Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha[a]GCIH,OMC[1] (9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955), known professionally asCarmen Miranda (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈkaʁmẽjmiˈɾɐ̃dɐ]), was a Portuguese-Brazilian singer, dancer, and actress. Nicknamed "the Brazilian Bombshell",[2][3] she was known for her signaturefruit hat outfits that she wore in her American films.
As a young woman, Miranda designed clothes and hats in a boutique before making her debut as a singer, recording with composer Josué de Barros in 1929. Miranda's 1930 recording of "Taí (Pra Você Gostar de Mim)", written by Joubert de Carvalho, catapulted her to stardom in Brazil as the foremost interpreter ofsamba.
During the 1930s, Miranda performed on Brazilian radio and appeared in five Brazilianchanchadas, films celebrating Brazilian music, dance and the country'scarnival culture.[4]Hello, Hello Brazil! andHello, Hello, Carnival! embodied the spirit of these early Miranda films. The 1939 musicalBanana da Terra (directed by Ruy Costa) gave the world her "Baiana" image, inspired by Afro-Brazilians from the north-eastern state ofBahia.[5]
In 1939,Broadway producerLee Shubert, after seeing Miranda perform atCassino da Urca in Rio de Janeiro,[6] offered her an eight-week contract to perform inThe Streets of Paris. The following year she made her first Hollywood film,Down Argentine Way, co-starringDon Ameche andBetty Grable, and her exotic clothing and Brazilian Portuguese accent became her trademark.[7] That year, she was voted the third-most-popular personality in the United States; she and her group, Bando da Lua, were invited to sing and dance for PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.[8] In 1941, she was the first Latin American star to be invited to leave her handprints and footprints in the courtyard ofGrauman's Chinese Theatre and was the first South American honored with a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[9] In 1943, Miranda starred inBusby Berkeley'sThe Gang's All Here, which featured musical numbers with the fruit hats that became her trademark. By 1945, she was the highest-paid woman in the United States.[10]
Miranda made 14 Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953. Although she was hailed as a talented performer, her popularity waned by the end ofWorld War II. Miranda came to resent the stereotypical "Brazilian Bombshell" image she had cultivated and attempted to free herself of it with limited success. She focused on nightclub appearances and became a fixture on television variety shows. Despite being stereotyped, Miranda's performances popularized Brazilian music and increased public awareness of Latin culture.[11] Miranda is considered the precursor of Brazil's 1960sTropicalismo cultural movement.[12] Amuseum was built in Rio de Janeiro in her honor[13] and she was the subject of the documentaryCarmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business (1995).[14]
Travessa do Comércio in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Miranda lived at number 13 when she was young.[15]
Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha in 1909 in Várzea da Ovelha e Aliviada, a village in the northernPortuguese municipality ofMarco de Canaveses.[16] She was the second daughter of José Maria Pinto da Cunha (17 February 1887 – 21 June 1938) and Maria Emília Miranda (10 March 1886,Rio de Janeiro – 9 November 1971).[17]
The family'semigration to Brazil was already scheduled; however, upon finding herself pregnant, Carmen Miranda's mother preferred to wait for her daughter's birth.[18] In 1909, her father emigrated to Brazil[19] and settled in Rio de Janeiro, where he opened a barber shop. Her mother followed in 1910 with their daughters, Olinda (1907–1931) and Carmen, who was less than a year old.[18][20] Although Carmen never returned to Portugal, she retained her Portuguese nationality.[21] In Brazil, her parents had four more children:Amaro (1912–1988),Cecilia (1913–2011),Aurora (1915–2005) and Óscar (1916–1998).[17]
She waschristened Carmen by her father because of his love forBizet'sCarmen. This passion for opera influenced his children, and Miranda's love for singing and dancing, at an early age.[19] She was educated at the Convent ofSaint Therese of Lisieux. Her father did not approve of Miranda's plans to enter show business; her mother supported her, despite being beaten when her father discovered that his daughter had auditioned for a radio show (she had sung at parties and festivals in Rio). Miranda's older sister, Olinda, developedtuberculosis and was sent to Portugal for treatment; the singer worked in a tie shop at age 14 to help pay her sister's medical bills. She then worked in a boutique (where she learned to make hats) and opened a successful hat business.
Miranda was introduced to Josué de Barros, a composer and musician from Bahia, while she was working at her family's inn. With help from de Barros andBrunswick Records, she recorded her first single (the samba "Não vá Simbora") in 1929. Miranda's second single, "Prá Você Gostar de Mim" (also known as "Taí", and released in 1930), was a collaboration with Brazilian composer Joubert de Carvalho and sold a record 35,000 copies that year. She signed a two-year contract withRCA Victor in 1930, giving them exclusive rights to her image.[22]
In 1933, Miranda signed a two-year contract withRádio Mayrink Veiga, the most popular Brazilian station of the 1930s, and was the first contract singer in Brazilian radio history; for a year, in 1937, she moved toRádio Tupi. She later signed a contract withOdeon Records,[23] making her the highest-paid radio singer in Brazil at the time.[24]
Miranda's rise to stardom in Brazil was linked to the growth of a native style of music: thesamba. The samba and Miranda's emerging career enhanced the revival of Brazilian nationalism during the government of PresidentGetúlio Vargas.[25] Her gracefulness and vitality in her recordings and live performances gave her the nickname "Cantora do It". The singer was later known as "Ditadora Risonha do Samba", and in 1933 radio announcer Cesar Ladeira christened her "A Pequena Notável".
Her Brazilian film career was linked to a genre of musical films that drew on the nation's carnival traditions and the annual celebration and musical style of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's capital at the time. Miranda performed a musical number inO Carnaval Cantado no Rio (1932, the first sound documentary on the subject) and three songs inA Voz do Carnaval (1933), which combined footage of street celebrations in Rio with a fictitious plot providing a pretext for musical numbers.
Miranda's next screen performance was in the musicalHello, Hello Brazil! (1935), in which she performed its closing number: themarcha "Primavera no Rio", which she had recorded for Victor in August 1934. Several months after the film's release, according toCinearte magazine, "Carmen Miranda is currently the most popular figure in Brazilian cinema, judging by the sizeable correspondence that she receives".[26] In her next film,Estudantes (1935), she had a speaking part for the first time. Miranda played Mimi, a young radio singer (who performs two numbers in the film) who falls in love with a university student (played by singerMário Reis).
Poster for the 1936 Brazilian film,Hello, Hello, Carnival!
She starred in the next co-production from the Waldow and Cinédia studios, the musicalHello, Hello, Carnival! (1936), which contained a roll call of popular music and radio performers (including Miranda's sister,Aurora). A standard backstage plot permitted 23 musical numbers and, by contemporary Brazilian standards, the film was a major production. Its set reproduced the interior of Rio's plush Atlântico casino (where some scenes were filmed) and was a backdrop for some of its musical numbers.[27] Miranda's stardom is evident in a film poster with a full-length photograph of her and her name topping the cast list.[28]
Although she became synonymous with colorful fruit hats during her later career, she began wearing them only in 1939, and contrary to popular belief, they were never made from real fruit.[13][29] Miranda appeared in the filmBanana da Terra that year in a glamorous version of the traditional dress of a poor black girl inBahia: a flowing dress and a fruit-hat turban. She sang "O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?"; which intended to empower a social class that was usually disparaged.[30][31][32]
ProducerLee Shubert offered Miranda an eight-week contract to perform inThe Streets of Paris on Broadway after seeing her perform in 1939 at Rio's Cassino da Urca.[33] Although she was interested in performing in New York, she refused to accept the deal unless Shubert agreed to also hire her band, the Bando da Lua. He refused, saying that there were many capable musicians in New York who could back her. Miranda remained steadfast, feeling that North American musicians would not be able to authenticate the sounds of Brazil. Shubert compromised, agreeing to hire the six band members but not paying for their transport to New York. PresidentGetúlio Vargas, recognizing the value to Brazil of Miranda's tour, announced that the Brazilian government would pay for the band's transportation on theMoore-McCormack Lines between Rio and New York.[34] Vargas believed that Miranda would foster ties between the northern and southern hemispheres and act as agoodwill ambassador in the United States, increasing Brazil's share of the American coffee market. Miranda took the official sanction of her trip and her duty to represent Brazil to the outside world seriously. She left for New York on theSSUruguay on 4 May 1939, a few months beforeWorld War II.[35]
Miranda arrived in New York on 18 May 1939.[36] She and the band had their first Broadway performance on 19 June 1939 inThe Streets of Paris.[37] Although Miranda's part was small (she spoke only four words), she received good reviews and became a media sensation.[38] According toNew York Times theater criticBrooks Atkinson, most of the musical numbers "ap[e] the tawdry dullness" of genuine Paris revues and "the chorus girls, skin-deep in atmosphere, strike what Broadway thinks a Paris pose ought to be". Atkinson added, however, that "South American contributes the [revue's] most magnetic personality" (Miranda). Singing "rapid-rhythmed songs to the accompaniment of a Brazilian band, she radiates heat that will tax the Broadhurst [theater] air-conditioning plant this Summer". Although Atkinson gave the revue a lukewarm review, he wrote that Miranda made the show.[39][40][41]
Syndicated columnistWalter Winchell wrote for theNew York Daily Mirror that a star had been born who would save Broadway from the slump in ticket sales caused by the1939 New York World's Fair. Winchell's praise of Carmen and her Bando da Lua was repeated on hisBlue Network radio show, which reached 55 million listeners daily.[42] The press called Miranda "the girl who saved Broadway from the World's Fair".[43]
Partly because their unusual melody and heavy accented rhythms are unlike anything ever heard in aManhattan revue before, partly because there is not a clue to their meaning except the gay rolling of Carmen Miranda's insinuating eyes, these songs, and Miranda herself, are the outstanding hit of the show.[44]
When news of Broadway's latest star (known as the Brazilian Bombshell) reachedHollywood,Twentieth Century-Fox began to develop a film featuring Miranda. Its working title wasThe South American Way (the title of a song she had performed in New York), and the film was later entitledDown Argentine Way (1940). Although its production and cast were based in Los Angeles, Miranda's scenes were filmed in New York because of her club obligations. Fox could combine the footage from both cities because the singer had no dialogue with the other cast members.[45][46][47]Down Argentine Way was successful, grossing $2 million that year at the US box office.[48]
TheShuberts brought Miranda back toBroadway, teaming her withOlsen and Johnson,Ella Logan, and the Blackburn Twins in the musical revueSons o' Fun on 1 December 1941.[49] The show was a hodgepodge of slapstick, songs, and skits; according toNew York Herald Tribune theater critic Richard Watts Jr., "In her eccentric and highly personalized fashion, Miss Miranda is by way of being an artist and her numbers give the show its one touch of distinction." On 1 June 1942, she left the production when her Shubert contract expired; meanwhile, she recorded forDecca Records.[50]
On the cover of the Brazilian magazineA Cena Muda, 1941
Miranda was encouraged by the US government as part of Roosevelt'sGood Neighbor policy, designed to strengthen ties with Latin America. It was believed that performers like her would give the policy a favorable impression with the American public.[51] Miranda's contract with20th Century Fox lasted from 1941 to 1946, coinciding with the creation and activities of theOffice of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. The goal of the OCIAA was to obtain support from Latin American society and its governments for the United States.[52]
The Good Neighbor policy had been linked to American interference in Latin America; Roosevelt sought better diplomatic relations with Brazil and other South American nations and pledged to refrain from military intervention (which had occurred to protect American business interests in industries such as mining or agriculture).Hollywood was asked to help, andWalt Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox participated. Miranda was considered a goodwill ambassador and a promoter of intercontinental culture.[53]
Although Miranda's American popularity continued to increase, she began to lose favor with some Brazilians. On 10 July 1940, she returned to Brazil and was welcomed by cheering fans. Soon after her arrival, however, the Brazilian press began criticizing Miranda for accommodating American commercialism and projecting a negative image of Brazil. Members of the upper class felt that her image was "too black", and she was criticized in a Brazilian newspaper for "singing bad-taste black sambas". Other Brazilians criticized Miranda for playing a stereotypical "Latina bimbo". In her first interview after her arrival in the US in theNew York World-Telegram, she played up her then-limited knowledge of the English language: "I say money, money, money. I say twenty words in English. I say money, money, money and I say hot dog!"[54]
On 15 July, Miranda appeared in a charity concert organized by BrazilianFirst LadyDarci Vargas and attended by members of Brazil'shigh society. She greeted the audience in English and was met with silence. When Miranda began singing "The South American Way", a song from one of her club acts, the audience began to boo her. Although she tried to finish her act, she gave up and left the stage when the audience refused to let up. The incident deeply hurt Miranda, who wept in her dressing room. The following day, the Brazilian press criticized her as "too Americanized".[54]
Weeks later, Miranda responded to the criticism with the Portuguese song "Disseram que Voltei Americanizada" ("They Say I've Come Back Americanized"). Another song, "Bananas Is My Business", was based on a line from one of her films and directly addressed her image. Upset by the criticism, Miranda did not return to Brazil for 14 years.
Shamrock Hotel program and menu featuring Miranda, 26 February 1952
Her films were scrutinized by Latin American audiences for characterizing Central and South America in a culturally homogeneous way. When Miranda's films reached Central and South American theaters, they were perceived as depicting Latin American cultures through the lens of American preconceptions. Some Latin Americans felt that their cultures were misrepresented, and felt that someone from their own region was misrepresenting them.Down Argentine Way was criticized, with Argentines saying that it failed to depict Argentine culture. Its lyrics were allegedly replete with non-Argentine themes, and its sets were a fusion of Mexican, Cuban, and Brazilian culture. The film was later banned in Argentina for "wrongfully portraying life in Buenos Aires".[55] Similar sentiments were voiced in Cuba after the debut of Miranda'sWeekend in Havana (1941), with Cuban audiences offended by Miranda's portrayal of a Cuban woman. Her performances were arguably hybrids of Brazilian and other Latin cultures. Critics said that Miranda's other films misrepresented Latin locales, assuming that Brazilian culture was a representation of Latin America.[56]
In 1941 Miranda was invited to leave her hand and (high-heeled) footprints atGrauman's Chinese Theatre, the first Latin American to do so.
During the war years, Miranda starred in eight of her 14 films; although the studios called her the Brazilian Bombshell, the films blurred her Brazilian identity in favor of a Latin American image.[57] According to aVariety review of directorIrving Cummings'That Night in Rio (1941, Miranda's second Hollywood film), her character upstaged the leads: "[Don] Ameche is very capable in a dual role, and Miss [Alice] Faye is eye-appealing but it's the tempestuous Miranda who really gets away to a flying start from the first sequence".[58]The New York Times article said, "Whenever one or the other Ameche character gets out of the way and lets [Miranda] have the screen, the film sizzles and scorches wickedly."[59] Years later,Clive Hirschhorn wrote: "That Night in Rio was the quintessential Fox war-time musical – an over-blown, over-dressed, over-produced and thoroughly irresistible cornucopia of escapist ingredients."[60] On 24 March 1941, Miranda was one of the first Latinas to imprint her handprints and footprints on the sidewalk ofGrauman's Chinese Theatre.
In 1942,20th Century-Fox paid $60,000 toLee Shubert to terminate his contract with Miranda, who finished herSons o' Fun tour and began filmingSpringtime in the Rockies.[63] The film, which grossed about $2 million, was one of the year's ten most-successful films at the box office.[64] According to aChicago Tribune review, it was "senseless, but eye intriguing ... The basic plot is splashed over with songs and dances and the mouthings and eye and hand work of Carmen Miranda, who sure would be up a tree if she ever had to sing in the dark".[65]
In 1943, she appeared inBusby Berkeley'sThe Gang's All Here. Berkeley's musicals were known for lavish production, and Miranda's role as Dorita featured "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat". A special effect made her fruit-bedecked hat appear larger than possible. By then she wastypecast as an exotic singer, and under her studio contract she was obligated to make public appearances in her ever-more-outlandish film costumes. One of her records, "I Make My Money With Bananas" seemed to pay ironic tribute to her typecasting.The Gang's All Here was one of 1943's 10 highest-grossing films and Fox's most expensive production of the year.[66] It received positive reviews, althoughThe New York Times film critic wrote: "Mr. Berkeley has some sly notions under his busby. One or two of his dance spectacles seem to stem straight from Freud."[67]
The following year Miranda made a cameo appearance inFour Jills in a Jeep, a film based on a true adventure of actressesKay Francis,Carole Landis,Martha Raye, andMitzi Mayfair;Alice Faye andBetty Grable also made brief appearances. In 1944 Miranda also starred withDon Ameche inGreenwich Village, a Fox musical withWilliam Bendix andVivian Blaine in supporting roles. The film was poorly received; according toThe New York Times, "Technicolor is the picture's chief asset, but still worth a look for the presence of Carmen Miranda".[68] In herMiami News review, Peggy Simmonds wrote: "Fortunately forGreenwich Village, the picture is made in Technicolor and has Carmen Miranda. Unfortunately for Carmen Miranda, the production doesn't do her justice, the overall effect is disappointing, but still she sparkles the picture whenever she appears."[69]Greenwich Village was less successful at the box office than Fox and Miranda had expected.
Miranda's third 1944 film wasSomething for the Boys, a musical comedy based on theBroadway musical with songs byCole Porter and starringEthel Merman. It was Miranda's first film withoutWilliam LeBaron orDarryl F. Zanuck as producer. The producer wasIrving Starr, who oversaw the studio's second-string films. According toTime magazine, the film "turns out to have nothing very notable for anyone".[70]By 1945, Miranda wasHollywood's highest-paid entertainer and the top female taxpayer in the United States, earning more than $200,000 that year ($2.88 million in 2020, adjusted for inflation).[71]
Doll Face (1945), Miranda's first black-and-white film for Fox
AfterWorld War II, Miranda's films at Fox were produced in black-and-white, indicative of Hollywood's diminishing interest in her and Latin Americans in general. A monochrome Carmen Miranda reduced the box-office appeal of the backstage musical,Doll Face (1945), in which she was fourth on the bill. Miranda played Chita Chula, billed in the show-within-the-film as "the little lady from Brazil"—a cheerful comic sidekick to leading lady Doll Face (Vivian Blaine) with one musical number and little dialogue.[72] ANew York Herald Tribune review read, "Carmen Miranda does what she always does, only not well";[73] according toThe Sydney Morning Herald, "Carmen Miranda appears in a straight part with only one singing number. The innovation is not a success, but the fault is the director's not Carmen's."[74]
InIf I'm Lucky (1946), her follow-up film for Fox when she was no longer under contract, Miranda was again fourth on the bill with her stock screen persona firmly in evidence: heavily accented English, comicmalapropisms, and bizarre hairstyles recreating her famous turbans.[75] When Miranda's contract with Fox expired on 1 January 1946, she decided to pursue an acting career free of studio constraints. Miranda's ambition was to play a lead role showcasing her comic skills, which she set out to do inCopacabana (1947, an independent production released byUnited Artists starringGroucho Marx).[76] Although her films were modest hits, critics and the American public did not accept her new image.[75]
Although Miranda's film career was faltering, her musical career remained solid and she was still a popular nightclub attraction.[77] From 1948 to 1950, she joinedthe Andrews Sisters in producing and recording threeDecca singles. Their first collaboration was on radio in 1945, when Miranda appeared on ABC'sThe Andrews Sisters Show. Their first single, "Cuanto La Gusta", was the most popular and reached number twelve on theBillboard chart. "The Wedding Samba", which reached number 23, followed in 1950.[78]
AfterCopacabana,Joe Pasternak invited Miranda to make two Technicolor musicals forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer:A Date with Judy (1948) andNancy Goes to Rio (1950). In the first production MGM wanted to portray a different image, allowing her to remove her turban and reveal her own hair (styled bySydney Guilaroff) and makeup (byJack Dawn). Miranda's wardrobe for the film substituted elegant dresses and hats designed byHelen Rose for"baiana" outfits. She was again fourth on the bill as Rosita Cochellas, a rumba teacher who first appears about 40 minutes into the film and has little dialogue. Despite MGM's efforts to change Miranda's persona, her roles in both productions were peripheral, watered-down caricatures relying on fractured English and over-the-top musical and dance numbers.[79]
In her final film,Scared Stiff (1953, a black-and-whiteParamount production withDean Martin andJerry Lewis), Miranda's appeal was again muted. Returning full-circle to her first Hollywood film,Down Argentine Way, she had virtually no narrative function. Lewis parodies her, miming badly to "Mamãe eu quero" (which is playing on a scratched record) and eating a banana he plucks from his turban. Miranda played Carmelita Castilha, a Brazilian showgirl on a cruise ship, with her costumes and performances bordering on self-parody.
In April 1953, she began a four-month European tour. While performing inCincinnati in October, Miranda collapsed from exhaustion; she was rushed toLeRoy Sanitarium by her husband, Dave Sebastian, and canceled four following performances.[80]
Desiring creative freedom, Miranda decided to produce her own film in 1947 and played oppositeGroucho Marx inCopacabana. The film's budget was divided into about ten investors' shares. A Texan investor who owned one of the shares sent his brother, David Sebastian (23 November 1907 – 11 September 1990), to keep an eye on Miranda and his interests on the set. Sebastian befriended her, and they began dating.
Miranda and Sebastian married on 17 March 1947 at theChurch of the Good Shepherd inBeverly Hills, with Patrick J. Concannon officiating.[81] In 1948, Miranda became pregnant, but miscarried after a show. Although the marriage was brief, Miranda (who was Catholic) did not want a divorce. Her sister,Aurora, said in the documentaryBananas Is My Business: "He married her for selfish reasons; she got very sick after she married and lived with a lot of depression".[82] The couple announced their separation in September 1949, but reconciled several months later.[83]
Miranda was discreet, and little is known about her private life. Before she left for the US, she had relationships with Mario Cunha, Carlos da Rocha Faria (son of a traditional family in Rio de Janeiro) andAloísio de Oliveira, a member of the Bando da Lua. In the US, Miranda maintained relationships withJohn Payne,Arturo de Córdova,Dana Andrews,Harold Young,John Wayne,Donald Buka and Carlos Niemeyer.[84] During her later years, in addition to heavy smoking and alcohol consumption, she began takingamphetamines andbarbiturates, all of which took a toll on her health.[85]
Miranda's funeral cortège in Rio de Janeiro, 12 August 1955Miranda's grave in São João Batista Cemetery, Rio de Janeiro
Miranda performed at theNew Frontier Hotel inLas Vegas in April 1955, and in Cuba three months later before returning to Los Angeles to recuperate from a recurrent bronchial ailment.[50] On 4 August, she was filming a segment for theNBC variety seriesThe Jimmy Durante Show. According to Durante, Miranda had complained of feeling unwell before filming; he offered to find her a replacement, but she declined. After completing "Jackson, Miranda, and Gomez", a song-and-dance number with Durante, she fell to one knee. Durante later said, "I thought she had slipped. She got up and said she was outta breath. I told her I'll take her lines. But she goes ahead with 'em. We finished work about 11 o'clock and she seemed happy."[86][87]
After the last take, Miranda and Durante gave an impromptu performance on the set for the cast and technicians. The singer took several cast members and some friends home with her for a small party. She went upstairs to bed at about 3 a.m. Miranda undressed, placed her platform shoes in a corner, lit a cigarette, placed it in an ashtray and went into her bathroom to remove her makeup. She apparently came from the bathroom with a small, round mirror in her hand; in the small hall that led to her bedroom, she collapsed from a fatalheart attack. Miranda was 46 years old.[86][88] Her body was found at about 10:30 a.m. lying in the hallway.[89] TheJimmy Durante Show episode in which Miranda appeared was aired two months after her death, on 15 October 1955.[90] The episode began with Durante paying tribute to the singer, while also indicating that her family had given permission for the performance to be broadcast.[91] A clip of the episode was included in theA&E Network'sBiography episode about the singer.[92][93]
In accordance with her wishes, Miranda's body, dressed in a red suit, was flown back to Rio de Janeiro. The casket was draped with theflag of Brazil;[94] theBrazilian government declared a period of national mourning.[95]About 60,000 people attended her memorial service at the Rio de Janeiro town hall,[19] and more than half a million Brazilians escorted her funeral cortège to the cemetery.[96][97]
Miranda's Hollywood image was that of a generic Latina, blurring distinctions between Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, and Mexico and samba,tango andhabanera music. It was stylized and flamboyant; she often wore platform sandals and toweringheaddresses made of fruit, becoming known as "the lady in the tutti-frutti hat".[101] Her enormous, fruit-laden hats were iconic visuals recognized worldwide;Saks Fifth Avenue developed a line of Miranda-inspired turbans and jewelry in 1939, andBonwit Teller created mannequins resembling the singer.[102]
In 2009 she was the subject ofSão Paulo Fashion Week and a short film,Tutti Frutti, by German photographerEllen von Unwerth.[104][105] Two years later,Macy's wanted to use Miranda to promote a clothing line.[106] Other products influenced by her stardom are the Brazilian fashion brand Malwee's "Chica Boom Chic" collection for women,[107] and the Chica Boom Brasil company's high-end Carmen Miranda line, which includes Miranda-themed bags, wall clocks, crockery and placemats.
Carmen Miranda’s handprints and footprints atGrauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.TheCarmen Miranda Museum, located inFlamengo Park, has been open to the public since 1976.Miranda’s dresses and photographs on display at the Carmen Miranda Museum in Rio de Janeiro.
According to Brazilian musicianCaetano Veloso, "Miranda was first a cause of both pride and shame, and later, a symbol that inspired the merciless gaze we began to cast upon ourselves ... Carmen conquered 'White' America as no other South American has done or ever would, in an era when it was enough to be 'recognizably Latin and Negroid' in style and aesthetics to attract attention."[108]
Miranda was the first Brazilian artist to gain worldwide fame in the 1950s, and she continued to define South American music in North America for decades. In 1991, Veloso wrote that "today, anything associated with Brazilian music in America – or with any music from the Southern Hemisphere in the Northern – makes us think of Carmen Miranda. And to think of her is to think about the complexity of this relationship."[109]
Although she was more popular abroad than in Brazil at the time of her death, Miranda contributed significantly to Brazilian music andculture. She was accused of commercializing Brazilian music and dance, but she can be credited with bringing the country's national music (samba) to a global audience. She introduced the baiana—a traditional style of dress from Bahia, with wide skirts and turbans—as a Brazilian showgirl look, both at home and abroad. Thebaiana became a central feature of Carnival for both women and men.[110]
Since her death, Miranda has been remembered as an important Brazilian artist and one of the most influential figures in Hollywood. She was one of 500 stars nominated for theAmerican Film Institute's 50 greatest screen legends.[111]
On September 25, 1998, a square in Hollywood was named Carmen Miranda Square during a ceremony led by Hollywood’s honorary mayor,Johnny Grant (a friend of Miranda’s since World War II), and attended by Brazilian Consul General Jorió Gama, along with members of Bando da Lua, who had accompanied Miranda in her performances. The square is located at the intersection ofHollywood Boulevard andOrange Drive, across fromGrauman's Chinese Theatre—near the spot where Miranda gave an impromptu performance onV-J Day.[112][113]
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Miranda's death, a Carmen Miranda Forever exhibit was displayed at theMuseum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro in November 2005 and at theLatin America Memorial in São Paulo the following year.[114][115][116] In 2005,Ruy Castro publishedCarmen – Uma Biografia, a 600-page biography of "the most famous Brazilian woman of the 20th century." Brazilians "tend to forget," Castro told Mac Margolis ofNewsweek, that "no Brazilian woman has ever been as popular as Carmen Miranda – in Brazil or anywhere."[117]
Dorival Caymmi's "O Que É Que a Baiana Tem?" was his first work to be recorded, and it introduced both the samba rhythm and Miranda to the United States in 1939. It was inducted into the Latin category of the 2008 National Recording Registry list.[118][119]
Miranda, along withSelena,Celia Cruz,Carlos Gardel, andTito Puente, appeared on a set of commemorativeU.S. Postal Service Latin Music Legends stamps, painted by Rafael Lopez, in 2011. Marie Therese Dominguez, vice president of government relations and public policy for the postal service, said:"From this day forward, these colorful, vibrant images of our Latin music legends will travel on letters and packages to every single household in America. In this small way, we have created a lasting tribute to five extraordinary performers, and we are proud and honored to share their legacy with Americans everywhere through these beautiful stamps."[120][121]
MusicianLeslie Fish wrote and recorded a song called "Carmen Miranda's Ghost" on her 1989 album of the same name. The song describes the chaos that ensues when the singer's ghost appears on a space station. It was later the basis for a multi-authorshort storyanthology edited byDon Sakers.John Cale's 1989Words for the Dying features a song co-written withBrian Eno titled "The Soul of Carmen Miranda".
Helena Solberg filmed a documentary,Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business, in 1995. Eduardo Dusek recorded a cover version of the song "Tá-Hi (Pra Você Gostar de Mim)", written by Joubert de Carvalho and recorded by Miranda in 1930, for the 2003 telenovelaChocolate com Pimenta.[138] In 2004, Caetano Veloso andDavid Byrne performedlive at Carnegie Hall a song they had written together, "Dreamworld: Marco de Canaveses", that pays homage to Miranda. In 2007,BBC Four producedCarmen Miranda – Beneath the Tutti Frutti Hat, a one-hour documentary which included interviews with biographer Ruy Castro, niece Carminha andMickey Rooney.[139] That year, singerIvete Sangalo recorded acover version of the song "Chica Chica Boom Chic" for the DVDMTV ao Vivo.[140] For Miranda's centenary,Daniela Mercury recorded a "duet" with the singer on a cover of "O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?", which includes the original 1939 recording.[141]
At the closing ceremony of the2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, a few seconds' homage to Miranda was paid with an animated, projected image on the floor of theMaracanã Stadium.
Bonita Flamingo, a character in the children's showNoddy, is a flamingo spoof of Miranda.
^Amanda Ellis, "Captivating a Country With Her Curves: Examining the Importance of Carmen Miranda's Iconography in Creating National Identities" (Masters thesis, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2008), 31–33.
^Shari Roberts. "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat: Carmen Miranda, a Spectacle of Ethnicity",Cinema Journal 32, no. 3 (1993): 6.
^Aaron Clark, Walter. "'Vulgar Negroid Sambas': Issues of National Identity, Race, and Gender in That Night in Rio, with Carmen Miranda", p. 14[full citation needed]
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