Irene Cara may have sang about wanting people to remember her name, but in her final days, she turned her back on stardom.
Cara’s neighbors in Largo, Florida, where the popular 1980s singer-songwriter-actress passed away on Oct. 25 at the age of 63, said she lived like a recluse in recent years and guarded her private with an unhealthy obsession.
She lived in seclusion. Roseann Nolan, who lived across the street from Cara, told The Post, “She never spoke to anyone.” Prior to a few years ago, I was unaware that she resided there. It was the greatest secret ever maintained.
Maria Contreras, 59, who lived next door to Cara for years, stated that she attempted to befriend her prior to discovering her identity. But Contreras claimed she could never get Cara, whose dazzling live performances once lit up the stage, to go with her to the neighboring beach or mingle.
Irene Cara received two Grammy Awards, including one for “Flashdance (What a Feeling)”
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Contreras told The Post, “I’d email or phone her to ask her for a stroll, but I wouldn’t hear back for days.” And she would never use her cell phone to call back. She called from her computer out of concern for her privacy. She appeared ill and reported having health problems.
Except for the man who mowed the grass, Contreras never saw anyone else at the residence.
“However, no one, including he, has ever entered her home,” Contreras added. “She met you by the garage outside. I angered her by demolishing the fence between our properties in order to construct a new one. She sent me texts that were so bizarre that I stored them on my phone. She was concerned that she would not be safe even for a day if the barrier was removed.
Neighbors claimed Cara lived as a recluse at this Largo, Florida residence.
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Judith Moose, Cara’s agent, and Betty McCormick, her manager in Los Angeles for over two decades, portray a contrasting picture of Cara in recent years. According to The Post, she left Hollywood and the music industry on her own terms and has been attempting to restart her career over the past several months.
McCormick told The Post that neither alcohol nor drugs had a role in Cara’s death, nor was it a suicide. She disagreed with her neighbor’s appraisal of Cara’s final years but acknowledged that the epidemic had been extremely difficult for the singer.
In 2012, Cara made one of her final public appearances at the premiere of “Sparkle,” a remake of her 1976 film.
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McCormick stated, “She was quite terrified about contracting the [COVID] virus.” She battled much throughout the time period.
Cara’s once-spectacular early career has caused many to question why she has all but vanished from public life after making a great statement at a young age.
Cara’s biggest singles were “Fame” in 1980 and “Flashdance… What a Feeling” in 1983. For “Flashdance,” she received the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
Cara rose to stardom by co-starring in the hit 1980 film “Fame” and performing the title song from the film’s soundtrack.
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Born Irene Escalera in the South Bronx, she once claimed that her Puerto Rican factory worker father, Gaspar Escalera, brought merengue to the United States. Her mother, Louise Escalera, was of Cuban heritage and worked as a cashier.
She was Irene from the street ten years before to Jennifer Lopez’s birth in The Bronx, paving the way for Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.
Her song from the film “Flashdance” quickly climbed to the top of the charts.
After Cara’s death, Carey uploaded a screenshot of Fame with her hit tune.
She remarked on Twitter, “I sang the original Fame in tribute of the late, great Irene Cara.” “Such an inspiration for many many, including myself. In this film, her beauty and ability are awe-inspiring. Rest in peace, lovely angel.”
Cara began her career with the Little Miss America Pageant, followed by a breakthrough performance on “Ted Mack Amateur Hour” at the age of eight.
Continuing her piano and dance training, she frequently performed as a singer-dancer on Spanish-language variety shows on television.
From 1986 until 1991, she was married to stuntman Conrad E. Palmisano.
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In 1985, Cara told Cosmopolitan magazine, “I don’t intend to sound arrogant, but I never doubted or feared that I would be successful.” It was said that I would become a celebrity when I was a child.
She featured from 1971 to 1972 on the legendary PBS children’s program “The Electric Company.” Among her numerous early stage appearances were parts in “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.
One of her final film roles was in 1984’s “City Heat.”
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One of her most memorable appearances was as the feisty want tobe star Coco Hernandez in the 1980 blockbuster “Fame,” which chronicled the lives of students at the High School of Performing Arts, currently known as Fiorello H. La Guardia High School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “Fame” makes fun of the Professional Children’s School, which Cara attended.
In the film, a predatory director preyed upon her character. This narrative strangely foretold Cara’s 1985 decision to sue label chief Al Coury, who signed her to his Network Records, for $10 million in breach of contract for allegedly stealing her income. She was finally awarded $1.5 million, but she was never paid since the label went bankrupt. Coury passed away in 2013, and Cara believes he discriminated against her in the industry.
Manhattan’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts inspired the creation of “Fame.”
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Ed Steinberg, a seasoned music producer, told The Post, “I knew Al Coury.” Let’s just say that the business model of record labels has always entailed some theft. The fact that she was a Latina from the Bronx at the time made her much more susceptible. She was a terrific voice, but lacked contacts and a large team behind her.
“I focused on myself, my spirituality,” Cara told People in 2001 of the years after the lawsuit and shortly after her divorce from Conrad Palmisano, her spouse of five years. “I went through times of bitterness and rage because these individuals took so much from me,”
A source stated that Cara was “Very proud of her Cuban, Puerto Rican, and African roots.”
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Betty McCormick stated that Cara found the case challenging, but that she did not view herself as a victim.
“All we hear about now is racism and oppression,” McCormick told The Post. “Irene was not in this manner. She was quite pleased with her Cuban, Puerto Rican, and African background. She was not a victim complaining about racism. I do not believe she was actually banned.”
McCormick and Moose concurred that Cara “retired” from the business because she disliked the Los Angeles entertainment world.
The singer sued Al Coury, the CEO of her record company, for $10 million for breach of contract; she later claimed he had blackballed her in the music industry.
This past year, Moose told The Post, “we had fantastic chats.” “In some ways, I believe she was satisfied with her life. She attempted to stay in the game, but corporate forces blackballed her.
After 2005, Cara continued to make sporadic appearances and in 2010 she assembled a group of female musicians for a girl ensemble she named Hot Caramel. According to two Hot Caramel members, vocalist Audrey Martells and guitarist Sheryl Bailey, who is also the assistant head of the guitar department at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Cara produced and arranged all the tracks.
The singer later re-recorded “Fame” and “Flashdance (What a Feeling)” so she could possess the masters, according to Cara’s management.
“Women in music can be much more than a stomach, a belly button, bleached hair, and lip-syncing,” Cara stated in a television interview just before launching Hot Caramel. “I wanted to make a statement that women in music can be seductive, appealing, great, hip, and cool, and yet be about the music alone.”
“She taught me so much,” Bailey told The Post. “I believed I understood a lot about arranging and tracking, but she was more knowledgeable.”
She portrayed Coco Hernandez in the film adaptation of “Fame.”
Bailey was perplexed as to why the group’s around five or six tracks were never officially published by a record company.
“I believe she want a project over which she had complete authority,” Bailey stated. “She had been taken advantage of by the industry. I believe that the fact that she was a kid star harmed her as well. I believe that when you begin your career at such a young age, you may have difficulty adjusting to life as an older adult.”
McCormick stated that Cara re-recorded “Fame” and “Flashdance” so that she could own the masters, similar to Taylor Swift.
Even though her neighbor in Florida claimed Cara drove an old car and had a van with flat tires that sat in her yard for months, there is no evidence that she was destitute at the time of her death.
Audrey Martells stated, “What I liked most about Irene was that she never changed for the occasion.” “You may believe that everyone wants to be in the spotlight, but I don’t believe she cared all that much about that. She was interested in music. She upheld her own integrity. I believe she was doing well, as she was living off of her royalties and licensing her music and doing things her way.
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