Irene Cara

Irene Cara was an American singer and actress who became a star through the 1980 musical film Fame. Raised in the Bronx, she started performing as a child, singing and dancing on Spanish-language television and later appearing on The Electric Company. After Broadway and off-Broadway roles, she played the title character in Sparkle (1976). Her turn as Coco Hernandez in Fame (1980) brought her international fame; she sang the title song and Out Here on My Own, both Oscar-nominated. In 1983 she co-wrote and sang Flashdance... What a Feeling, sharing the Academy Award for Best Original Song and winning a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She appeared as herself in D.C. Cab (1983). She later co-starred in City Heat (1984). For her portrayal of Myrlie Evers-Williams in the 1983 television movie For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story, she received an NAACP Image Award nomination. She released three studio albums and formed the band Hot Caramel.