Carmen Miranda filmography
This is a complete filmography of Carmen Miranda, a Portuguese-Brazilian singer, actress, and dancer.
![](../I/Carmen_Miranda_(1944).jpg.webp)
By the mid-1930s, Carmen Miranda had become the most popular female singer in Brazil, and one of the nation's first film stars. In her lifetime she had appeared in six Brazilian films and fourteen US productions. The only glimpses that today's audiences can have of her Brazilian screen performances are in the recently restored Alô, Alô, Carnaval (1936)[1] and a tantalisingly brief clip from Banana da Terra (1939), in which she first wore on screen what would become her iconic baiana costume and extravagant turban.[2]
In 1939 she became a star on Broadway, at the invitation of US show business impresario, Lee Shubert,[3] and just two years later was under contract with the 20th Century-Fox studios in Hollywood.[4] Her most memorable performances are in the musical numbers of films such as Down Argentine Way (1940), Week-End in Havana (1941), That Night in Rio (1941) and The Gang's All Here (1943).
After World War II, Miranda's films at 20th Century Fox were made in black-and-white indicating her waning status at the studio. In 1946, she bought out her Fox contract for $75,000,[5] she made the decision to pursue her acting career free of the constraints of the studios. In 1947, she starred an independent production for United Artists, Copacabana alongside Groucho Marx, with limited success.
She was the first Latin American to inscribe her name, handprints and footprints on the Walk of Fame outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on 24 March 1941, and in 1944 she became the highest-paid woman in United States.[6]
On August 4, 1955, Miranda filmed a number for The Jimmy Durante Show, during which she complained of being out of breath. In the early hours of the following morning, she died of a heart attack in the dressing room of her Beverly Hills mansion, collapsing to the floor, her hand still clutching a mirror.[7]
Carmen Miranda became a Latin American icon and two of the films in which she appeared—Down Argentine Way and The Gang's All Here—have been added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.[8]
Credits
Film appearances
Short subjects
Title | Year | Role | Director | Co-stars | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hollywood Meets the Navy | 1941 | Herself | Harriet Parsons | ||
Sing with the Stars | 1945 | Herself[14] | Dick Lane (as Richard Lane) | Produced by Army Pictorial Service | |
The All-Star Bond Rally | 1945 | Pin-up girl | Michael Audley | ||
Hollywood Goes to War | 1954 | Herself[15] | |||
Radio appearances
Year | Program | Episode/source |
---|---|---|
1939 | The Rudy Vallée Show | June 29, 1939[16] |
August 17, 1939 | ||
The Fred Allen Show | October 4, 1939 | |
1941 | Rudy Vallee Valle Varieties | May 22, 1941 |
1942 | Command Performance | March 29, 1942 |
August 4, 1942 | ||
Treasury Star Parade | 1942 | |
Hello Americans | "Brazil" | |
1943 | Command Performance | "Tribute To The British Army" |
1944 | January 8, 1944 | |
March 25, 1944 | ||
Lux Radio Theatre | "Springtime In The Rockies" | |
Jubilee | June 26, 1944 | |
1945 | Mail Call | January 10, 1945 |
National Radio Hall of Fame | "Breakfast In Hollywood" | |
Which Is Which | January 31, 1945 | |
Command Performance | February 1, 1945 | |
The Danny Kaye Show | February 15, 1945 | |
1946 | The Fred Allen Show | March 10, 1946 |
Here's To Veterans | "First Song Sioux City Sue" | |
Command Performance | June 30, 1946 | |
1947 | The Chase and Sanborn Hour | November 23, 1947 |
The Ford Show | April 2, 1947 | |
1950 | The Hedda Hopper Show | December 10, 1950 |
1951 | The Big Show | March 25, 1951 |
Television appearances
Year | Program | Episode/source | Note |
---|---|---|---|
1948 | Texaco Star Theatre | 5 October 1948 | |
1949 | Erskine Johnson's Hollywood Reel | ||
The Ed Wynn Show | 29 September 1949 | ||
Texaco Star Theatre | 18 January 1949 | ||
1950 | Texaco Star Theatre | 21 November 1950 | |
1951 | TV Club | 28 February 1951 | |
What's My Line? | 18 November 1951 | ||
The Colgate Comedy Hour | 16 December 1951 | ||
Texaco Star Theatre | 6 November 1951 | ||
Four Star Revue | 21 March 1951[17] | ||
1952 | The Colgate Comedy Hour | 24 February 1952 | |
Texaco Star Theatre | 23 September 1952 | ||
1953 | Four Star Revue | 7 March 1953 | |
Toast of the Town | 13 September 1953 | ||
1955 | The Jimmy Durante Show | 15 October 1955 | Last appearance before her death on 5 August 1955.[18] |
Stage work
- The Streets of Paris (1939–1940)[19]
- Sons o' Fun (1941–1942)[20]
References
- "Restaurado, "Alô, Alô, Carnaval" mostra que resiste aos Carnavais". Folha de S. Paulo. June 7, 2002. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- The International Film Musical, p.152
- "Livro derruba mitos sobre Carmen Miranda". Folha de S. Paulo. November 30, 2005. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- Hirsch, Foster. The Boys from Syracuse: The Shuberts' Theatrical Empire, p.189
- "Miranda Act". Sun-Sentinel. October 5, 1995. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- "Tributes honor Carmen Miranda's colorful career". The Boston Globe. January 17, 2006. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- "Film Star Carmen Miranda Dies". Los Angeles Times. August 6, 1955. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
- Cinematic Treasures Named to National Film Registry.
- da Costa Garcia, Tânia. O "it verde e amarelo" de Carmen Miranda (1930-1946), p.31
- Castro, Ruy, Carmen: uma Biografia. (2005)
- Júnior, Abel Cardoso. Carmen Miranda, a cantora do Brasil, p.20
- Gevinson, Alan. Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960, p. 225
- Firmat, Gustavo Pérez. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way, p.202
- Mendonça, Ana Rita. Carmen Miranda foi a Washington, p.101
- Rowan Terry. World War II Goes to the Movies & Television Guide, p.226
- The Seduction of Brazil: The Americanization of Brazil during World War II
- Bakish, David. Jimmy Durante: His Show Business Career, With an Annotated Filmography and Discography, p.135
- Martha Gil-Montero, Brazilian bombshell: the biography of Carmen Miranda, p.253
- Carter, David Payne. Gower Champion: Dance and American Musical Theatre, p.12
- Dietz, Dan. The Complete Book of 1940s Broadway Musicals, p.89