• Kelly McGillis - Reuben, Reuben
• Kelly Preston - 10 to Midnight
• Mimi Rogers - Blue Skies Again
• Kiefer Sutherland - Max Dugan Returns
• Lea Thompson - Jaws 3-D
• Julie Walters - Educating Rita

See also[link]

• List of American films of 1983
• British films of 1983
• French films of 1983
• List of German films: 1980s
• Bollywood films of 1983
• Italian films of 1983
• Japanese films of 1983
• Swedish films of the 1980s

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Karen Ichiuji-Ramone, known by her stage name, Karen Kamon, is a singer and actress best known for her performance of "Manhunt" on the soundtrack to the movie, Flashdance. She also sang "Squeeze Play" on the soundtrack to the movie, D.C. Cab, and she has provided voice for the movie, Oliver & Company. In television, she appeared in one episode of the U.S. TV series, "T.J. Hooker". She is credited on the Carpenters album, "Lovelines"; and as a friend of Karen Carpenter, she has also appeared in VH1's "Behind the Music" series in the episode, "The Carpenters". Additionally, she appears in a segment in the VH1 documentary, "100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll History".

She is married to acclaimed record producer Phil Ramone.

albums[link]

• 1984: Heart of You - Label: CBS-26017 - included the single "Loverboy," which reached #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
• 1987: Voices - Label: ATCO-90575

soundtrack[link]

• 1983: D.C. Cab (soundtrack)

"IMDb, Karen Ichiuji-Ramone". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1972513/. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 

Irene Cara (born March 18, 1959)^[2] is an American singer and actress. She became famous for her role in the 1980 film Fame, earning her a Golden Globe nomination, and her recording of the song "Fame" became an international hit. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling, which also became an international hit."^[3]

She married Hollywood stuntman Conrad Palmisano in 1986.^[4] They divorced in 1991.

Early life[link]

Cara's father, Gaspar Cara, was Puerto Rican and Cara's mother, Louise, was an American of Cuban descent. Cara has two sisters and two brothers. At age three, Irene Cara was one of five finalists for the 'Little Miss America' pageant. Cara began to play the piano "by ear" and soon thereafter, she began seriously studying music, acting, and dance. Cara's performing career started when she was a child on Spanish-language television, professionally singing and dancing. She made early TV appearances on the Original Amateur Hour (singing in Spanish) and Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. She was a regular on PBS’s educational program The Electric Company, which starred Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and Morgan Freeman. As a child, Cara recorded a Latin-market Spanish-language record; an English Christmas album soon followed. She also appeared in a major concert tribute to Duke Ellington which also featured Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Jr, and Roberta Flack.

Career[link]

Cara appeared in on-and off-Broadway theatrical shows including the musicals Ain't Misbehavin', The Me Nobody Knows (which won an Obie award), Maggie Flynn opposite Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, and Via Galactica with Raul Julia.

She was the original Daisy Allen on the 1970s daytime serial Love of Life. Next came her role as Angela in romance/thriller Aaron Loves Angela, followed by her portrayal of the title character in Sparkle, Television brought Cara international acclaim for serious dramatic roles in two outstanding mini-series, Roots: The Next Generations and Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.

John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28, named her one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976;" that same year, a readers' poll in Right On! magazine named her Top Actress.

Cara graduated from the Professional Children's School in Manhattan, a rival of the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art. Coincidentally, LaGuardia High was the inspiration for the performing arts school in her third movie, Fame, along with The Juilliard School. When she attended high school, it was called the School of Performing Arts. In 1984 the High School of Music & Art was merged with the School of Performing Arts (founded in 1948 by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia) to become LaGuardia High.

[edit] Fame and International Acclaim

The 1980 hit movie Fame catapulted Irene Cara to stardom. Cara was originally cast as a dancer, and when production heard her voice they re-wrote the role of Coco Hernandez. As Coco Hernandez, she sang both the title song "Fame" and the film’s other single "Out Here on My Own". These songs helped make the film's soundtrack a chart-topping, multi-platinum album. Further history was made when at the Academy Awards that year: It was the first time two songs from the same film were nominated in the same category and both sung by the same artist. Thus, Cara had the opportunity to be one of the few singers to perform more than one song at the Oscar ceremony. "Fame", written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford, won the award that year.

Cara earned Grammy nominations in 1980 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 her Top New Single Artist, while Cashbox Magazine awarded her both Most Promising Female Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist.

Asked by the Fame TV series' producers to reprise her role as Coco Hernandez, she declined so as to focus her attention on her recording career. As a result, Erica Gimpel assumed the role.

[edit] Post-Fame Career

Cara was slated to star in her own sitcom, Irene, on NBC in 1981. Even though the pilot aired and received favorable reviews, the network did not pick it up for its fall season. It also starred veteran performers Kaye Ballard and Teddy Wilson, as well as newcomers Julia Duffy and Keenan Ivory Wayans.

In 1983, Cara appeared as herself in the film D.C. Cab, which is a film about a group of cabbies. The movie stars Mr. T. One of the characters, Tyrone played by Charlie Barnett, is an obsessed Cara fan who decorated his Checker Cab as a shrine to her. Her contribution to the film's soundtrack, "The Dream (Hold On To Your Dream)" played over the closing credits of the film, and proved to be a minor hit, peaking at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984.

In 1982, Cara earned the Image Award for Best Actress when she co-starred with Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash in the NBC Movie of the Week, Maya Angelou's Sister, Sister. Cara portrayed Myrlie Evers-Williams in the PBS TV movie about civil rights leader Medgar Evers, For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story; and earned an NAACP Image Award Best Actress nomination. She also appeared in 1982's Killing 'em Softly.

In addition to her music and film work, Cara also continued to perform in live theatre during this period. In the summer of 1980, she briefly played the role of Dorothy in The Wiz on tour, in a role that Stephanie Mills had first portrayed in the original Broadway production. Coincidentally, Cara and Mills had shared the stage together as children in the original 1968 Broadway musical Maggie Flynn, starring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, in which both young girls played Civil War orphans.

In 1983, Cara reached the peak of her music career with the title song for the movie Flashdance: "Flashdance... What A Feeling", which she co-wrote with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey. Cara penned the lyrics to the song with Keith Forsey while riding in a car in New York heading to the studio to record it; Moroder composed the music.

Cara admitted later that she was initially reluctant to work with Giorgio Moroder because she had no wish to invite further comparisons with another artist who worked with Moroder, Donna Summer.^[5] But the collaboration paid off and became a hit in several countries, garnering numerous accolades for Cara. She won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Song (Oscar), 1984 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and American Music Awards for Best R&B Female Artist and Best Pop Single of the Year.

"Flashdance..." was re-recorded by Cara twice. The first time was in 1995 as a track in the original soundtrack for the movie "The Full Monty"; the second time was in 2002, as a duet she recorded with successful Swiss artist DJ BoBo.

In 1984, she was in the comedic thriller City Heat, in which she co-starred opposite Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds and sang the standards "Embraceable You" and "Get Happy." She also co-wrote the theme song "City Heat", which was sung by the jazz vocalist Joe Williams. In 1985, Cara co-starred with Tatum O'Neal in Certain Fury, an exploitation underachiever about two troubled young women who flee a court hearing and are mistaken for killers. In 1986, Cara appeared in the film Busted Up. She also provided the voice of Snow White in the unofficial sequel to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Filmation's Happily Ever After, in 1993. That same year, she appeared as Mary Magdalene in the record-breaking anniversary tour of Jesus Christ Superstar opposite Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, and Dennis DeYoung.

Also in the 1990s, Cara won a bitter lawsuit against her old record company over unpaid royalties and other career issues.

Along with her career in acting and several hit singles, Cara released. Those albums are Anyone Can See in 1982, What A Feelin' in 1983, and Carasmatic in 1987, the most successful of these being What A Feelin. In 1985 she collaborated with the Hispanic group Hermanos in the song Cantaré, cantarás in which she sings a solo segment with the Spanish opera singer Plácido Domingo. She also released a compilation of Eurodance singles in the mid to late 1990s entitled Precarious 90's. Cara recently contributed a dance single, titled "Forever My Love", to the compilation album titled Gay Happening Vol. 12, in 2006.

Cara has also worked as a backup vocalist for Vicki Sue Robinson, Lou Reed, George Duke, Oleta Adams, and Evelyn "Champagne" King. Cara toured Europe and Asia throughout the 1990s, scoring several modest dance hits on European charts, but no US chart hits. Cara received two prestigious honors for her career in March 2004, with her induction into the Ciboney Cafe's Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award presented at the sixth annual Prestige Awards.

In June 2005, Cara won the third round of the NBC television series Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" and covered Anastacia's song "I'm Outta Love" with her current all-female band, Hot Caramel. At the 2006 AFL Grand Final in Melbourne, Cara performed "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" as an opener to the pre-match entertainment.

Cara lives in Florida and works with her band Hot Caramel. Their album called Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel was released on April 4, 2011. Cara appeared in season 2 of CMT's reality show Gone Country, but left the show realizing she "was not cut out for reality television."^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Soundtrack albums[link]

Singles[link]

Vocal appearances[link]

• The Me Nobody Knows- Original Cast Soundtrack (1971)
• The Electric Company-Television Cast Soundtrack (1985)
• John Blaire - We Belong Together (1986) Vocals
• The Brecker Brothers - Détente (1986) Vocals
• Bill Chinnock - Badlands (1986) Vocals
• Gordon Grody - Exclusively Yours Vocals
• Jimmy Maelen - Beats Workin' (1987) Vocals
• Millington - Ladies on the Stage (1989) Vocals, Vocals
• T. Life - That's Life (1989) Vocals
• Original Soundtrack - Fame [Polydor Soundtrack] (1990) Vocals, Vocals
• Various Artists - Billboard Top Hits: 1990 (1990)
• Various Artists - Billboard Top Dance Hits: 1990(1990) Vocals
• Stanley Turrentine-Home Again (1992)
• Luther Vandross- Superstar (1993)
• Various Artists - Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume IV^[7]
• DJ Bobo - Planet Colors (2001) Vocal Arrangement, Vocal Recording
• DJ Bobo - Celebration (2002) Engineer, Vocal Arrangement
• DJ Bobo - Celebration [Limited Edition] (2002) Engineer, Vocal Arrangement
• Disco Brothers Forever My Love (2002)
• Various Artists - Cover Morning Musume Hello! Project! (2002)
• Various Artists - Gay Happening Vol. 12 (2006) Vocals
• Downtown: A Street Tale- Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [AJM Records] (2007)

Cara's songs appear on[link]

• Richard Clayderman – Cinema Passion, Vol. 1 / Remembering the Movies
• DJ Bobo – Planet Colors
• Anna Fegi – Every Step of the Way
• Ilona Irvine – Sweet Memory
• Starsound Orchestra – Best TV, Movie & Broadway Themes
• Tokahits – Tokahits
• Original Soundtrack – Flashdance [Original Soundtrack] / Full Monty [Original Soundtrack]
• scarface: the world is yours

Filmography[link]

• Aaron Loves Angela (1975)
• Apple Pie (1976)
• Sparkle (1976)
• Fame (1980)
• Killing 'em Softly (1982)
• D.C. Cab (1983)
• City Heat (1984)
• Certain Fury (1985)
• Busted Up (1986)
• Caged in Paradiso (1990)
• China Cry (1991) (Song only)
• The Magic Voyage (1992) (voice)
• Happily Ever After (1993) (voice)
• Downtown: A Street Tale (2007)

Television work[link]

• Love of Life
• The Electric Company
• What's Happening!! sea.2, ep.1 "Rerun Gets Married"
• Roots: The Next Generations
• Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
• Sister, Sister
• For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story
• Bustin' Loose
• Gabriel's Fire
• Gone Country Season 2
• Koyak

See also[link]

	Book: Irene Cara
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

	Puerto Rico portal
	Biography portal
	Film portal
	Dance portal
	Theatre portal

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

References[link]

External links[link]

• Irene Cara at the Internet Movie Database
• Irene Cara Official Website

v t e Irene Cara Studio albums Anyone Can See (1982) What a Feelin' (1983) Carasmatic (1987) Soundtrack albums Fame (1980) Flashdance (1983) D.C. Cab (1984) Singles "Fame" (1980) "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (1983) Musicals Maggie Flynn (1968) The Me Nobody Knows (1970) Via Galactica (1972) Ain't Misbehavin' (1978) Filmography Aaron Loves Angela (1975) Sparkle (1976) Fame (1980) D.C. Cab (1983) City Heat (1984) Certain Fury (1985) All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) China Cry (1991) The Magic Voyage (1992) Happily Ever After (1993) Downtown: A Street Tale (2007) Television Love of Life (1970) The Electric Company (1971) What's Happening!! (1977) Roots: The Next Generations (1979) Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) Sister, Sister (1982) For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983) Bustin' Loose (1987) Gabriel's Fire (1990) Book:Irene Cara