Carmen Miranda, born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha,was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was active from the 1930s on. Nicknamed "The Brazilian Bombshell", Miranda is known for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in her American films.
She was born in Portugal, but her family moved to Rio de Janeiro when she was about a year old. She sang and danced as a child, and by 1930 was Brazil's most popular recording star, a position she kept for a decade. She made a few Brazilian movies, and while appearing in an elaborate stage show, was seen by producer Lee Shubert, who offered to star her in his Broadway revue, The Streets of Paris. She accepted, but only if he hired her band as well, which he did. Her samba music, sung and danced to while she wore elaborate hats decorated with a cornucopia of fruits, bare midriff gowns, and amazing platform heels (she was five feet tall), created a sensation.
In August 1955, while taping a Jimmy Durante Show, she suffered shortness of breath and fell to her knees after completing a number. Around 4 in the morning she suffered a fatal heart attack in her bath.
