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The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.

Major events[link]

• March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
• May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released.
• May 31 - The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature length motion pictures, is released in United Kingdom.
• June 11 - John Wayne dies.
• September 19 - Don Bluth and a group of fellow animators resign from The Walt Disney Company's animation department to set up a rival studio, Don Bluth Productions.
• November 1 - Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• December 7 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture debuts in the United States to mixed reviews but strong box office, launching a film franchise that lead to 11 films over the next 30 years. It also lead to the creation of four spin-off television series based upon Gene Roddenberry's creation.

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

Awards[link]

Academy Awards:

Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer - Jaffe, Columbia

Best Director: Robert Benton - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae

Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Supporting Actor: Melvyn Douglas - Being There

Best Foreign Language Film: The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany

Golden Globe Awards:

Drama:

Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Breaking Away

Best Actor: Peter Sellers - Being There

Best Actress: Bette Midler - The Rose

Other

Best Director: Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now

Best Foreign Language Film: La Cage aux Folles (France)

Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival):

Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, United States

The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany

Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival):

David, directed by Peter Lilienthal, West Germany

Films released in 1979[link]

U.S.A. unless stated

#

• 10, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Bo Derek
• 1941, directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Warren Oates, Robert Stack, Treat Williams

A

• L'adolescente
• The Adventure of Sudsakorn, the first and only cel-animated feature film from Thailand
• Agatha, directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman - (U.K.)
• Ah! Nomugi Toge - (Japan)
• Alexandria... Why?, directed by Youssef Chahine - (Egypt)
• Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto - (U.S.A./U.K.)
• The Alien Encounters
• All Quiet on the Western Front, a TV film directed by Delbert Mann, starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine
• All That Jazz, directed by Bob Fosse, starring Roy Scheider, Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, Jessica Lange
• An Almost Perfect Affair
• Americathon, starring John Ritter and Harvey Korman
• The Amityville Horror, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger
• …And Justice for All, directed by Norman Jewison, starring Al Pacino, John Forsythe, Jack Warden Christine Lahti
• Anti-Clock - (U.K.)
• Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Laurence Fishburne
• The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
• Arabian Adventure - (U.K.)
• Ashanti, directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Michael Caine and Peter Ustinov
• Autumn Marathon (Osenniy marafon) - (U.S.S.R.)

B

• Baby Snakes, directed by Frank Zappa
• Being There, directed by Hal Ashby, starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden
• Best Boy, award winning documentary film
• Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, directed by Irwin Allen, starring Michael Caine, Telly Savalas, Sally Field, Telly Savalas, Karl Malden, Shirley Jones
• Birth of The Beatles
• The Black Hole, directed by Gary Nelson, starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine
• The Black Stallion, starring Mickey Rooney, Hoyt Axton, Teri Garr, Kelly Reno
• Bloody Kids, directed by Stephen Frears - (U.K.)
• Boardwalk, starring Ruth Gordon, Lee Strasberg, Janet Leigh, Ruth Gordon
• Breaking Away, directed by Peter Yates, starring Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley, Paul Dooley, Barbara Barrie
• Les Bronzés font du ski, directed by Patrice Leconte - (France)
• The Brood, directed by David Cronenberg, starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar - (Canada)
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
• Buffet froid, starring Gérard Depardieu, Bernard Blier and Jean Carmet - (France)
• The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
• Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, starring Tom Berenger and William Katt
• The Butterfly Murders, directed by Tsui Hark - (Hong Kong)
• Bye Bye Brazil - (Brazil/France/Argentina)

C

• C.H.O.M.P.S., directed by Don Chaffey, starring Wesley Eure, Valerie Bertinelli, Conrad Bain, Chuck McCann, Red Buttons
• Caligula, directed by Tinto Brass, written by Gore Vidal, starring Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole - (Italy/U.S.A.)
• The Castle of Cagliostro, an anime film by Hayao Miyazaki - (Japan)
• The Cat and the Canary - (U.K.)
• The Champ, starring Jon Voight, Faye Dunaway, Ricky Schroder
• The China Syndrome, directed by James Bridges, starring Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas
• Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli), directed by Francesco Rosi, starring Gian Maria Volonté - (Italy/France)
• The Concorde ... Airport '79, starring Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
• Cuba, directed by Richard Lester, starring Sean Connery, Brooke Adams, Chris Sarandon

D

• David - (West Germany) - Golden Bear winner
• Derek and Clive Get the Horn, starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore - (U.K.)
• Dirty Ho (Lan tou He), starring Gordon Liu - (Hong Kong)
• Don Giovanni, directed by Joseph Losey, starring Ruggero Raimondi, John Macurdy and Kiri Te Kanawa - (Italy/France/U.K./West Germany)
• Dracula, directed by John Badham, starring Frank Langella as Count Dracula and Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, with Trevor Eve - (U.S.A./U.K.)
• Dreamer, starring Tim Matheson

E

• Eagle's Wing, starring Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston - (U.K.)
• The Electric Horseman, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda
• Escape from Alcatraz, directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward
• Escape to Athena, starring Roger Moore, David Niven, Elliott Gould, Stefanie Powers, Claudia Cardinale, Sonny Bono, Telly Savalas - (U.K.)
• The Europeans, directed by James Ivory, starring Lee Remick - (U.K.)

F

• Fast Break, starring Gabe Kaplan and Bernard King
• Felicity, starring Glory Annen - (Australia)
• The Fifth Musketeer, starring Sylvia Kristel, Ursula Andress, Beau Bridges - (Austria/West Germany)
• Firepower, starring Sophia Loren, James Coburn, O.J. Simpson - (U.K.)
• The First Great Train Robbery, starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland - (U.K.)
• A Force of One, starring Chuck Norris and Jennifer O'Neill

G

• Gal Young 'Un
• Going in Style, starring George Burns and Lee Strasberg
• Gol Maal (Confusion) - (India)
• Goldengirl, starring Susan Anton, James Coburn and Leslie Caron
• The Great Santini, starring Robert Duvall and Michael O'Keefe

H

• H.O.T.S.
• Hair , directed by Milos Forman, starring John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo
• Hanover Street, directed by Peter Hyams, starring Harrison Ford, Lesley-Anne Down, Christopher Plummer - (U.S.A./U.K.)
• Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader, starring George C. Scott
• Heartland, directed by Richard Pearce - Golden Bear winner, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
• Hot Stuff, directed by and starring Dom DeLuise with Suzanne Pleshette, Jerry Reed
• The Human Factor, starring Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi - (U.K.)
• The Hussy (La drôlesse) - (France)
• The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting (L'Hypothèse du tableau volé) - (France)

I

• I as in Icarus (I... comme Icare), starring Yves Montand - (France)
• In Search of Historic Jesus - (documentary)
• The In-Laws, directed by Arthur Hiller, starring Alan Arkin and Peter Falk

J

• The Jerk, directed by Carl Reiner, starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters
• Jesus, directed by Peter Sykes and John Krisch, starring Brian Deacon - (Australia/U.S.A./U.K.)
• Just You and Me, Kid, starring George Burns
• Jack Frost Directed by Rankin/Bass and starring Robert Morse

K

• Kaala Patthar (Black Stone), starring Shashi Kapoor - (India)
• The Kids Are Alright, a rockumentary featuring The Who - (U.K.)
• Killerfair directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring James Coburn
• Knockabout, directed by and starring Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• Kramer vs. Kramer, directed by Robert Benton, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep (both won Oscars), Justin Henry, Jane Alexander

L

• Last Embrace, starring Roy Scheider and Janet Margolin
• The Late Great Planet Earth - (film only mentioned in article)
• A Little Romance, directed by George Roy Hill, starring Laurence Olivier, Diane Lane, Sally Kellerman - (France/U.S.A.)
• Love at First Bite, starring George Hamilton and Susan Saint James
• Love on the Run (L'amour en fuite), directed by François Truffaut - (France)
• Lovers and Liars (Viaggio con Anita), starring Goldie Hawn and Giancarlo Giannini - (Italy/France)
• La Luna, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Jill Clayburgh - (Italy)

M

• Mad Max, directed by George Miller, starring Mel Gibson - (Australia)
• Magnificent Butcher (Lin shi rong), starring Sammo Hung - (Hong Kong)
• The Main Event, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal
• Mamá cumple cien años, directed by Carlos Saura, starring Geraldine Chaplin - (Spain)
• Manhattan, directed by Woody Allen, starring Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy and Mariel Hemingway
• The Marriage of Maria Braun, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Hanna Schygulla - (West Germany)
• Meatballs, directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray - (Canada)
• The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (Mesto vstrechi izmenit nelzya) - (U.S.S.R.)
• Meetings with Remarkable Men, Gurdjieff biography directed by Peter Brook - (U.K.)
• Meteor, directed by Ronald Neame, starring Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Henry Fonda, Martin Landau and Trevor Howard
• Monty Python's Life of Brian, directed by Terry Jones, starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin - (U.K.)
• Moonraker, starring Roger Moore as James Bond - (U.K.)
• More American Graffiti, starring Candy Clark, Ron Howard, Paul LeMat, Charles Martin Smith and Cindy Williams
• Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears - (U.S.S.R.) - Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film
• Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, starring Michael O'Donoghue, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray
• The Muppet Movie, made by Jim Henson, with Charles Durning and Dom DeLuise
• Murder by Decree, a Sherlock Holmes mystery starring Christopher Plummer and James Mason - (U.K./Canada)
• My Brilliant Career, directed by Gillian Armstrong, starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill - (Australia)

N

• Noorie - (India)
• Norma Rae, directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sally Field, Ron Leibman and Beau Bridges
• The North Avenue Irregulars
• North Dallas Forty, starring Nick Nolte and Mac Davis
• Nosferatu ("Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht"), directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani and Bruno Ganz - (West Germany)

O

• The Odd Angry Shot, starring Bryan Brown - (Australia)
• The Onion Field, starring James Woods and John Savage
• Over the Edge, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, starring Matt Dillon

P

• A Perfect Couple, directed by Robert Altman, starring Paul Dooley
• Phantasm
• The Plank, directed by and starring Eric Sykes with Arthur Lowe - (U.K.)
• Players, starring Ali MacGraw and Dean Paul Martin
• Prince Nezha's Triumph Against Dragon King, an animated film - (China)
• The Prisoner of Zenda, starring Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick and Lionel Jeffries
• The Prize Fighter
• Prophecy, starring Talia Shire

Q

• Quadrophenia, directed by Franc Roddam, starring Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash and Ray Winstone with music by The Who - (U.K.)

R

• Real Life, directed by and starring Albert Brooks
• Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
• Rock 'n' Roll High School, produced by Roger Corman, featuring The Ramones
• Rocky II, starring Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young
• Roller Boogie, starring Linda Blair
• The Rose, directed by Mark Rydell, starring Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest

S

• Saint Jack, directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Ben Gazzara
• Scavenger Hunt, starring Cloris Leachman, Cleavon Little, Vincent Price, Tony Randall
• Scum, starring Ray Winstone - (U.K.)
• Série noire - (France)
• She's 19 and Ready - (West Germany)
• Siberiade, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky - (U.S.S.R.)
• Sisters, or the Balance of Happiness (Schwestern oder Die Balance des Glücks), directed by Margarethe von Trotta - (West Germany)
• Soldier of Orange, directed by Paul Verhoeven, starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbe - (Netherlands) (International release)
• Something Out of Nothing, directed by Nikola Rudarov, starring Asen Kisimov, Stefan Danailov and Aneta Sotirova - (Bulgaria)
• Stalker, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky - (U.S.S.R.)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture, directed by Robert Wise, starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
• Starting Over, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen
• Stay As You Are (Così come sei), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Nastassja Kinski (Italy) (American release)

T

• Take Down
• Tale of Tales (Skazka skazok), an animated films - (U.S.S.R.)
• The Tempest, directed by Derek Jarman, starring Toyah Wilcox - (U.K.)
• Tess, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Nastassja Kinski - (France/U.K.)
• The Third Generation (Die Dritte Generation), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, starring Hanna Schygulla - (West Germany)
• Tim, starring Mel Gibson and Piper Laurie - (Australia)
• Time After Time, starring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen
• The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlondorff, starring David Bennent - (International) - Palme d'Or winner

U

• Ultraman - (Japan)
• Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle - (Japan)

V

• Vengeance Is Mine (fukushū suru wa ware ni ari), directed by Shohei Imamura, starring Ken Ogata - (Japan)

W

• Wanda Nevada, directed by Peter Fonda, starring Peter Fonda and Brooke Shields
• The Wanderers, starring Ken Wahl and Karen Allen
• The Warriors, directed by Walter Hill, starring Michael Beck, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly and Deborah Van Valkenburgh
• When a Stranger Calls, starring Charles Durning and Carol Kane
• Winter Kills, starring Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins
• Wise Blood, directed by John Huston - (U.S.A./West Germany)
• Wolfman
• Woyzeck, directed by Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski and Eva Mattes - (West Germany)

XYZ

• Yanks, directed by John Schlesinger, starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave - (U.S.A./U.K.)
• Zulu Dawn, starring Peter O'Toole, Burt Lancaster and Simon Ward - (U.S.A./South Africa/Netherlands)

Births[link]

• January 8 - Sarah Polley, actress
• January 12 - Isidra Vega, actress
• January 27 - Rosamund Pike, actress
• February 9 - Mena Suvari, actress
• February 9 - Zhang Ziyi, actress and dancer
• February 21 - Jennifer Love Hewitt, actress and singer
• April 4 - Bunko Kanazawa, actress
• April 4 - Heath Ledger, actor (d. 2008)
• April 4 - Natasha Lyonne, actress
• April 12 - Claire Danes, actress
• April 19 - Kate Hudson, actress
• April 23 - Jaime King, actress
• May 9 - Rosario Dawson, actress
• May 25 - Monica Keena, actress
• June 27 - Benjamin Speed, film composer
• August 31 - Yuvan Shankar Raja, film composer
• September 23 - Anthony Mackie, actor
• October 4 - Rachael Leigh Cook, actress
• October 8 - Kristanna Loken, actress
• December 23 - Summer Altice, model and actress
• December 26 - Chris Daughtry, actor and singer

Deaths[link]

• January 16 - Peter Butterworth, actor
• February 12 - Jean Renoir, director
• March 1 - Dolores Costello, actress
• March 22 - Ben Lyon, actor, also credited as the man who supposedly "discovered" and renamed Marilyn Monroe
• May 26 - George Brent, actor
• May 29 - Mary Pickford, American actress
• June 11 - John Wayne, American actor
• July 8 - Michael Wilding, English actor
• August 17 - Vivian Vance, American actress
• September 8 - Jean Seberg, actress
• September 12 - Jocelyne LaGarde, Tahitian-born actress
• November 23 - Merle Oberon, actress
• November 30 - Zeppo Marx, American comic actor
• December 11 - Adile Nasit, actress & director
• December 13 - Jon Hall, actor
• December 25 - Joan Blondell, actress

Debuts[link]

• Rosanna Arquette
• Matt Craven - Meatballs
• Ted Danson - The Onion Field
• Matt Dillon - Over the Edge
• Cary Elwes - Yesterday's Hero
• Corey Feldman - Time After Time
• Danny Glover - Escape from Alcatraz
• Diane Lane - A Little Romance
• Hayao Miyazaki (director)
• Chris Penn - Charlie and the Talking Buzzard
• Mickey Rourke - 1941
• Rick Schroder - The Champ
• Wallace Shawn - Manhattan
• Martin Short - Lost and Found
• Timothy Spall - Quadrophenia
• Daniel Stern - Breaking Away
• Patrick Swayze - Skatetown, U.S.A.
• Ray Winstone
• JoBeth Williams - Kramer vs. Kramer

References[link]

1. REDIRECT Amitabh Bachchan

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
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