'Fame' and 'Flashdance' singer-actor Irene Cara dies at 63 - The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winning singer-actress Irene Cara, who starred and sang the rubric chopped from the 1980 deed movie “Fame” and past belted retired the era-defining deed “Flashdance ... What a Feeling” from 1983′s “Flashdance,” has died. She was 63.

Her publicist, Judith A. Moose, announced the quality connected societal media, penning that a origin of decease was “currently unknown.” Moose besides confirmed the decease to an Associated Press newsman connected Saturday. Cara died astatine her location successful Florida. The nonstop time of her decease was not disclosed.

“Irene’s household has requested privateness arsenic they process their grief,” Moose wrote. “She was a beautifully talented psyche whose bequest volition unrecorded everlastingly done her euphony and films.”

During her career, Cara had 3 Top 10 hits connected the Billboard Hot 100, including “Breakdance,” “Fame” and “Flashdance ... What A Feeling,” which spent six weeks astatine No. 1. She was down immoderate of the astir joyful, high-energy popular anthems of the aboriginal ’80s, including “Out Here On My Own” and “Why Me?”

Tributes poured successful connected Saturday connected societal media, including from Deborah Cox, who called Cara an inspiration, and Holly Robinson Peete, who recalled seeing Cara perform: “The insane operation of endowment and quality was overwhelming to me. This hurts my bosom truthful much.”

She archetypal came to prominence among the young actors playing performing arts precocious schoolers successful Alan Parker’s “Fame,” with co-stars Debbie Allen, Paul McCrane and Anne Meara. Cara played Coco Hernandez, a striving dancer who endures each mode of deprivations, including a creepy nude photograph shoot.

“How agleam our spirits spell shooting retired into space, depends connected however overmuch we contributed to the earthly brilliance of this world. And I mean to beryllium a large contributor!” she says successful the movie.

Cara sang connected the soaring rubric opus with the chorus — “Remember my name/I’m gonna unrecorded forever/I’m gonna larn however to fly/I consciousness it coming together/People volition spot maine and cry” — which would spell connected to beryllium nominated for an Academy Award for champion archetypal song. She besides sang connected “Out Here connected My Own,” “Hot Lunch Jam” and “I Sing the Body Electric.”

Allen took to Twitter Saturday to mourn, posting pictures of them unneurotic and calling Cara a “a talented and beauteous genius. Her endowment and her euphony volition unrecorded forever! Forever retrieve her name!” Lenny Kravitz addressed Cara successful a tweet: “You inspired maine much than you could ever know. Your songwriting and vocals created axenic vigor that volition ne'er cease. You besides defined an epoch that is truthful adjacent to my heart”

Three years later, she and the songwriting squad of “Flashdance” — euphony by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Cara — was accepting the Oscar for champion archetypal opus for “Flashdance ... What a Feeling.”

The movie starred Jennifer Beals arsenic a steel-town miss who dances successful a barroom astatine nighttime and hopes to be a prestigious creation conservatory. It included the deed opus “Maniac,” featuring Beals’ quality leaping, spinning, stomping her feet and the slow-burning taxable song.

“There aren’t capable words to explicit my emotion and my gratitude,” Cara told the Oscar assemblage successful her thanks. “And past but not least, a precise peculiar gentlemen who I conjecture started it each for maine galore years ago. To Alan Parker, wherever you whitethorn beryllium tonight, I convey him.”

The New York-born Cara began her vocation connected Broadway, with tiny parts successful short-lived shows, though a philharmonic called “The Me Nobody Knows” ran implicit 300 performances. She toured successful the philharmonic “Jesus Christ Superstar” arsenic Mary Magdalene successful the mid-1990s and a circuit of the philharmonic ”Flashdance” toured 2012-14 with her songs.

She besides created the all-female set Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel and enactment retired a treble CD with the azygous “How Can I Make You Luv Me.” Her movie credits see ”Sparkle” and “D.C. Cab.”

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Associated Press reporters Hillel Italie and Freida Frisaro contributed to this report.

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Mark Kennedy is astatine http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits