Irene Cara, a child actor who later sang forth 1980s anthems of exuberant creation and freedom with the titles songs for “Fame” and “Flashdance,” but then fought for royalties in a court dispute that delayed her career at its zenith, died Nov. 26 at her home in Largo, Fla. She was 63 years old.The reason for Ms. Cara’s death was not immediately revealed, according to her spokesperson, Judith A. Moose. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office verified it responded to a call to an address in Largo that is identified as Ms. Cara’s residence in public records. A request for comment was not immediately returned by the District 6 Medical Examiner’s Office, which serves Pinellas County.
Ms. Cara’s influence on pop culture has endured over the years, as her films “Fame” (1980) and “Flashdance” (1983) became touchstones for the 1980s with their music and style, including the urban chic of New York teens in “Fame” and the free-form moves and leg warmers (and, of course, the famous wet-and-wild shower scene) in “Flashdance.””Flashdance… What a Feeling” by Ms. Cara is still at No. 38 on Billboard’s All-Time Hot 100 Songs over 40 years later. And it appears to be attracting new fans through reboots, social media throwback footage, and spoofs.
On “Fame,” she played Coco Hernandez, a teenager auditioning for New York’s High School for the Performing Arts, and performed songs such as the title tune, which had booming refrains such as “I’m going to live forever.” Remember my name, baby.” (The film received an Academy Award nomination for best original score).Ms. Cara went on to win her own Oscar for “Flashdance… What a Feeling,” which she co-wrote in an afternoon session after being invited to perform some of the songs for the film, which stars Jennifer Beals as a welder by day and sensual dancer by night who dreams of the ballet stage.
Ms. Cara, on the other hand, never regained such heights. In 1985, she filed a lawsuit against Al Coury, a record industry executive, saying he took advantage of her trust through “unjust and onerous” contracts for movie and recording deals that excluded her from considerable royalty revenue.Ms. Cara signed a six-year recording contract with RSO Records Inc. in 1980, while Coury was its president. In early 1981, he departed to start his firm, Network Records Inc. and persuaded Ms. Cara to give him complete control over her career. What transpired thereafter was a result of poor management, poor decisions, and Ms. Cara’s failure to reproduce the magic of her two blockbuster ventures
Her primary studio albums, “Anyone Can See” in 1982 and “What a Feelin’ ” in 1983, failed to equal the financial success of her film singles. She then agreed to appear in films that were swiftly forgotten, such as “D.C. Cab” (1983) starring Mr. T, the mohawk-sporting 1980s celebrity.”Carasmatic,” an album, was previously shelved before being published in 1987. She was a celebrity footnote and a trivia question by the early 1990s. “Remember Irene Cara?” asked syndicated gossip journalist Liz Smith in a 1993 story, claiming Ms. Cara received only $183 in royalties during her four years with Coury.
Earlier that year, in her suit against Coury, a Los Angeles jury awarded her $1.5 million.”It took me eight years to go through the whole good ol’ boy network in the music industry,” she explained in a 2018 interview with the music website Songwriter Universe, “because it looked like I sued one individual and it just sort of spun into the entire industry turning against me.” As a result, it completely turned me off to the music industry.”
Ms. Cara returned to music in 2011 with an all-female band, Hot Caramel, after years of performing supporting roles in several films, but with no breakout triumphs with critics or at the box office. “Life in the Fast Lane,” one of the album’s tracks, looks to convey some of Ms. Cara’s comments on her popularity and hardships, with a “steel” phrase lifted directly from “Flashdance.””I’ve sobbed all alone/silent tears of pride,” she sang. “In a steel-encased universe.”
In 1986, Ms. Cara married stuntman Conrad Palmisano, and they divorced in 1991. She leaves behind a sibling. There was no instant availability of complete information about survivors.Following “Flashdance,” Ms. Cara was acclaimed as the year’s top female singer by music publications and other sources, with predictions about what might follow next. Ms. Cara was radiant and confident during the 1984 Academy Awards ceremony.
“I was putting on a show of being on top of the world and successful, but on the inside, I was trying to figure out how to sue my label,” she explained in a 2018 interview. “So it was difficult… When everything was going apart, I pretended that everything was wonderful.”