Irene Cara is dead to me

Why HER?

Lack of feeling!

RIP Ms Cara

^ The pre-Janet, pre-Paula, pre-Jody, heck, pre- Madge

Cause of death not disclosed yet

Did she ever kick the drugs? I remember she seemed very off during a Wendy Williams TV interview (Wendy had yet to relapse herself at the time).

Awww, she seemed sweet

R.I.P. Irene. Iconic. 🙏❤

She didn't come across sweet in PEOPLE magazine...

After 16 Years in Showbiz, Irene Cara, 21, Gets Her Diploma in Movies with Fame

By David Sheff

She vows, "I'm gonna live forever," in her rousing hit from the movie Fame, but the real Irene Cara isn't about to wait that long. What's she done so far to get her name in lights? "You're obviously not from New York," Cara sniffs to an interrogator. "Everyone in New York knows what I've done."

That attitude better becomes a prima donna than a Donna Summer. But no one denies that, at just 21, Irene Cara is hot stuff. She was a regular on PBS' The Electric Company at 13. She starred in her first movie, Sparkle, at 16. She has acted in Tony-winning plays like The Me Nobody Knows and in the original off-Broadway cast of Ain't Misbehavin'. In 1979 she portrayed Alex Haley's young mother in Roots: The Next Generations. More recently, she played opposite Powers Boothe as a mistress of the Rev. Jim Jones in the Emmy-winning Guyana Tragedy.

So, for Cara, Fame is the inevitable name of her game. "After all these years, it just makes sense," she says. "I've been working longer and harder than most adults." It doesn't bother her that some see her role as Fame's overly ambitious student singer-actress, Coco, as typecasting. "In talent and ability, Coco was obviously modeled on me," she airily concludes. "I'm very well known in New York with all the casting people. I got the role in Fame even before they heard me sing."

The movie is set in a school modeled after New York's High School of Performing Arts (which refused official cooperation). Though some of her co-stars are actually older than she, Irene blesses them all as "unaffected kids; they were great—they didn't need me for nothing."

Since its release, Cara's Fame hit has propelled the sound track LP to sales of more than 500,000, and now Out Here on My Own, her powerful ballad follow-up from the film, is also heading toward the top. Her musical training is solid—she once sang backup for Evelyn "Champagne" King and Lou Reed—and, post-Fame this summer, she was chosen to open Ray Charles' 50th birthday concert in L.A. (The critics were lukewarm, however, and one Hollywood exec in the audience groaned, "She should go back to doing background vocals—she's not a solo artist.")

Few can dispute her performing credits, however, which began at an early age. Raised the youngest of five in the now squalid South Bronx, she had "performing in the blood from the beginning. There's no childhood for a lot of kids in the Bronx—only survival and killing. But my career gave me a childhood." Her Puerto Rican father, Gaspar Escalera, a retired professional saxophone player, and her Cuban-American mother recognized Irene's talents early on and arranged for her training, which started with dancing lessons at 5. She attended private schools, among them the posh Lincoln Square Academy. "I had the most expensive education," Cara brags. "And my mom was the greatest stage mother. The money I made acting as a child went toward my schooling, but still my parents had to work all the time to pay for my education." (Her father worked in a steel factory; her mother as a movie theater usher.) Co-incidentally, Irene was accepted at the High School of Performing Arts (where Liza Minnelli and Al Pacino were once students), but did not attend because it would have meant giving up her paid work with The Electric Company.

Cara, who now lives temporarily in her mother's Manhattan apartment, can be feisty and at times abrasive. Eating in an L.A. restaurant, she became belligerent when a waiter took her still burning cigarette away and clamorously berated him to the maître d'. She remains hush-hush about the men in her life, but says she prefers to spend her time among close women friends. "Men have put me through so many changes," she complains. "They can't deal with me as just a person, as pretty and as talented as them. They get very 'Where's my Barbie Doll?' 'Where's my groupie?' " Though she doesn't frequent discos, she likes to go "partying until you see daylight and people start falling out."

Now Irene has been cast by ABC as an anorexia nervosa victim who befriends Jodie Foster in a forthcoming made-for-TV movie, The Best Little Girl in the World. Though she has her astrological chart read regularly, Cara isn't sure whether a Fame sequel is in the cards: "Yeah, maybe," she shrugs coolly, "called Failure."

"The Best Little Girl in the World" ended up starring Jennifer Jason Leigh in the lead, with Melanie Mayron as her friend.

So sad! I first saw her as the title character in "Sparkle." Then she was my musical obsession in high school -- until Whitney Houston came along.

She was still young. RIP, Irene.

Her very first claim to fame was on the Electric Company ca. 1971.

Fame is one of my favorite movies of all time. She really will live forever. Oscar and Emmy winner.

She never married…and she was an only child. Her parents are dead, no?

She sounds glorious, r 11

According to this, she was living in Florida -- I wonder where?

The article calls her the youngest of five. She’s 21 in that bratty interview, hopefully she got over herself.

I always liked this song. Bad video. RIP Irene.

^ The Embodiment of the 80s

Well, that sucks. I thought she was very talented. Did she make enough to live comfortably after her career went down the shitter?

That interview does make her seem full of herself—but most actors oddly feel that way about themselves.

Too bad her career totally tanked after FAME

Although her voice was similar to Donna Summer’s in some ways, it lacked the operatic depth and tone Donna had. Donna studied opera, right?

R24, similar? God, no

‘Why Me?’ was my jam about this time back when I was confined in the psychiatric facility , 1983.

Probably because nobody else would claim it.

Awwww. That’s a shame. She was fantastic as Edith Bunker. Very believable.

Irene Cara performing at age eight.

No more RAISIN TITTIES

Wouldn't gay men prefer raisins? I know Frank did.

No longevity but she sang the hell out of two classic songs.

This sucks. RIP Irene.

[quote]Cause of death not disclosed yet

I'm telling everyone it was a messy suicide

[quote]The critics were lukewarm, however, and one Hollywood exec in the audience groaned, "She should go back to doing background vocals—; she's not a solo artist."

Cara was a little ahead of her time, wasn't she? I remember similar comments at the time she was having hits in the early '80s: that her voice wasn't very substantial, and the production (by heavyweights like Moroder and James Newton Howard) was carrying most of the load.

Then, later in the decade, we had several weak-voiced female superstars. Janet. Paula. Madonna (she improved her singing in the Evita/Ray of Light years, but "Crazy for You" is a good example of what she started out with).

[quote] when I was confined in the psychiatric facility

Who amongst us can't say that?

I remember hearing that she didn't want to sleep with a producer and he blacklisted her pretty much ended her career.

I wonder who he was?

Cara sued her record label over royalties, and she felt that that tanked her recording career; she got cold-shouldered by the industry. The suit dragged on for a long time. She ultimately was awarded 1.5 million in 1993.

One reason (and for sure not the only reason) her career petered out was because she sued her record label for $10 million in unpaid royalties. The legal battle left her broke and although she did get $1.5 million out of a settlement from the lawsuit, it probably cost her more in opportunities. She said publicly that she was blacklisted by the music industry due to the lawsuit.

Other reasons include that she was difficult to work with, although she claimed this was a false rumor because of the lawsuit. She was also a known cocaine user, which isn't that surprising in the 1980s. She also never really capitalized on her talent outside of movie soundtracks. Her solo efforts that were not movie soundtracks didn't do as well. She also picked a lot of bad movies to star in in the 1980s.

I have all her records and was shocked to hear that she has died.

Sorry to hear this. She was a great talent. RIP.

[quote]I have all her records

I have all her record.

FIFY

That song was everywhere back in the day. Her 15 minutes were huge. Talented & beautiful lady…RIP

I always confused her and Jennifer Beals for years. I thought it was the same person who sang and danced in Flashdance for 20 years.

R40 Do you even have Carasmatic?!

She was basically a stand-in for Donna Summer, who got super religious and Giorgio Moroder stopped working with her because he was exasperated with her Jesus shit.

Donna's voice probably would've sounded wondrous on "What a Feeling", but Irene's scrappier style fits the movie better.

Wasn't she about to star in a remake of Raisins In The Sun?

This was the highlight of the movie to me. Especially when she belts out the lind "Oh baby be strong for me, baby belong to me." Legendary.

Suicide?

She was a great singer songwriter. RIP

Such an amazing black girl, was ten trillion times the singer that Janet Floppita Ho could ever be.

Morodor stopped working with Summer because of David Geffen.

Shit lead singles like "Girlfriends" hastened her demise. Do you recognize some of the cameo players?

She was fired from "Ain't Misbehavin'" after she missed a peformance and she was discovered strung out.

*performance

[quote] Such an amazing black girl, was ten trillion times the singer that Janet Floppita Ho could ever be.

If she flashed her tit at The Super Bowl, you'd still be blind.

It’s so weird, I was absolutely not surprised to see this. I always thought that she must have been so devastated that her career turned out to be a bust later in her life. So not a surprise at all to me.

She morphed into Maya Rudolph in her later years.

She sang with more depth and feeling than Whitney ever did. Similarly, Donna Summer had a technically superior voice, but she couldn't interpret a song as well as Irene could.

She lied to us!!!

She showed her titties in Fame.

Did she hold the stage?

The black dude in red pants had butt for days.

I mentioned this in a previous thread about her a while back, but she had one of the stranger career arcs I've ever seen.

Her 1983 album "What a Feelin'", contained a #1 hit ("Flashdance"), plus a top 10 hit ("Breakdance"), and a top 20 hit ("Why Me"), plus another single that made the top 40 ("The Dream").

That was a very solid showing, and at that point she had just about as much career momentum as an artist can have, especially after winning an Oscar. Had she put out another solid album in '85, she almost certainly would have kept it going. Timing is everything in the entertainment business, and you have to strike while the iron's hot.

Instead, she just disappeared. She literally went from being a huge star to nobody hearing a peep out of her for years. By the time she returned in '87, all that momentum had evaporated, the public had moved on, and she was done.

Sad, because she was very talented. She was a good singer, a good songwriter, an actual musician (piano/keyboards), and a good actress. And, raisin titties aside, she was attractive. All the basic elements were there, something just went wrong just as it all was starting to gel.

Anyway, this is the only thing of hers I ever went out and bought. Not a great album, BTW...just this one great song and a bunch of forgettable filler.

Too much fucking blow #truth

She married a stuntman or something, right?

[quote] She also never really capitalized on her talent outside of movie soundtracks. Her solo efforts that were not movie soundtracks didn't do as well. She also picked a lot of bad movies to star in in the 1980s.

I think she considered herself an actress first and a singer second, like Streisand. She did have several motion picture credits in the 80s like that awful one with Tatum O'Neal named "Certain Fury" which played at a theater I worked at in high school. It played for weeks even though it was terrible.

She had a couple of Eurodance singles in the mid 1990s. Junior Vasquez remixed one of the songs. His doesn't appear to be on YouTube.

A sugary ballad with Freddie Jackson.

She was featured in Francesco Scavullo’s coffee table book on beauty. She was lovely, even if her personality was not.

Luther Vandross must have been a friend. He did backing vocals for her as late as her "Carasmatic" album.

Same age (63) as Donna Summer when she died.

Was ahe at least able to tour as a nostalgia act? I didn't follow her.

[Quote] Was ahe at least able to tour as a nostalgia act? I didn't follow her.

She did some isolated gigs. I doubt she could keep it together to complete a tour.

R75, thanks. I asked only because I'll see tours with 3 or 4 groups together like KC and the Sunshine Band.

She produced a girl group about a decade ago. The group name and the artwork display exquisite taste.

[quote]The black dude in red pants had butt for days.

And so did Steve LaChance, the white guy in the yellow pants.

She should have made more use of auto tune. Her voice was passable, but as I mentioned, it lacked depth.

I never understood why she didn’t sing Spanish language songs?

I remember she was part of that John Rich music reality show on CMT with Jermaine Jackson, Lorenzo Lamas and Sean Young.

Auto tune can't fix a voice. You must be out of your mind.

I think she only lasted a day or two on that show, r80.

How can anyone listen to her vamping toward the end of What A Feeling and say her voice lacked depth? That part of the song makes me verklempt every time.

Tit rot? OD? Miss Rona?

She doesn't so great opposite Freddie Jackson. I expect the coke took its toll on her voice. But she was decent. Paula Abdul wasn't even decent.

[quote] That part of the song makes me verklempt every time.

MARY!!!!!

I agree r83 she could really sing. This vastly underrated ballad, my favorite song of hers, shows her vocal chops, so beautiful especially towards the end

R85, and yet Paula still has a career.

Being a smoking addict at the age of 21 didn't bode well for her.

But but but.... was she double boosted and infected with covid?

The mumsy bob did her no favors.

[quote] [R85], and yet Paula still has a career.

Not a singing career, though.

Ballad Irene.

[Quote] Not a singing career, though.

A concert career is a singing career, even if it's lipsync.

Strange how r92 is a Live In Concert recording but the performance is a lipsync.

She was good as an aspiring talent because she basically was an aspiring talent.

But she never really had much warmth. I mean, look at the lengths Parker had to go to in Fame to elicit sympathy for her character.

I will always live the movie Fame. Her death saddens me.

^^ even when I keep it simple, autocorrect fucks it up.

Love the movie Fane. RIP Irene.

Fane?

[quote] I never understood why she didn’t sing Spanish language songs?

She was on the Spanish language "We Are the World" knockoff ("Cantaré, Cantarás"), singing a lead line in tandem with Plácido Domingo. That's the only time I ever heard her sing in Spanish. I don't know how fluent she was, I never heard her speak it publicly, and I never saw her appear on any Spanish language TV variety shows. She didn't really have a presence at all in Latin American media that I can recall, which is why I was surprised when she showed up on this song.

Irene appears at about the 3:12 mark

Predictions for the next two celebrity deaths Jon Voight and Bob Newhart.

Interview from 2018.

Was she in the bathtub?

[quote]Morodor stopped working with Summer because of David Geffen.

He mainly stoped working with Summer because she became a Jesus freak:

[quote]For two years before she died (in 2012, from lung cancer), Donna Summer lived here, too, a couple of floors down. She and Moroder had grown apart after she’d switched labels. “David Geffen pushed her to make music that wasn’t right for her. It was a big mistake in my opinion,” says Moroder, who produced two slightly commercially disappointing Geffen albums for Summer before Quincy Jones took control on 1982’s Donna Summer.

[quote]Divergent personal beliefs turned that professional fissure into a fault. “Donna became quite religious,” says Moroder, as he strides past a wall of gold and platinum records. “She made me record a dance song about Jesus, dear God. And she really did not like gays — her attitude was sometimes difficult in the ’80s.” (Summer has denied ever making anti-gay statements.) “We were never ‘estranged,’ but for a long time we did not have the relationship we once did.”

It's funny how Donna Summer fans deny her homophobia.

R9 and R10 I always prefer live interviews to "articles" people write. They can say anything they want and editorialize it with their own biases and we know that then (as now) women and minorities (of which she was both) are often deliberately mischaracterized to fit a narrative.

Below is an interview Cara did with Mike Burns in 2014. She was aware of the haters. If you do anything of substance, you will have detractors. She was certainly talented, humble and she does in fact seem SWEET!

RIP Ms. Cara

R103, I was surprised that Moroder admitted that Summre was homophobic. Have any other professionals from that time period ever commnented on it?

Before she passed away, Moroder always blamed David Geffen for his separation from Donna Summer. Geffen and Moroder didn't see eye to eye, and he had told Summer straight out he would not release and music she recorded with Moroder. It's interesting that he changed his story once she passed.

Cause of death not disclosed = drugs

Donna Summer always denied she was homophobic, but Moroder said she was. She really fucked up her career with the anti-gay stuff.

Billy Porter's former manager worked at Arista (he walked in on Whitney and Robyn Crawford canoodling) and he befriended Donna Summer in the late 1980s or early 1990s. He claimed that she denied ever making antigay statements and that she loved everyone ya da ya da ya da.

One thing we know for certain is that Donna was in a bad way (drugs etc.) when she found religion. It's very unlikely that she was moderate in her religious views. We know she turned down the opportunity to sing the theme tune to the movie "54" after seeing a cut of the movie. It's been said the same about "Dirty Dancing." None of that makes her sound modrate, unjudgmental, gay friendly etc.

*moderate

I think Donna's Geffen catalogue fucked up her career more than anitgay views.

covid?

Donna Summer turned down “It’s Raining Men,” as well.

For those of you who never saw the movie "Sister, Sister" - I strongly recommend you see it. The movie was filmed in 1979 and stars pre-'Fame' Irene Cara, Diahann Carroll, and Rosalind Cash who play three sisters who are forced to come together after their revered father has passed away. They have to decide what to do with the North Carolina family home - which have all different memories and meaning for each of them.

The movie was filmed, and then shelved for three years - NBC finally aired it in the summer of 1982. It's a powerful film with incredible acting from Carroll (the pious sister) and free-wheeling Cash (Cara kind of plays the buffer between the two older women). It should be on YouTube.

Donna Summer recorded the theme song to the Studio 54 movie and it was fabulous, as good as her 70s songs. Once she pulled out of the movie soundtrack, the song was never officially released. Stupid, because she could've had a big hit with it.

As a huge fan of Donna Summer and her early work with Moroder, I have to say Geffen was right in that the later music she did with Moroder was sub par. The unreleased "I'm A Rainbow " album is crap, there's not one great song on it and this is from someone who desperately wanted there to be.

Not quite true. The song wasn't recorded for the movie. And Donna did put out a version as a b-side. But it was a remix - one of those popular remixers at the time (Hex Hector, IIRC).

[Quote]I never understood why she didn’t sing Spanish language songs?

My guess is that Spanish didn't appeal to her as much as English, despite her heritage. Her Spanish on r99 sounds pretty excellent to my ears. But many Americans of Spanish-speaking descent, like myself, are more comfortable in English, and are shy about speaking less-than-perfect Spanish in public, do to the ridicule we get about it. Jennifer Lopez, for example, is constantly insulted for her funny-sounding Spanish.

Donna Summer's husband put together a 10 track version of "I Am A Rainbow." I like it more than the Quincy Jones album.

"Sister, Sister" was shot for the big screen?

Joan Rivers had Donna Summer on her first solo talk show in the early 90s & when Joan gave her a chance to clarify her gay views & dig herself out of any hole Donna she was still in but she doubled down saying "whatever she had said she had heard gay men say worst stuff than what she had said".

I was shocked, Joan was shocked (the look on her face said "bitch I gave you a chance to clear things up"...) & Donna was ready for the next question. I was so over her after that interview. I just did a YT search & it's not on there yet.

Theres not one good song on "I'm A Rainbow " let alone ten. Summer and Moroder lost their mojo on that one.

RIP Irene. I’m a fan since her Short Circus days, but wasn’t aware of all of her film roles until now.

Can we get back to Irene, please? She deserves to be the focus today in her own damn death thread.

Enough of Donna Summer, please start a thread about her if you want to discuss it.

I want to talk about this poor dead girl who was on the Electric Company...Which reminds me

Has Rita Moreno commented yet?

Ask Sally Struthers about what a cunt Rita Moreno is.

I like "You to Me." It reminds me of Carly Simon's "Coming Round Again" in the early part.

"Sister Sister" was a made-for-TV movie for NBC filmed in early 1979, for a "May sweeps" broadcast in May 1979. After the movie was done, Fred Silverman (then-NBC chief exec) decided not to air the movie because the network was 'going into a different direction' (more 'action-packed shows and movies') to develop its audience. The film - along with others which were filmed for that season - was shelved.

Once Grant Tinker became CEO, someone mentioned this vaulted film to him, and did a screening. He loved the movie, and decided to air it in the summer of 1982. The film won an NAACP Award, as did Cara.

Again I ask, did they find her in the bathtub?

Why? Is that a "Fame" reference?

I hope it wasn't drugs or suicide.

It was more likely cancer.

I'm not sure about Summer being asked to record the duet 'Time of My Life' for the movie 'Dirty Dancing'. I've never heard of that one.

The rumor back then was Barbra Streisand was asked to record the duet with Bill Medley, and she was going to include it on her 'Hollywood Album' album she was preparing for at the time. She then decided against the idea for the 'Hollywood Album' (switched to a 'Broadway Volume 2' and then switched to 'Till I Loved You') and dropped her interest in the duet with Medley. (Her 'Hollywood Album' became the dreadful 'The Movie Album' released in 2003.)

[quote]I hope it wasn't drugs or suicide...It was more likely cancer.

No, no, if you have cancer you live decades before you die

I've heard two different stories of why Donna turned down I had the time of my life. The first was because she didn't want to be associated with a movie called Dirty Dancing. The second was because she thought the song itself was about sex.

R135 She hasn't been in the public eye for many years. She could have been suffering for some time.

Was it the titty cancer?

It's suspicious that they didn't release a cause of death, which makes me think it's something they don't want out there - like drugs, alcohol, or suicide.

[quote]I'm not sure about Summer being asked to record the duet 'Time of My Life' for the movie 'Dirty Dancing'. I've never heard of that one.

You're obviously new here.

There is one obsessed queen that brings it up every chance he gets, plus all the other songs she supposedly turned down that later became huge hits for others, and what an idiot she was for doing so. (As if it's a great idea for an artist to record songs they don't like or are uncomfortable with singing, and then be forced to sing them for the rest of their lives.)

"Sister, Sister" was written by Maya Angelou.

R122 her early 90s talk show was so good. I wish I could see that interview. Re Donna Summer why is this drug addict turned religious nut pattern such a cliche? It’s clearly filling one void with another. So tiresome.

Joyce Sims' cause of death still hasn't been released, has it?

Paul Jabara wanted It's Raining Men to be a duet between Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand. A sort of a sequel to Enough is Enough. But both turned it down.

Diana and Paul Jabara did write a song called Ladies Hot Line that The Weather Girls wound up recording. I wonder if Diana ever did a version of it (it was during her RCA years)

Donna Summer was sexually abused as a child, right? I think that can add extra fuel to the homophobia fire. Homophobes love to link CSA and homosexuality in their rhetoric.

Does anyone have the clip when she flashes her titties in Fame!!!??? I have been looking for that for years. It is the best part of the movie.

ENOUGH with Donna Summer

Start a thread about her if you want.

This poor lady is dead and she was a nice person, so she deserves her OWN THREAD.

Threads go on tangents. You can't stop it.

Irene had a good run from about 1976 to 1984. She was in Sparkle and Fame, and some well-received TV films. She had hit songs. But then it seems drugs and label issues slowed down the momentum. Which is a shame because she was talented. But I don't know if she would have been able to sustain a recording career into the late '80s or '90s. At least she had two classic songs.

Also, back to the subject at hand - my parents had/have a good friend who was on the Electric company with her way back in the day (both child actors) and she always confirmed that she got very messed up on drugs/cocaine - she even claimed it made her skin lighter, a side effect I’ve never heard of, but hey.

I’ve never seen the original Sparkle, though, is it worth watching?

Cara would have been a good Dorothy in THE WIZ, instead of haggy looking Diana Ross.

R151, yes

R149 Irene Cara was on The Electric Company in 1971. Are you saying she was doing coke at age 12?

I call bullshit.

To R156..."COCO TITS"!!

R153 nooooo

I’m not saying she did it THEN. I’m saying she got into it later - once she became a star, and she knew that and everyone in their circle knew that. They were still working and “in the biz” and knew about people they worked with and all their stories.

So no, not 12. Or 14 or whatever.

"Breakdancin' (Break Out)" was the "Pac-Man Fever" of its day.

She was the IT girl for about five minutes and then she disappeared.

"It's Raining Men" was to be a trio of Summer, Streisand, and Ross - and it fit in well on Streisand's "Wet" themed album. (He supposedly wrote it right while they recorded 'No More Tears'). Summer didn't like the refrain, "Hallelujah - it's raining men - Amen !" and asked him to change it so she'd record it. He said 'No way'.

It was going to be a duet with Streisand and Ross, but berry Gordy insisted they list the artists as "Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand" but Streisand wanted her name to come first - just like with the Donna Summer duet (though Streisand explained back then it was 'alphabetical', which made sense). Berry Gordy wouldn't allow Ross (a Motown star) to do the duet unless it was changed with her getting first billing. The rest is history.

Belinda Carlisle shared a painting of tits on her Instagram and one of you wags commented "I always wondered what happened to Irene Cara." Belinda replied to that comment that she'd had a lost night with Irene way back when.

LOL, it's interesting reading people compare Irene vocally to Madonna, Janet and Paula. I didn't know she was considered such a lightweight by some.

I mean, sure, there were vocally superior artists to Irene, but I thought her voice was pretty special. Her rendition of "Out Here on My Own" from Fame still gives me chills when I hear it. Janet, Madonna and Paula do not have the chops to sing anything like that and I say this as someone who is a fan of all three.

I gasped when I saw the news this morning. I really hope Irene found some happiness in her later years.

Yeah, Irene had a better voice than those you mention. I think what she suffered from was the comparison to Donna Summer. She even mentions it in 2018 interview at r101.

The Daily Smells posted a photograph of four random beachgoers and captioned it: "Cara enjoying a day out at the beach in New York City's Jacob Riis Park in 1982"?

All blacks look the same?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

The woman on the left at r163 does look like a prettier version of Irene.

You made me look for it, r159!

Isn't it funny how gay men put down other gay men by using the word "queen" but they uplift women, usually heterosexual, with the label "Queen!"

Lord Have Mercy, but I just had a "Cher" flash.

Not this year, Satan. Not this year.

If Cher goes out mid coitus, it will be quite a way to go.

Cher's going nowhere. It's her mother.

Who did more coke in the 80s: Irene Cara or Belinda Carlisle?

Nell Carter!

Belinda. She had her own cocaine condo.

Wow R87, that song is amazing. Had never heard it before. Thanks for posting.

Has Carlo Imperato commented yet? He was so fine.

She was always more flash than talent. Not a great singer, ever. RIP, anway.

The guy on the left at R163 has a big one.

[quote] I’ve never seen the original Sparkle, though, is it worth watching?

It's very much worth watching. But it's Lonette McKee who steals the film although it's really about Sparkle (Cara). Cara was very good in it but McKee was just exceptional. You won't take your eyes off her.

Irene wins the Oscar.

Yes but did Nell have it blown up her ass?

Lonette McKee should have been a huge star, she had the talent and the looks to back it up.

She was sublime in Showboat on Broadway.

R171 yeah, ironic if Cara was fired from Ain’t Misbehavin, of all productions, for drug use. Ahem

Lonette was good casting for SHOWBOAT. She actually could pass.

It would be nice for a SPARKLE Cast Album to finally be released. Surely those tracks are in the vault somewhere?

I presume Kathy, Lonette's sister, had the original family nose.

I always confuse Irene Cara with Rae Dawn Chong, both beautiful women. Every time I hear the beginning of the song “Flashdance…what a feeling” I’m filled with joy. I heard it on the radio just a few days ago. It is a great song to turn up in the car and sing loudly and terribly with, which I did with zero shame. Rest in peace, Coco.

sad

Irene definitely should have been a much bigger star for many more years than she was

She was a good singer, dancer, actor and was pretty.

Sure she did drugs but most of them did back then. A lot still do now.

There are plenty of big name addicts who don't get fired or who are difficult but still get hired.

Lonette was also very good playing Billie Holiday in ‘Round Midnight

LOVED Irene cutting up on twitter during the Trump years. She went hard at him and it was nice to see

Shocking that people (especially here on a gay board) aren’t talking more about her two glorious and legendary flops: Via Galactica and Got Tu Go Disco.

Both were camp, but GTGD may have been the zenith of the genre until Carrie and Moose Murders came along to steal the crown. Cara’s vocals truly rose above the shlock though and she should have been given a comeback vehicle later in life.

[quote] I just did a YT search & it's not on there.

R122, that’s because that “interview” only exists in your mind.

She was born too soon. With her multi-racial looks she'd be huge today.

R4 that wasn’t pre-Janet as she had recorded at least 2 albums by 1984. The same for Madonna.

R115 is that Rosanne Cash???

R45 I do. I only liked a couple of tracks from it.

Say Goodnight Irene

Now That It’s Over

Itty bitty titty committee

[quote]Has Carlo Imperato commented yet? He was so fine.

No Carlo but here are reactions from several Hollywood notables, including Debbie Allen:

[quote] It is a great song to turn up in the car and sing loudly and terribly with, which I did with zero shame.

Atta girl!

Paying tribute...

"Thunder In My Heart" - from Irene's 1982 'Anyone Can See' album.

I seem to remember her tits being misshapen?

Irene & Andy

"Say Goodnight Irene" was a collaboration with John Farrar, the man behind most of Olivia Newton-John's hits.

This version of "Greatest Love of All" is quite dreadful, which is rather fitting for such a terrible song.

Irene acquits herself quite well guesting on Stanley Turrentine's "You Can't Take My Love."

Has anyone mentioned the scene in "Fame" where she bares her raisin tits? In a puzzling scene (there were a lot of puzzling aspects to that movie) her character Coco, who it tough and streetwise, gets lured to a room to pose for a photographer. He tells her to take off her top; considering how take no shit Coco is you would think she would say "Fuck this!" and run out by she doesn't. She slowly takes off her top, revealing her tiny, sagging boobs, and starts to cry like a little girl. It was a silly scene. It didn't work at all.

Were they related?

Are you a man, r205?

Wow, that Stanley Turrentine track is excellent. Thanks for posting. I was not familiar with it.

R205, that’s so 80s. Over.

[quote] I seem to remember her tits being misshapen?

Yes. One was bigger than the other. Later in life she entered a wet T-shirt contest and she came in First and Third.

itty bitty titty committee

They looked fine.

No great difference in size.

Cute reaction video:

Mariah's cover:

On another message board I read, one poster said that Irene personally cussed him out for printing 1959 as her birth year because she wanted to be quoted as 1962, even though that was unrealistic because it would've placed her at 12-13 during Aaron Loves Angela and 17 (as Fame was filmed in 1979) during the raisin tittie scene

She only took three years off?

HAS MAUREEN TEEFY ISSUED A STATEMENT??!?

I just took that scene as her realizing talent alone wasn’t going to get her ahead.

Here is Fred Dellar's review of Irene's "What a Feelin'" album from "Hi Fi News & Record Review," March 1984:

[Quote] IRENE CARAS claimed a fair bit of film footage since she first played one third of a Supremes-styled trio in Sparkle, a1976 made-for-peanuts production. An appearance in Fame made her a BIG NAME and her chummy-up with Giorgio Moroder on the title song to Flashdance moved her into the superstar — or, at least, super-eight star — bracket. Now, in total cahoots with the formidable Moroder, she's cut a solo album, What A Feelin' ( Epic EPC 25730). And, for once, there's no help from on-screen visuals. Everything's down to the music and nothing else but the music. Which in this case doesn't add up to everything which it should be. Moroder's a real sharpie, of course. He uses female vocalists much in the manner that Hitchcock used certain blonde actresses. No matter what is fed in, everything comes out bearing the same production line stamp. Given Debby Harry, Donna Summer or, in this case, the cinematic Cara, the result of any Moroder liaison is Munich Machine Music — well- produced, deep-sheened, down-at-the-disco fare with a voice upfront. Not an individual voice: just any voice. I admire Moroder — a true professional, I reckon. But I'd like to hear him work with a singer who couldn't be subjugated, someone who could kick back— something that Irene Cara's unable to do. In my book she's just Linda Ronstadt with a tan. And that's not really enough. Only Moroder lifts the rating. A:2

Here's what Phyl Garland had to say in HiFi Stereo Review, April 1984:

[Quote] If you liked the soundtrack of Flashdance, you'll probably get a kick out of Irene Cara's new album, for it not only features the movie's title song, but was produced by Giorgio Moroder, who was in charge of the music for the movie. Moroder also wrote most of these songs, and they are cast in the same brittle, electronic vein as that soundtrack. Yet something seems to be missing. One factor that gave vitality to Flashdance was the variety of performances by different artists and groups. While Cara has a certain ingenuous appeal in her light-voiced, girlish style, she fails to evoke any sense of emotional depth. We are caught in a time-warp of eternal adolescence. Moroder's songs are sometimes very cute, but they are in consequential. The best thing about this album is the cover photo of Cara, who is much lovelier than anything she sings here.

My hometown paper has an article about Irene Cara, but I swear, this is not her! Can someone please confirm or deny???

[quote]The best thing about this album is the cover photo of Cara, who is much lovelier than anything she sings here.

Brutal

No, that's Dwan Smith, who rounded out the trio in the original "Sparkle" movie. I guess that's her at the premiere of the remake.

[Quote] Brutal

The reviews of Olivia Newton-John are even more harsh.

Has Mariah posted? I know she was a big fan.

I don't know her

[quote] They looked fine.

You must not have seen very many tits in your lifetime because those are NOT "fine" tits. They're pretty awful, like two fried eggs.

There was nothing runny about them.

Why’d she make so many bad films? Was it her fault or was her agent responsible?

I need to find out how to watch the original "Sparkle."

The extended version of 'What a Feelin' is sooo much better than the album version and radio edit.

Didn't she do a movie directed by her husband, a stuntman turned director?

The clothes that Andy and Irene are wearing at r159 are so conservative but nice. Can you what imagine a duet today would wear?

An older Irene reminds me a bit of Nina Garcia.

Joyce Sims was 63 as well.

I can't wait for Sunny Hostin to do a eulogy on Cara. I'm sure she will refer to her as "Lathina" more than once, and say they were very close friends and no one can match her talent. Whoopi will refer to her as a Person of Color, and say that they were great friends. Sarah will say that she was six years old when "Flashdance" came out, and she wanted to grow up to be Irene Cara. Alyssa will look lost. Ana will say Cara was Cuban, and she was very close friends with her. And of course, Joy will ask, "Irene Who ? No, I don't remember her."

I always remember the Grammy Awards where everyone assume the Best Female Artist would be a contest between Donna Summer for "She Works Hard For The Money" and Linda Ronstadt for her surprisingly successful collaboration with Nelson Riddle "What's New". When they announced Irene Cara as the winner, everyone (including Irene) seemed shocked.

Summer should have gotten the Grammy that year. However, it was for a single from an album Geffen passed on - so the album went to Mercury (Casablanca) for what was owed to them. Geffen didn't campaign for Summer since it wasn't their record, and Mercury didn't campaign since it wasn't their artist. So voters obliged both labels and turned their attention to Cara.

Geffen didn't pass on it. Donna owed Casablanca an album and she had to go back to the them for that one album. Geffen passed on the SAW album.

*to them

I liked her in 'Sparkle'

I actually thought Linda Ronstadt would have taken home the Grammy that year, given what a huge success What's New was and how it revitalized the standards genre in popular music. She also got a very enthusiastic response when she sang "I got a crush on you" during the show.

I can see Irene winning the oscar though. The two songs from Yentl were okay, but Streisand refusing to perform them because she was denied a nomination most likely cost them any shot of winning. Betty Buckley did a nice rendition of a forgettable song. And Voters must have sighed with relief that Maniac wasn't rewarded after THIS tranwreck performance. Michael Sembello must have felt like Phil Collins did a year later.

[quote]Geffen didn't pass on it. Donna owed Casablanca an album and she had to go back to the them for that one album. Geffen passed on the SAW album.

He passed on this one, too. This was the second album in a row he passed on - the first was 'I'm A Rainbow' in 1981. She then worked on the tracks for this album which would have been her third for Geffen, and he didn't like the Michael O'Martian produced tracks so he told her he was shelving it. She then turned them over to Mercury.

From WIki:

Since departing Casablanca Records in 1980, Summer had been involved in litigation with the label's parent company PolyGram which had cost Summer some $81.6 million in lawyer's fees by 1983, which year (Donna Summer quote:)"I told my lawyers they were fired. I went in and saw the guy at PolyGram personally", negotiating an out-of-court settlement which included Summer's Omartian-produced tracks being given to PolyGram,[7] David Geffen having decided for the second time not to issue an album recorded by Summer. PolyGram affiliate Mercury Records issued Summer's Omartian-produced tracks as the album She Works Hard For the Money in July 1983.

R190 Why don't you contact Joan's ugly daughter & request that she put up her momma's interview with Donna on YT?

Tell her you are a big Summer-stan. I'm sure she will oblige ya if you come across as sincere. Case closed.

What was the rationale behind having another artist perform the song? Wasn't Phil Collins in the audience for Ann Reinking's lipsync?

81 million in lawyer fees...? Wiki is a trip.

I read a book by a drug dealer who sold drugs to the stars. And Irene Cara was in there. Her drug of choice was cocaine - and she did a lot of it. She may not have completely overcome the drug habit and it's even possible that she died from an accidental drug overdose at age 63.

The Grammys for 1983 rewarded the biggest commercial acts in the top categories, so it’s no surprise that Cara won best pop vocal female. Sting actually beat MJ in the song of the year category for Every Breath You Take and Culture Club won best new artist. Just about everything else that Michael Jackson could win he did. I was 16 and you could NOT get away from EBYT, the Thriller singles and Flashdance that year, along with Culture Club songs. They were on CONSTANTLY.

I have “Hot Lunch” from the “Fame” soundtrack in one of my playlists. It’s a fun song.

Irene began and quickly abandoned a podcast.

Anothe brief episode.

Speaking of Sparkle, Lonette McKee let herself go fast and got fat

I remember that “People” magazine article at R10 and R11, and how badly Cara came across. There was also an interview with her in “After Dark” from the same time period which featured some arrogant quotes from her, and said that some Hollywood insiders were referring to her has “Irene Careless”.

Lonette wasn't fat in The Cotton Club or in Jungle Fever.

It's nice to see all these tributes to Irene. She did inspire a lot of people. I know Mariah was a big fan. Yet it seems Irene never got this appreciation when she was alive.

She was so young and pretty in this photo. The NYT picked a good photo for it's tribute.

I had read somewhere that she was bipolar.

She used to hang out at this club in LA, which I frequented weekly, with all my sober friends, after the AA meeting.

We’d go sober clubbing 2-3 times a week. Dancing sober was/is the BEST!

Anyhow, I had many a conversation with her, in the ladies’ room, putting on lipstick, touching up our makeup, etc.

She was a VERY sweet lady, and didn’t have one snooty bone in her body.

Also, she had beautiful, natural ringlets. BEAUTIFUL hair. Perfect skin. Very pretty IRL.

May she RIP. 🙏🏽

This is a video of from 1980 of the Fame song. The dancers look ridiculous/funny. Especially that one gay male in the red outfit.

So, she had four hit records, right? Fame, Flashdance, Breakdance, and Out Here On My Own. Anything else?

I would have had a hit with the Sparkle soundtrack but...

There was that two or three part series that had Valerie Landsberg trying to get the old FAME gang together for a reunion......some folks had also been in the movie and they discouraged her from even trying to contact Irene for anything.

There was a hidden camera and Val was wearing a wire when she met up with Debbie Allen in some restaurant and Debbie was surprisingly nice and funny although she was a bit nonplussed when the ambush was revealed.

Carlo and Curly Head Piano Boy were fun.

R260 she also had Why Me which got to #13.

Wasn't the official title Raisin Tits (Why Me?)?

From twitter:

To everyone who has taken the time to express their grief, thank you. For those who are posting spam about cryptocurrencies, please stop. For those who are blaming a vaccine for her death, please don't. We don't have medical answers yet and won't until an autopsy is completed.

She is the 3rd "star" who had played Market Days in Chicago to die this year behind ONJ and Aaron Carter.

[quote] For those who are blaming a vaccine for her death, please don't.

Lots of luck with that. There were people trying to blame a vaccine for Betty White's death at 99.

R256: thanks for posting, yes, it’s a gorgeous pic of Irene

Here’s the archived version which is free

[Quote] She is the 3rd "star" who had played Market Days in Chicago to die this year behind ONJ and Aaron Carter.

Watch out, Sheena Easton!

And Belinda Carlisle, Jody Watley, Martha Wash, Jennifer Holliday, Lisa Lisa, Taylor Dayne...

Ok, Martha Wash is next, for reasons known to her UberEats.

The first time I saw her was when she performed on the show Dance Fever, which was before Fame came out. Can't find the episode. My straight, older brother like that show and American Bandstand.

R269 Lo and behold the market days curse. We can’t let Ru Paul or Kristine W perform, among influential others…

The photo at r222 is Dwan Smith, the actress who was the third sister with Irene and Lonette in the movie "Sparkle."

[quote] Speaking of Sparkle, Lonette McKee let herself go fast and got fat

Not fast. She remained svelte and beautiful for YEARS. Lonette suffered such misfortune in her career. She was a singer/songwriter and actress, who'd started recording as a teenager. This riveting clip of her performing "Stormy Weather" in 'The Cotton Club' was cut, along with a major part of the Black storyline because the studio thought the original cut was "too black." If released as Coppola intended, it would have been a huge boost for her career.

Lonette was still gorgeous in the 90s, twenty years into her career. I’m not sure what she looked like in the 2000s but the idea she lost her looks quickly is nonsense.

I hope she died sucking and milking a cock

Her movie Fane will always rock my world. Inspired me to become a terrible dancer and sing whispercoo.

Janet starred for a season on the tv version of Fame. Madonna auditioned for the show and didn’t get the part.

Vadge hadn't perfected how to cover her super fugness with 50 layers of paint at that point.

I remember watching a Fame reunion special that aired maybe twenty, twenty five years ago? There was a running story in it about how they were trying to track down Cara but couldn’t. They eventually ambushed her in a restaurant and she had no chill.

I was pretty young that I still noticed how awkward she was in that moment and her complete lack of savvy. She made some kind of snooty comment about how she’d have to contact her representatives to work out a deal…and this was decades after she was remotely relevant.

It was funny at the time but now it feels sad. I believe the rumors that she was difficult. She probably couldn’t get out of her own way and she seemed very unprepared with the social graces and schmoozing you need to be a star.

It was a wild special though. Gene Anthony Ray was high as a kite and had legitimate coke bubbles in his nostrils at one point.

R259 Everyone in the video is wearing athletic clothing except for the one Black man in the pink suit and ballet slippers. That took me out! 😂 He was an excellent dancer but I did not understand why he was dressed that way. The man in red is just too big. He was doing the moves ok, but just looked awkward (clunking around with his big feet) compared to everyone else.

It is funny to watch old videos where only the soloist and backup dancers appear on stage and none of the back up dancers sing. In the 60s and 70s it was rare that everybody on stage wasn't singing in addition to dancing and/or playing an instrument. We then went into this strange era in the 80s where backup dancers only danced. It looked so karaoke-ish! Where were the other voices coming from? lol

Nowadays (even though they still use tracks for background vocals) the band and/or actual background singers are usually onstage contributing to the vocals. It looks less awkward.

R259 Oh, my God, that was hilarious! The ridiculous choreography! The costumes! What the fuck? And did you see Irene hit the big queen in the face with her hand at the 4:24 mark? The guy in red reminds me of Corky St. Clair in Waiting for Guffman.

Was this from a European variety show or something? It's as if the choreographer put together his/her vision of what an American aerobics class was like.

R59 That cannot even be considered dancing. It's just a bunch of random fuggos, inc Cara herself, flinging their limbs around will nilly. No wonder Janet was able to claim to be a dancer when crap like this was around in the 80s.

*willy nilly

Regarding the Grammys the year Irene won Best Pop Female for Flashdance …. her performance and that record is the very definition of pop perfection that stands the test of time. I bet there’s not a person alive who doesn’t love it.

And Every Breath You Take is another classic - my single favorite record of all time. It’s highly deserving of Song of the Year - in any year.

And who wants to make the case that Culture Club didn’t deserve Best New Artist that year? They had a great run with at least 2 songs (Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want to Hurt Me) that will be played forever.

Irene, The Police, and Culture Club were all flash in the pans. They had no long term relevance and no one gives a fuck about them anymore.

What a load of nonsense. Sting and Boy George still make big bucks on the touring circuit.

Is Sting doing it as part of The Police, fucking retard? Is Boy still doing it as part of CC? No they are not, stupid cunt.

A lot of Sting's status hinges on The Police, dear.

[Quote] Is Boy still doing it as part of CC?

Yes he is, you twit. Culture Club (Or Boy George & Culture Club as they're now billed) gets the big gigs.

Best New Artist is a notoriously difficult category, because there are always acts that make an impact right out of the gate and then fade quickly. Other artists don't show how important they are until they're three albums in (Prince is a good example). So the history of the BNA category is littered with "How the hell did they win?" cases that maybe didn't seem so crazy the year in question.

Culture Club was a solid pick at the time, and it doesn't seem as a bad pick in retrospect as some other years' winners of the category. The other nominees were Big Country, Eurythmics, Men Without Hats, and Musical Youth. Eurythmics seem a little stronger to me from a 2022 vantage point, but I can understand the vote going the way it did at the time. The other three aren't close.

She was no Debbie Allen.

Debbie and her ugly sister give off the biggest witch vibes

Only a fucking moron would ever listen to Boy's horrible voice that he shredded with drugs decades ago. These people are fucking brain dead, idiot morons. And The Police have zero relevance today you Golden Girls watching fucking twit.

You'd probably claim the same about Phil Collins.

While I do not share R295’s rage, I do agree that The Police are irrelevant now and Sting’s fall from favor has been well-earned. He’s like Diet Bono and Bono is barely clinging on as it is.

Rolling Stone ranked them among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2015. That's not irrelevance.

Damn, r295, did Sting steal your girlfriend or something? While he’s not as relevant now as he was years ago, his career was pretty extensive and he’s still considered a celebrity today. And much of it came after the Police.

I think the loon is a Michael Jackson fan, salty at the Police/CC wins.

Both Sting and The Police are revolting, always have been. Anyone who would defend those cunts needs acid thrown at their Golden Girls watching cunt bones. You fucking dinosaurs and your horrible taste in music, TV shows, and everything else need to all be disintegrated to dust.

Nurse! The AWF Troll is out again!

That dancer in red at r259 looks old enough in 1980 that he could have been dancing since the 1950s. I wonder if he posts here.

R295 go jump in the Pacific

The cast of FAME was cursed. Almost everyone in that movie has died, or befallen some awful fate.

Cursed? Gene Anthony Ray was lucky to live as long as he did. He was apparently diagnosed as HIV+ in 1996. One wonders how long had he been living with it.

Meg Tilly married well.

Irene Cara definitely had a big moment in the early 80s. I'm old enough to remember Flashdance and both the movie and song were huge. Women all over America started wearing oversized sweatshirts that hung off of one shoulder, that was a very popular look for a while.

[quote]Especially that one gay male in the red outfit.

One gay male? One?

Oh, honey.

The Police are not irrelevant.

People will see her and cry.

R305, do you mean Glee? I know of Cara and Gene Anthony, but who else from Fame met a bad fate?

R312 No one. Besides some of the older cast members who have died because they were...old...everyone else is still alive.

Anne Meara…so young.

So now we have a "The Police are irrelevant" troll?

Sting may be a douche, but The Police were awesome.

Debbie Allen will be doing an interpretive dance to mourn Irene's passing.

Madonna's audition tape for FAME.

According to her NY Times obit, the record industry blacklisted Cara after she sued and won a case about her profits from Flashdance

Madonna as Coco:

Photigrapger: Take off your top and show me your titties.

Coco: Done and done! You want me to lose my panties, too? Wrap my legs around my head? Check out my tender pink clam!

Madonna was fine at r317.

Re: r216, it's weird when performers lie about their age when they've been in the business since childhood. A 1962 birth year was rather implausible for Irene's career especially and for her to try and claim that seems silly. I doubt Irene would have added 3 years to her age because here she is in 1983 on American Bandstand sharing that she was turning 24 that month, which supports the more believable1959 birth year:

[R286] I disagree about your take on 'Flashdance' winning. Summer's 'She Works Hard For The Money' has secured it's place in music history - still played today, still licensed out today. In the past 40 years, it has become the national anthem for the working women - used at various events and campaigns around the country each year.

[quote]has secured it's place in music history -

Oh, dear!

Pretty cute,

R317 God, she was terrible! She also lied and shaved three years off her age.

Madonna's audition tape for Fame shows that she is a natural talent for acting. She should have won the role and the Emmy.

Madonna is a very underrated actress.

She’s the Meryl Streep of our day!

R326 That was a horrible audition. She had all the charisma of a box of clipped toenails.

R322 but it wasn’t the massive number one hit that Flashdance was. Plus the film and the song were firmly in the zeitgeist that early summer of 1983. Donna peaked at number 3 with SWHFTM. Respectable, but not nearly the impact that Irene’s song had. It went on to win the Golden Globe and Oscar, further cementing what multiple groups of voters thought of it. I haven’t heard what you said about She Works Hard being an anthem, but it had no bearing on who won the Grammy that year. The other nominees were Sheena Easton (little to no chance of winning), Bonnie Tyler (maybe had a fighting chance Total Eclipse was huge too), Linda Ronstadt (sure she was high up on the votes, she’s always a Grammy favorite and her What’s New album was big) and Donna who probably placed third of fourth.

R317 WTF why does she look and sound like a Chinese girl. What a racist cow. Pretending she is Chinese. Good fucking queef.

Bad Girls worked harder for their money.

[quote] The cast of FAME was cursed. Almost everyone in that movie has died, or befallen some awful fate.

How do you figure that? Most of the young cast of that movie are still living and are presumably well.

Janet on FAME

Coco was played by Erica Gimpel in the tv series.

Nobody gives a fuck about Janet Floppita Ho in this thread. We're talking about someone with actual talent.

Fun fact: Melissa Etheridge auditioned for the role of Cleo, which ultimately went to Janet. She mentions it in her autobiography.

She didn't get it because she wasn't fat enough.

Ooh, girlie at R335 has got her panties in a bunch.

I always thought Billy Hufsey was such a HUNK

No mention of Killin’ ‘Em Softly?

Wow, Billy Hufsey! Haven't given him a thought in decades.

Billy almost bearing it all in Playgirl.

Donna’s song that year was great. Bonnie Tyler‘s record has become a deserved classic. I would have voted for Bonnie over Donna, but Flashdance has something special. It really does capture that moment in time perfectly.

I thought Bonnie should have qualified for Rock instead of Pop, especially when you consider some of the long shots they've nominated in order to fill out that category.

All five female pop nominees got to perform that year during the broadcast. Donna got to open the show with She Works hard for the money.

I miss the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category.

[quote] Donna got to open the show with She Works hard for the money.

Video:

She looks skinty. Was that pre-twins?

Cursed cast members from FAME include Barry Miller, Paul McCrane, Maureen Teethy and Laura Dern who were expected to become big stars when the movie came out, but their careers went nowhere. Also, Lesley Gore died at a fairly young age, just like Cara.

R349 Laura Dern? First of all , she did become a legitimate star - was she even in this though? I know she was in Foxes which was around the same time.

Barry Miller gave this innocent 16 year old boy quite a hard-on in the movie theater watching "Fame".

[quote] Cursed cast members from FAME include Barry Miller, Paul McCrane, Maureen Teethy and Laura Dern who were expected to become big stars when the movie came out, but their careers went nowhere

Laura DEAN was in "Fame", not Laura Dern. Laura Dern, by the way, went on to win an Oscar.

[quote] Laura Dern? First of all , she did become a legitimate star - was she even in this though? I know she was in Foxes which was around the same time.

Laura Dern was NOT in "Foxes." That was Jodie Foster. Jeez, you people don't iknow anything.

Laura Dern was in Foxes R352. She had a small part playing Marilyn Kagan’s annoying little sister.

And "Foxes" was her second movie with Jodie; she was an extra in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."

If Laura Dern was in "Foxes" she was barely in it. Her role must not have counted for anything.

How did a thread about Irene Cara devolve into a back and forth about Laura Dern’s credits?

Paul McCrane went onto a successful television career. ER alone cemented his legacy (and residuals). Hardly a curse.

Laura Dean also had Broadway credits and a recurring role on Friends as Jennifer Aniston’s office mate in the late 90’s. Barry Miller worked in film for a while after. As someone noted above, McClure was an important character on ER when it was the biggest thing on the planet.

Gene Anthony Ray also did pretty well considering his passing. He was a regular on the Fame show and the Carrie Broadway musical.

Teefy had Supergirl and Grease 2, which weren’t spectacular but they were very high profile.

Just because they didn’t turn into Tom Cruise doesn’t mean they were doomed with shit careers.

[quote]r71 She was featured in Francesco Scavullo’s coffee table book on beauty. She was lovely, even if her personality was not.

Yes.

Never live to see the day my mother outlived Irene Cara!

Irene Cara - Flashdance "What a Feeling" (Music Video) 1983

R167, Cher's fine. Almost scary-fine.

Just a week ago she presented an Oscar to her doggy-friend, songwriter Diane Warren (who reminds the audience she should've won many times)...

I think Madonna will go before Cher. Madonna is not a well woman, and she is declining at an astonishing rate. I never thought this would be fate for Madonna but nobody around her seems to care and Madonna herself doesn't seem to care either.

No one will care or be saddened when Vadge dies. Most peeps will want to spit on her snatch or grave.

R353 that wasn’t Dern. Dern played an annoying girl who tries to get into Kagans boyfriend’s house and Kagan shuts her down.

Ah, yes.

Irene "I Don't" Cara.

Her career died once she bared he "bosom."

Ladies, learn the lesson. Don't try to show them if you ain't got them to show.

Buck wouldn’t have DIED at 63!

R367- Buck would NEVER have gone topless and shown his Raisin Titties!

I recall watching the Grammys with Mother that year Irene won, also the year of "Thriller." There was a shot of Michael and Irene together waiting at the side of the stage. Mother remarked "Oh, now THEY would make a lovely couple!" Mother thought Michael's date, Brooke Shields, was a whore because of "Blue Lagoon" and those Calvin Klein commercials. Michael, unbelievably, still seemed wholesome in those days and mother thought pretty, talented Irene was a more suitable girlfriend. Even at that age I thought to myself "Michael does not like girls" but I'd never have said that to Mother.

R369= Norman Bates

Yeah, because Buck died in his teens, you hateful hag!

Barry Miller won a Tony in 1985. He even beat out William Hurt.

He's obviously gay, judging by this clip. Did he ever come out publicly?

R369, MJ doesn’t like men either dummy .

[quote] [R369], MJ doesn’t like men either dummy .

I didn't know that at 10 years old, you stupid, whorish bitch! Undoubtedly, Mother would have thought YOU were a dumb cunt -- and she'd have been right.

Now she'll never know if someone would need her, someone would feed her, when she was 64.

R374, take your lithium you raging queen

Irene kissed MY HUSBAND? I will KILL HER!

Oh…wait!

LOL, 370!

I was embarrassed for Coco when she took off her top in FAME.

R364 I disagree. The DL will literally fall apart.

Why the fuck would all the Golden Girls watching dinosaurs give any fucks for Vadge? Fuck off. No one will care.

Because the sheep worship her as a god. It’s sick

Madonna auditioned for the tv series "Fame." I think they showed her audition on Etnerainment Tonight. It was...underwhelming. She could not act at all. The guy she auditined for said that his opinoin with that she could maybe be used in dance sequences and should wear her own clothes. Her 80s ":look" was in full force back then.

has worked non stop for 40 years

R383, Madonna’s audition is on this thread already

Madonna's audtion isn't actually bad. She's clearly nervous and she rolls her eyes too much. But she brings more than one note to the performance and that's a win for her.

Can r383 and r384 read? Madonna and Paul have already been mentioned.

Irene sings a standard.

on the fly, but here’s a little known fact re: Miss Irene Cara: a virtually unknown Madonna once auditioned for [italic]Fame.

None of the kids from 'Fame" had spectacular careers even though some of them have worked steadily. Irene Cara was the most successful, winning an Oscar and all that. But she was never really considered a big star, either. Maybe that's because she was "difficult."

I was an extra for like 2 years on fame and suck Billy Huffsey off in his trailer. True story - I ran into him in Vegas like 3 years ago and acted like we'd never met

[quote]I was an extra for like 2 years on fame and suck Billy Huffsey off in his trailer. True story - I ran into him in Vegas like 3 years ago and acted like we'd never met

More details, please. Knowing that he let a guy suck him off makes him that much hotter. He gives total guido vibes, but there was always something about him that seemed as if he'd go there with another dude.

Sure Jan r391.

There's an episode of Fame I'll always remember. Poor Dominique Dunne played a baby prostitute named Tracy that motherly Doris (the tv Doris was VERY different from the one in the movie) takes under her wing. She takes Tracy to The High School of the Performing Arts and she is properly dazzled; being a student at the school looks like it would be a never ending party. She of course wants to be part of it so she auditions by singing a version of "Blue Moon." She is totally without talent and the faculty who are witnessing the poor girl stumble through the song are stone faced with pity. It's an excruciating scene and Dominique Dunne pulls it off very well. She really was a promising, talented young actress. RIP, Dominique.

r393 Nice original comeback - Okay, I'm just putting it out there. Sorry that you've lived such a boring life. I'm a short Italian guy who went to college at Loyola Marymount. I worked on the show for 2 seasons while I was in college, He approached me and I can tell you I wasn't the only guy who hooked up with him. I only did it twice with him but I was stat struck and wanted to say I hooked up with a celebrity. The whole fucking set was gay with all the dancer's and Gene Anthony Ray was gay enough for the entire cast. Im not really sure why its so hard to believe.. He's very closeted and I think he still is. He's vary strange guy, I only sucked him off, he barely touched my dick. I also reminder that the dancer's worked in a bunch of music videos. My favorite was a dancer Rocker Verastique He was in a Janet Jackson video.

Why did Lori Singer’s career go straight down the shitter?

Fame used to be on repeat on our janky wannabe cable back in the day, my parents loved it, especially Gene Anthony Ray. I liked Irene quite a bit back in the day, & haven’t thought about her in so long, until now. I didn’t realize how beautiful she was, gorgeous!

Excellent details R395. How was his cock? There are pics online of him in a Speedo but I’d like to know your description. I always assumed he was gay or at least bi. Never married, no kids…

[quote]I only sucked him off, he barely touched my dick.

We’re you both nude? Did he finish on your face?

Has anyone checked on Juice Newton?

[quote] I was an extra for like 2 years on fame and suck Billy Huffsey off in his trailer. True story - I ran into him in Vegas like 3 years ago and acted like we'd never met

You blew him twice 35 years ago. Were you honestly expecting a testimonial?

R395, when he approached you, what did he say? Always curious how these situations start.

Didn't recognize the fluffer.

Fluffer, duffer.

Billy Hufsey was sexy as hell when he was younger — I’m impressed, R391!

R396, Lori Singer was perceived as The Poor Man’s Daryl Hannah. Let that one sink in, and then you’ll realize what happened to her career.

She had no tits. At least I had raisins.

[Quote]Why did Lori Singer’s career go straight down the shitter?

It seems as though somebody liked her and tried to make her happen. She just didn't.

It's funny that on a show about the performing arts, Lori Singer was devoid of the extraordinary talent focused on by the show. She was tall and kinda cute, but not pretty enough to be a supermodel. She wasn't much of an actress, singer or dancer compared to others on the show. She was good on the Cello, but there's not a huge demand for Cello players in Hollywood.

Below is her sorry attempt at singing. The only highlight is Brian Patrick Clarke from General Hospital.

Too bad Lori Singer wasn't Dominique Dunned.

[quote]She was good on the Cello, but there's not a huge demand for Cello players in Hollywood.

That reminds me that probably Singer's best performance is as the depressed cellist in Short Cuts, who can't connect with her jazz singer mom (Annie Ross) and is ogled by the pool man (Chris Penn). Robert Altman was a wiz with finding the best use for actors and getting the best out of them.

Lori Singer was a discount Daryl Hannah. Catherine Mary Stewart was a cut rate Lori Singer. Alexandra Paul was a bargain basement Catherine Mary Stewart.

R393, a stellar performance from Dunne . Dominique would have been a star . So much potential. Heartbreaking loss.

R394☝🏼

[quote]She was fired from "Ain't Misbehavin'" after she missed a peformance and she was discovered strung out.

I tried to tell her Broadway don't go for booze and dope...

but she snatched my wig anyway, cunt!

And yeah, maybe she ate my snatch a few times too.

Lori Singer resembles her hunky brother Marc a lot. Her role in Footloose was yet another part that HAGdonna tried out for and LOST.

Okay, Billy approached me to hang out in his trailer. He asked me twice before I decided to go. I remember her was that that hairy and had an average cock. Nothing special. I remember he wanted to shoot in my mouth. The first time I pulled out and watched him shoot a healthy load. The 2nd time, he shot in my mouth and I spit it out. I was young and not that experienced. I don't think he was impressed by my cock sucking. There was a Latino extra that who hooked up with Billy all the time. I know this sounds like a Nifty story LOL. Fame was a very different set, everyone was fucking each other and TONS of drugs. We worked with dancers who were all about body and most of the guys were gay. I remember Michael Delorenzo as really straight. Eventually I got more comfortable in my sexuality and ended up at Rage with Gene Anthony Ray and a group of dancers. Or the club in the Beverly Center. I think it was called Voila.

Hot story! Billy seemed like quite the slut. He wouldn't have had to ask me twice to join him, LOL. Shocked about DeLorenzo, as he's always pinged to me. Was Jessie Borrego gay too, or was your time on the show before he joined?

Jessie Borrego was straight and hooked up with Nia Pepples. BTW, Nia was very aggressive in her career., she had higher aspirations than Fame. Janet Jackson had very little interaction with anyone, and was always in her trailer. She kinda just disappeared one day. Honestly, the dancers were just a notch above the extra -We ended up hanging out all the time. It was a great job, they used the same extras because they wanted us to be students. I was short and looked young for my age, thats what they wanted. It was a great experience. I was so lucky, I made really good money, put myself thru College. I also worked on "St Elmos Fire", "Silver Spoons", "Different Strokes", an awful movie "Fast Forward" I then didi a couple of 5 lines and under and a few commercials. My agent was Herb Tannen. I'd post my old 8 X 10 but now Id be known as the Billy Hufsey cock sucker. LOL

Just post the pic without your named attached.

Oh wow R418. I've always pegged Nia as driven. I'm sure she saw Janet's post-FAME career and wanted that for herself. You worked on a lot of stuff. I agree, Fast Forward is awful but I still like it lol. Any stories from that and from St Elmo's?

Why not R418. Fame is Fame!

You want fame? In my trailer is where you start payin'

Um. . Hello? I DIED!

^^Irene honey, you just weren't interesting enough to carry your own thread.

I know this is about Irene Cara but below is one of my favorite scenes from "Fame" and she is not in it.

Is anyone going to care about an extra sucking off Billy from Fame in 2022 other than DL? Just post a pic or reference an episode you were featured prominently in the foreground.

Even in Footloose they had to hide Lori Singer's lack of dancing ability.

[quote]R418 Nia was very aggressive in her career., she had higher aspirations than Fame.

Can one reasonably aspire higher than this?

I don’t know.

Nia Peeples, Christ. Another one I haven't thought of in YEARS.

This thread is really bringing back names from the past.

So any memories of Irene or of Gene Anthony Ray, R418?

Oh for a double feature of Flashdance and Fame in all these empty mall theaters this weekend.... instead of 23 screenings of Avatar...

Irene was not a cast member for the TV show.

Erica had a really gummy,ugly smile.

Were Billy's balls musky? Did he wear underwear? Did he get totally naked? Inquiring minds want to know.

Erica Gimple was/is a very competent actress but I hated her as Coco. She looked like she was a seven foot tall Amazon while Irene always came across as a pocket Aphrodite. They should have just had her play a different character; it wasn't like the TV show was going to do the topless scene.

They just needed a light-skinned, curly haired chick. Rae Dawn Chong was too busy so Erica fit the bill well enough.

“The Kids from Fame” was an oddball phenomenon in the UK and Europe in 1982-83 where they had four top 10 hits in various countries with songs that I don’t think were ever released as singles at home in the US. Debbie Allen was a part of this project , but she ruffled a lot of feathers with her dominant ways and was considered a “bitch” by some of the others.

Rae Dawn would have absolutely ruined it, made it worse than it already was.

The motion picture "Fame" was gritty and somewhat dark, with moments of light and electricity, mostly thanks to Irene Cara. There are few more electrifying songs than "Fame" and the scene from the film is legendary.

It was "Hot Lunch Jam" for me. I went to Catholic elementary school and I was probably 6th grade. I remember being struck by the possibility that there was a high school of singing, dancing, musical kids who loved the things that I did. I wanted to be there with them.

I had a crush on Lee Curreri.

Cause of death, please?

It's all anyone really wants.

The Fame TV series was so different in tone from the film. The Alan Parker film had a serious, sometimes dark tone, while the series opted for a lighter, more fun approach. The pilot episode is interesting to watch because they were trying to keep the film's tone but they knew it wasn't going to work and by the end of the first season, there was more comedy and cute moments. Even having Gene and Lee return in their original roles didn't stop the show from becoming lighter.

I thought Erica Gimpel was a good recast for Coco. She didn't have the edge that Cara brought to the role (and Cara was a far superior singer) but Gimpel was fine. She's actually had a very impressive career after Fame. She never became a household name but she's worked consistently throughout the years, even featured in recurring roles on Profiler, ER and Veronica Mars. She is going to be in that new AMC series Mayfair Witches.

[quote]The Fame TV series was so different in tone from the film. The Alan Parker film had a serious, sometimes dark tone, while the series opted for a lighter, more fun approach.

It was the same with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (with Ellen Burstyn) vs. Alice (with Linda Lavin), although that may have been an even more extreme tonal shift. If I'd seen that Scorsese film when it was a new release, I'd never have guessed it would produce a long-running sitcom with "catchphrases" and a laugh track.

[R441] I think the coroner's report might take a few weeks. I'm sure once it's filed, TMS will publish it on their site.

It sounds like it was sudden and unexpected. But we’re going to have to wait…

It was booze and pills.

Being blackballed by the majority of the entertainment industry had to have been devastating to Irene. Especially when she was in the right. Maybe she was difficult to work with. I’d be too if I was getting ripped off by producers and executives.

Also realizing that many of your film and music choices were not the best…just saying that I would not be surprised if it was booze and dope. Or worse.

Liza had a quote for the press this morning:

"The day she died the neighbors came to snicker... 'Well, that's what comes from too much pills and liquor.' But when I saw her laid out like a queen.... She was the happiest corpse who's named Irene.

I think of Irene to this very day, I remember when she turned to me to say... 'FAME! I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly High! I feel it comin' together, people will see me and cry!'

And as for me, as for me... I made my mind up back in the Bahamas When I goooooooooooooooo - I'm going like Mama !"

Move over, bitch! It's my turn now.

^^ ugly

More about Billy and the blowjob!

[quote] I was embarrassed for Coco when she took off her top in FAME.

To be fair, you were supposed to be. It was supposed to be a deeply humiliating moment for her character.

The problem was that her tits were so awesomely ugly everyone felt sorry for her because of that, not because she had been misled by a perv.

I’m uncomfortable about this “her tits were ugly” topic that’s constantly being brought up in here. I’m feeling there’s some second hand racism behind it with the repeated references to them as “raisins” and such. And even if there’s no racist intentions, so what? She had small breasts with large areola. Who cares?

Oh look, here comes the Woke Squad.

Pancake tits

Here comes the Log Cabinette at r454

[quote] I wanted to be there with them.

Of course you did. The movie "Fame" made it seem like attending the school was a never ending party. Actually it involved a lot of work, a lot of studyhing, written tests. Grades had to be maintained. Of courswe the movie doesn't show any of that, although I remember a brief scenes where instructors were telling the students what they were in for and it wasn't all it wasn't all fun, not by a long shot.

Whenever someone uses the word “woke” the way that R454 did, I picture it being a guy with a beer belly sitting on a recliner inside a trailer with moose heads and confederate flags adorning the walls.

Debbie Allen was such a bitch on that show.

R459 I just wanted the best for my students.

And here is where you start payin'...in sweat.

Her all-time best film is Certain Fury, now free to watch on Tubi!!!!!!

Debbie Allen was the STAR of Fame. How dare you call her a bitch??!! She was the star! The choreographer! She sang! She directed!

R458, don’t forget the skid marks in his underwear that he hasn’t changed in DAYS.

Besides the Golden Girls worshipping cult, DL is also 100% woke motherfuckers. You cunts would take offense. LOL.

You're a blight on this site, AWF Troll.

R464 change those nasty drawers…

An autopsy was done. I don't need to know the results, some things should remain personal.

Not if her ethos was "Baby, look at me!"

Has Evelyn "Champagne" King posted yet?!?

Another huge reason poor black girl Irene was a colossal failure is the same reason Laura Branigan and Taylor Dayne's careers went nowhere. The three girls are all fug. Not super fug like Barbra but fug enough that it was impossible for the record companies to market them. Branigan and Dayne were equally as grotesque as Irene. All three had super powerful voices but how many songs did all three girls have that were signature songs?

Irene was not fug at all

Branigan was initially attractive.

Whaddabout me, bitches?

Branigan in 1979.

Irene, Laura and Taylor were not fug.

I'm sure r470 is a hunk.

Laura had no stage presence. At least Irene had that.

Am I pretty?

Pretty but with a screechy upper range, Sheen.

I was seven years old when Flashdance came out. My parents gave me the Flashdance soundtrack for a birthday present that year.

Of course I turned out to be gay.

The vowel alterations here are driving me nuts. I guess it (mostly) avoids the church lady wobble.

I thought Sheena killed herself from depression. WTF. I thought Wynonna's mama was dead. Sheena was another fug 80's girl.

R479 Sure, Jan. Sucking your dad's sausage every day and watching the Golden Girls every Saturday night made everyone know you were a lil cocksucker, dearie.

What a charming specimen you are r482.

Pat Benatar was no beauty queen either, that's for sure.

Just a few hours before she died, this message was left on Irene Cara's voice mail by Dionne Warwick:

“I got your number, hussy."

[quote]r484 Pat Benatar was no beauty queen either, that's for sure. - Juice Newton

Shut it, cunt!

Benatar always had a rat face. Her horrible contract forced her to release a new album every 9 months. Otherwise her career woulda went absolutely nowhere due to being a rat faced fug.

I never understood the lyrics to "Fame." Irene sings, "I'm gonna live forever," then sings "I'm gonna make it to heaven."

Well, if you're gonna live forever, why would you want to make it to heaven?

Her "fame" implies she will live forever. IRL for being super fug! LOL. I'm gonna make it to heaven means that having fame IS heaven, you Golden Girls watching twerp.

Stephanie Mills had a decent career despite being plain and dumpy. She had lots of work done, though. Sometimes plastic surgery is necessary.

Stephanie Mills' career was short-lived, she had one crossover hit, and was pretty much over by 1985.

People can have a career based on chart action outside the Hot 100, ya know.

O r491 she had a very good career…quite prolific within the R & B circuit.

Maybe for mainstream pop R491. But when it comes to R&B, Stephanie Mills is a timeless legend.

[quote]Stephanie Mills' career was short-lived, she had one crossover hit, and was pretty much over by 1985.

Clearly you're not black and/or of a certain age, or you just aren't into R&B. Anyone who is unaware of Stephanie Mills's legendary status within the R&B fanbase is completely clueless.

Stephanie does keep having to use MJ's name for press, so she could do with a career resus.

Steph and Chaka recently had an iconic VERZUZ episode. Steph had to hold Chaka down, the latter who was clearly fucked up on either booze or the sniff-sniff.

I just looked up Mills' singles discography. She did have some #1 songs on the R&B singles chart in the late 80s that I'd never heard of (and which also made no appearance on any other charts) but I would hardly call her a legend. Anyone who watches the series Unsung on TVOne knows the R&B chart was littered with songs and acts who only had success there but are otherwise unknown and forgotten. Stephanie has nothing to be ashamed of, but legend? Nah.

I watched Fame after I heard the news. My God it’s a great movie! Perfectly captures a time/place and pitch perfect exploration of adolescence. The theme song is my least fav of the movie. The rest are fantastic. Final song/performance so good. Makes me remember why I love the movies after a generation of Marvel crap.

[quote] Well, if you're gonna live forever, why would you want to make it to heaven?

I don't think 'I'm gonna live forever" was meant to be taken literally. Being famous means you'll live on through your work, through songs, movies, etc. That's what she meant when she sang that she was going to "live forever."

My bad if this was already posted.

Oh Debbie ...... Her reaction made me tear up again :-(

On IMdb it looks like Irene's follow up to Fame was a sitcom called Irene with Kaye Ballard.

Did this ever air? Anyone see it?

I think Ballard played Irene's salty but hilarious neighbor: "You want to light up the sky like a flame, and I want to light up my cigarette."

Hot lunch, yeah!

Macaroni and baloney

Tuna fish our fav'rite dish

It's hot lunch, yeah!

If it's yellow then it's Jell-O

If it's blue it could be stewed

Ooh ooh ooh!

She's gotta one-a-day lunch

[quote]On IMdb it looks like Irene's follow up to Fame was a sitcom called Irene with Kaye Ballard. Did this ever air?

The pilot aired in a summer '81 dump of shows that weren't going to be picked up. The Fox Force Five file, we could call it.

The New York Times was dismissive: "Miss Cara is fine as long as she's singing. Teddy Wilson (not the jazz musician), who plays the uncle, tries hard with Carol Gary's limp script and almost makes it. Julia Duffy, who plays Lois, doesn't. Kaye Ballard's brief moments on screen as Dotty Bushmill make this all seem a sad waste of genuine talent. And a youngster named Dede Rescher, who plays the lovelorn Dede, is a real find."

You can see it for yourself on YouTube, split into two parts.

I could have it all…. I was dancing for my life! 💃

R501 Poor Debbie. Her reaction was genuine.

I have a vague memory watching the Irene sitcom on youtube when it was linked here on another thread. I don't think it was good, but also not really any worse than some of the other sitcoms of that era, which was not a sitcom golden age. I don't think she or possibly it was more of the character was strong enough to center a sitcom if I remember correctly.

My brother seriously crushed on her as Alex Haley’s mother in ROOTS: THE NEXT GENERATION. I was crushing on Dorian Harewood, who played Alex’s father.

Debbie looks good in that clip. I wish more people in show business would realize aging naturally looks better (or just get subtle work). She really does seem to care about kids and the ones who worked with her. I have seen a couple of interviews touching her time at a Different World where that came across.

LSA is convinced Debbie was turning out women left, right and centre.

Dorian Harewood was FOINE back in the day. Howard Rollins Jr. who played Alex's brother, George Haley, in the film was another gorgeous actor from that era.

Was Howard Rollins the TV Mister Tibbs?

R514 Yes. And very gay. And very drug addicted. And died of AIDS.

Apparently, Aretha used to keep Blair Underwood. I wonder who else she kept.

Let's watch Irene! ❤

Someone has a hit movie and then goes straight into their own sitcom?

513 Yes cuz the black Q tip head was always so sexy. Make me puke.

Nothing wrong with his hair.

Dorian Harewood is a great actor and very sexy.

He and Irene also starred together in Sparkle.

I wonder if Irene auditioned for The Color Purple. She could have played Shug and done her own singing. The woman who played it was dubbed which always seemed odd to me since she wasn't a star. Why not get an actual singer?

Actual singers turned the part down (Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan).

Irene was still too young for Shug back then. She was only 25. She would not have been right for it.

If Cara had been right for anyone in The Color Purple, it would have been Squeak. "I'm goin' with Shug. I'm fixin' to SANG!"

Part 2 is here since we are about to max out

Could a Victoria’s Secret Wonder Bra have uplifted Cara’s film career?

I wonder.

Was Shug the one who was the ugliest black girl alive? Irene woulda been perfect for that! She was born to play the ugliest black girl alive.

R528: Shug was supposed to be beautiful, sexy, and loaded with charisma. Celie, the main character, is the one people keep calling ugly (including Shug, the first time they meet).

I don't know why people (or one person) keep insisting Irene Cara was ugly. Far from it.

R372- His light 💡 burned brightly for a while

Saturday Night Fever 🥵 (1977)

Fame (1980)

Biloxi Blues (1985)

Then he faded into obscurity

R528 is trolling us. Just wants to get attention. Irene Cara was a very attractive woman.

R531 I've told this story before, but back in the 90s, I was at the San Francisco airport and went to use the urinal. The row of urinals was completely empty, and then this guy comes and stands right next to me, pulls out his dick, and starts stroking it. I looked at the guy. It was Barry Miller. I got nervous and zipped up and left, and then later, while I was sitting at the gate waiting for my flight, he walked by holding hands with a girl.

It looks like he's never been married, so maybe he ultimately came to terms with being gay.

Oh, and his cock was average. Nothing special. If it had been a big ol' monster cock, I might have stayed a while longer. :-)

I wonder what happened to him, r533? He worked steadily up through 1999 then disappeared.

Time to end this thread.

R533- He seemed so gay so QUEER in Saturday Night Fever. They should have just made his character gay but that would not have been acceptable to audiences in 1977.

R536 I always thought his character in Saturday Night Fever was a closeted gay kid. He worshipped Tony, and when he felt like Tony didn't care about him, he killed himself.

Has anyone asked Boyd Gaines or Malcom Getz about Barry Miller's whereabouts?

I was at Whole Foods earlier today and saw a black girl who looked exactly like Irene. Poor girl was uglier than sin and had a few warts on her face, also had long gnarled fingernails. I swear I will have nightmares tonight. I could hear her humming the Flashdance song. It must have been Irene's ugly ghost.

[quote] Maybe for mainstream pop [R491]. But when it comes to R&B, Stephanie Mills is a timeless legend.

Mills has some great music and is an R&B legend.

Too bad she capes for Louis Farrakhan and imagines herself as MJ's girlfriend as if it's still 1979.

R533- Barry Miller was a CLOSET queen and you were a SIZE queen.

[quote] He seemed so gay so QUEER in Saturday Night Fever.

Ii didn't think Bobby C. was gay. He seemed to me to be pathetically immature and had a low IQ. The scene in SNF where he's trying to get the attention of Tony's brother (who used to be priest) in the disco is excruciating. In the midst of the all excitement and commotion in he disco he's asking the former priest to help him get an abortion for his girlfriend. It's hard to watch. Equally excruciating was the scene where he's on the bridge showing off for Tony, then breaking down and tearfully asking him "Why didn't you call me?" No, I don't think he was gay; he was a poor, dumb loser kid who idolized Tony (he's King of the Disco!), just a total fuck up.

I love Stephanie, r540, but the obsession with MJ has gotten scary. As scary as her support of Farrakhan.

What did that bitch die of?

Time is like a burrito.

I haven’t read everything on this thread but I thought Michelle Sutlovitch’s beautiful dance to “Fame” should be posted as a tribute to Irene.

r545 I love that movie

Who is the crazy bitch who keeps insisting Irene was fug? She was beautiful and tented.

Her bizarre breasts certainly did stick out at a weird angle, so I guess you could indeed say she was 'tented."

It may come as a surprise to many of you, but boobs come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Squaring up to Rita Moreno as The REAL Hispanic Trailblazer... That's so Irene.

yuck who put that sloppy guy on DL at r551

I bet he did.

R546 She's self-taught! Who knew?

Sweet.

Fame- Irene Cara

At the beginning of the video look at the boys with those TUBE socks- yikes.

R555 That was a look in the 1980s.

DL needs to end threads at the 450 count. The threads get so buggy after that.

Cara on.

Not for me.

R557 It's just this thread that's buggy. It's been buggy from the start.

This thread has been super ugly. As in Irene Cara ugly.

Irene’s ghost is fucking with us…

Fame COSTS!!

Sounds like Irene wasn't very happy in her post-Fame years based on R551's video.

She was an irascible, super ugly, drug addicted cunt. Why'd she be happy?

She also sounds like she was a piece of work too. Exhausting.

[quote] It may come as a surprise to many of you, but boobs come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

True. I've seen a lot of bare breasts in movies; most of them are not what you'd call impressive. But Irene Cara's were particularly unfortunate; tiny and saggy. Breasts like that should never be revealed, they should only be concealed by a good bra.

Whether she was unhappy or not with how her career went, she made enough money in her youth to live off of for 30 years.

Well, that's good to know R567. I was wondering how she supported herself in the lean years.

[quote] It may come as a surprise to many of you, but boobs come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Thanks for the lecture, Isis, but right now there's a runaway bear that needs capturing!

She never won much in her sad life but she was always the ugliest girl to ever live. She got that.