Leading Ladies: Carmen Miranda

Episode Summary

The podcast episode is about Carmen Miranda, a Portuguese-born Brazilian singer and actress who became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the 1940s. Carmen was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha in 1909 in Portugal. Her family immigrated to Brazil when she was a baby. As a teenager, Carmen worked in a department store where she would sing to entertain her coworkers on breaks. This led to her discovery and a career singing on the radio and in nightclubs in Brazil under the stage name Carmen Miranda. Carmen became hugely popular in Brazil as a singer and eventually starred in several Brazilian films in the 1930s. In 1939, she was discovered by an American theater manager while performing in Rio de Janeiro. This led to her being cast in a Broadway variety show called The Streets of Paris. Her performances introduced Carmen to American audiences and she soon signed a contract with 20th Century Fox in Hollywood. Carmen went on to star in over a dozen Hollywood musicals in the 1940s, often portraying a stereotyped image of a Brazilian bombshell wearing flamboyant costumes and fruit-laden hats. She became the highest paid actress in Hollywood during this time. However, her exaggerated portrayals were criticized in Brazil and Argentina for promoting ethnic stereotypes. The U.S. government recognized Carmen's influence and actually encouraged her stereotyped performances as a way to promote the Good Neighbor policy and improve relations with Latin America during World War II. Carmen continued performing in films and on television until shortly before her sudden death from health complications in 1955 at age 46. She left a complex legacy, criticized for stereotyping yet celebrated as an ambassador of Brazilian culture.

Episode Show Notes

Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) appeared in more than 12 movies along with the era’s top billed stars. She was one of the first ambassadors of Latin American culture in the United States, though she often played stereotypical roles that brought criticism in her home country.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_03: Reboot your credit card with Apple Card. It gives you unlimited daily cash back that can earn 4.15% annual percentage yield when you open a savings account. A high yield, low effort way to grow your money with no fees. Apply for Apple Card now in the Wallet app on iPhone to start earning and growing your daily cash with savings today. Apple Card subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Apple Card owners subject to eligibility. Savings accounts by Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Member FDIC, terms apply. SPEAKER_05: Sick of paying $100 for groceries and getting nothing but eggs, orange juice, and a paper bag? Then download the Drop app. Drop lets you earn points with your everyday shopping and redeem them for gift cards. Want a free dinner with those groceries? Drop it. How about daily lattes? Drop it. So download Drop today and get $5 just for signing up. Use invite code GETDROP777. SPEAKER_08: At Toyota electrified doesn't just mean plugified. So you can go off road in a hybrid Tundra and take the scenic, Rutified. Or step inside a plug-in Prius and get glamified. Or hop in an all electric BZ4X and take it Easyified. Toyota is electrified, diversified. And the more ways we can choose to reduce carbon emissions, the closer we all get to Toyota's beyond zero vision. Toyota, let's go places. SPEAKER_00: This episode of Encyclopedia Wamanica is brought to you by Care Of. I'm so excited to tell you about Care Of. At Care Of, you can find the right vitamins and supplements for you. I'm always trying to figure out what the right thing is for me to take for my own health goals. Care Of makes it really easy. They've created a quiz where you can select the health goals you have, and then they figure out what you should add to your diet. I took the quiz last week and I was like, I took the quiz last week and I'm so excited to get my 30 day supply of nutrients that are tailored just for me. I'm getting a probiotic blend, vitamin D, vitamin C, rhodiola, stuff to help my skin, bones, immunity, energy, everything I could need. Care Of's products are where high quality meets personalization. They're formulated with good for you, clean ingredients that are backed by science. And they're really transparent about the research and sourcing behind every product. And now you can use the code ENCYCLOPEDIA for 50% off your first Care Of order. That's five zero, 50% off. Go to takecareof.com and use the promo code ENCYCLOPEDIA for 50% off. That's takecareof.com and use the promo code ENCYCLOPEDIA. SPEAKER_02: Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, SPEAKER_00: and this is ENCYCLOPEDIA WAMANICA. Today's leading lady appeared in more than 12 movies along with the era's top billed stars. She was one of the first ambassadors of Latin American culture in the United States. Though she often played stereotypical roles that brought criticism in her home country. Famous for her colorful attire and eye catching head gear, at one point she was the highest paid woman in Hollywood. Let's talk about Carmen Miranda. SPEAKER_00: Carmen Miranda was born Maria del Carmo Miranda da Cunha in Portugal on February 9th, 1909. When Maria was a baby, her parents immigrated to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In reference to George Bizet's opera of the same name, Maria's family gave her the nickname Carmen. It clearly stuck. Carmen's strict Roman Catholic family sent her to the Santa Teresina Convent Academy for girls to be schooled by nuns. But by age 14, Carmen had to leave school and get a job in a department store to help financially support her family. Against all odds, that's where Carmen found her way into show business. When Carmen and her coworkers were on break, Carmen would casually perform popular songs as entertainment. One day, a guitarist overheard her singing and invited her to join him on a local radio show. After that, she was offered a nightclub singing job. Her conservative father was hesitant to let Carmen perform, but he finally allowed it as long as he could be her manager and as long as she performed under a different name. The persona Carmen Miranda was born. After some failed attempts to record and sell albums, Carmen found success with a record she produced singing a traditional Brazilian march. Many hit songs followed, and before long, Carmen was one of Brazil's most popular celebrities. In 1933, she appeared in her first movie, a Brazilian documentary called A Voz do Carnaval. In 1935, she starred in the comedic film Estudantes, which established Carmen as one of the country's most beloved actors. All the while, she toured, performing her music throughout South America. Just like her debut into Brazilian show business, Carmen's introduction to the American market was a matter of being at the right place at the right time. The American theater manager, Lee Schubert, happened to catch Carmen's performance at a casino in Rio and offered her a role on Broadway. So in 1939, Carmen traveled to New York and played a recurring role performing a song in the variety show The Streets of Paris. Her tune was a hit with American audiences, but it was her interactions with the press offstage that really caught the public's eye. Carmen intentionally played up her limited experience with English, which quickly became a recurring joke in the press coverage of her work. Carmen's fame grew, and she soon performed in her first Hollywood movie, a 1940 romantic musical called Down Argentine Way. SPEAKER_07: In South American way. SPEAKER_00: After The Streets of Paris show closed, Carmen returned to Brazil, but she was met with harsh criticism throughout the country for the way she stereotyped Brazilian culture for the American audience. Her film, Down Argentine Way, was hissed off the screen in Brazil, according to the press, and it was banned in Argentina for wrongly portraying life in Buenos Aires. After the scandal, Carmen knew her career couldn't continue in her home country. She returned to the US and signed an exclusive contract with 20th Century Fox in Hollywood. Carmen took on a persona as a Brazilian bombshell and started to perform musical numbers in a variety of American films. Before long, she was a household name and the very image of South American culture for the US audience, despite the exoticized and caricatured nature of her roles. Carmen often wore a style of clothing called bahiana in Brazil, known for its bright layers of ruffled fabric and turban headpieces. She took to wearing elaborate hats adorned with fake fruit, which soon became her trademark. In 1943, she performed a song called The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat in a musical. SPEAKER_02: I wonder why does everybody look at me? SPEAKER_00: In that number, her fruit-covered hat reached new levels of over-the-top, with a tall headpiece of fake bananas and strawberries draping down her shoulders. SPEAKER_08: The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat. SPEAKER_00: Carmen's contract with 20th Century Fox actually required her to show up in costume to some events. Carmen served as a cultural ambassador, a role so important that the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs occasionally altered her scripts to help with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy. The policy was an effort to improve the diplomatic relationship between the US and South America and to avoid further military intervention in the region. Carmen's image was so entrenched in American media that the US government believed her performances could improve the perception of a whole continent. During World War II, Carmen was the highest paid actress in the United States. At age 38, she married Hollywood producer David Sebastian. Some claim that David and the film studios kept Carmen relegated to stereotyped roles. In 1947, Carmen was cast as the romantic interest in the movie Copacabana, starring opposite Groucho Marx. Carmen played a Brazilian singer who disguised herself as a mysterious French performer. Carmen appeared in her last movie in 1953, a comedy called Scared Stiff, and subsequently continued to perform on TV. After a 1955 performance singing on the Jimmy Durant Show, Carmen seemed for a moment like she was about to faint. The host rushed to help her, but Carmen managed to gather herself and walk off stage, smiling and waving. The incident was a sign of a deeper problem. The following day, Carmen passed away in her house in Beverly Hills at age 46. Newspapers at the time reported that she died of a heart attack, but some later reports claimed that she was pregnant and passed away from complications due to preeclampsia. The Brazilian government brought Carmen's coffin back to her home country, where half a million people crowded the streets of Rio in her honor. Carmen Miranda continues to have a complicated legacy both inside and outside Brazil. In 1995, a Brazilian filmmaker created a documentary called Bananas Is My Business, exploring Carmen's stereotyped portrayal in American media. In 2005, for the 50th anniversary of her death, several events commemorated Carmen's work, including a film called Carmen Miranda Forever, screened at the Rio Museum of Modern Art. Tune in tomorrow for the story of another leading lady. For more on why we're doing what we're doing, check out our Encyclopedia Womanica newsletter, Womanica Weekly. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Encyclopedia Womanica, and you can follow me directly on Twitter at Jenny M. Kaplan. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow. SPEAKER_02: AT&T and Verizon lure you in with their best phone offers, only to lock you into a three-year phone contract, not at T-Mobile. Now, with T-Mobile's best Go 5G plans, upgrade when you want. Every year or every two, you decide. Visit T-Mobile.com to take charge of your upgrades. SPEAKER_01: Get two-year financing on Go 5G Plus and Next. One-year upgrade on Go 5G Next requires financing a new qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six plus months with 50% paid off. Upgrade ends financing in any promo credits. See T-Mobile.com. SPEAKER_04: Nice buns, soft, fluffy, and ultra-low net carbs. Discover Hero Bread, the delicious ultra-low net carb bread with incredible taste and texture. Hero Bread has zero grams of sugar and is under 100 calories per serving, plus high in fiber and up to 10 grams of protein per serving. Available on Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Hero.co. That's Hero.co. Order from Hero.co now and get 10% off your purchase with promo code IHM10. Your home is important. SPEAKER_07: It's where you raise your family and your biggest financial investment. For your home improvement projects, visit Iheart.dibella.us for your roofing, siding, window, and bath renovations. In your community, there's a local Dibella team. Visit Iheart.dibella.us for your free no-obligation quote. It's easy. There's no payments until 2024 on approved credit. Over 15,000 satisfied customers on Google had a five-star experience with Dibella. For your home improvement projects, check out the award-winning pros at Iheart.dibella.us, where quality begins at home. Range of up to 360 miles SPEAKER_06: and can deliver up to an 80% charge in just 18 minutes with its 800-volt DC ultra-fast charger. Check out Hyundai at the I Heart Radio Music Festival in Las Vegas as their all-star IONIQ lineup hits the stage like you've never seen before. Hyundai, it's your journey.