The Gang's All Here (1943) Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Phil Baker, Benny Goodman, Edward Everett Horton, Charlotte Greenwood

She was known as "The Brazilian Bombshell," the lady in the tutti-frutti hat that captured the imagination of the world which was at war. Her name was Carmen Miranda she was the original Chica Chica Bum Chic woman of the 1940s musicals mostly produced at 20th Century-Fox. Miranda was festive explosion of outrageous razzamatazz that may have not added much to culture but it did add a lot to one's enjoyment of it. Everything about Carmen was larger than life (except for her height at 5 feet 2 inches) her behavior, her three inch platform shoes (which did nothing to impair her dancing), her conundrums with the English language as it tripped its way into her head and out through her mouth in accents thick and hilarious;as she launched into her enunciating, tongue-twisting lyrics at such a rapid speed, with her continual motion of eyes, mouth, shoulders, hips, arms, hands, fingers, and feet, the latter supported by elevated platform shoes that heightened her appeal, and the ever more extravagant like Baiana-style gowns with garlands of sequins, bowers of living blooms around her hips and torso and which some became her trade-mark: orchards of fruit growing out of her turbans, Carmen's total effect was that of some medieval fertility ritual goddess whose presence was the promise of the Cornucopia. Carmen was hailed as the best ambassador of good will that had come to America from the tropical shores of Brazil. Carmen also became one of the highest paid entertainers in Hollywood she may have been impersonated by the likes of: Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rooney, Bette Davis and Bugs Bunny, yet she is more than just a fruit-headdress, Carmen became a legendary figure of twentieth-century entertainment.Carmen was great fun and in between songs there was little that script-writers could find for her to do: she was usually the heroine's friend -- or rival -- and she was loyal, fast-talking, with a very low tolerance point and she showed occasional skill with a comedy line. Plus she was good for the "Good Neighbor Policy."She was born on February 9, 1909 as Maria do Carmo Miranda de Cunha, not in Brazil, but in Marco de Canavezes , Portugal. In 1910 her family moved to Rio de Janeiro where she had several hit records and had appeared in a film Banana da Terra. Carmen had become Brazil's pop star when Broadway producer Lee Schubert brought her to New York in May 1939 to appear on Broadway with Abbott and Costello in The Streets Of Paris. Upon her arrival in New York, waiting journalists asked her if she knew English. Reportedly, she replied, "I know twenty words in English.During her performance she wore six-inch heels, a crown of fruit, and her frenetic dancing and undeniable stage presence made her into a STAR. Her screen debut was in Down Argentine Way (1940, 20th Century-Fox). The people of Brazil rejected Carmen because of her alleged Americanization of her image.Back in Hollywood, she appeared in That Night In Rio (1941, 20th Century-Fox), Weekend in Havana (1941, 20th Century-Fox), and Springtime in the Rockies (1942, 20th-Century-Fox). Carmen was then cast in Busby Berkeley-directed phantasmagoria The Gang's All Here (1943, 20th Century-Fox), in which Carmen sings the title song, "The Lady In The Tutti-Frutti Hat."

In 1945 it was reported that Carmen was one of Hollywood's highest paid stars earning over $200,000. However, all was not well with Carmen, it was reportedly that she suffered from Depression through out the 1940s which in turn she began to rely on pharmaceutical drugs. Carmen also underwent two cosmetic surgery on her nose in the 1940s, one of which reportedly detrimentally affected her health for the rest of her life.She married David Sebastian in 1947, but the marriage proved not to be a happy one. Even some saying that there was domestic abuse.The year before after leaving Fox Carmen began freelancing where she costarred with Croucho Marx in a dual role playing two singers at the Copacabana hence the title of the film Copacabana (1947, United Artists) she then signed a two-picture deal with MGM for A Date With Judy (1948, MGM) starring Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor and Nancy Goes To Rio (1950, MGM) also starting Jane Powell and Ann Sothern. In 1953 in what would become her final film Scared Stiff (1953, Paramount Pictures) starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin also along for the spooky ride was film noir's femme fatale Lizabeth Scott.In April 1953, she began a four - month European tour. While performing in Cincinnati in October, Miranda collapsed from exhaustion; she was rushed to LeRoy Sanitarium by her husband, Dave Sebastian, and canceled four following performances. Miranda became depressed and underwent electroshock therapy; when that failed to cure her, her physician suggested a return visit to Brazil. Miranda's family blamed her troubled, abusive marriage for her nervous breakdown which forced her to return to Rio de Janeiro for four months to recuperate. She returned to the US on April 4, 1955. On August 4th, she was filming a segment for the NBC variety series The 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 outa 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."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 which led to her bedroom, she collapsed with a fatal heart attack. Miranda was 46 years old. Her body was found at about 10:30 a.m. lying in the hallway. The Jimmy Durante Show episode in which Miranda appeared was aired two months after her death, on October 15, 1955.In accordance with her wishes, Miranda's body was flown back to Rio de Janeiro; the Brazilian government declared a period of national mourning. About 60,000 people attended her memorial service at the Rio town hall, and more than half a million Brazilians escorted her funeral cortège to the cemetery. Miranda is buried in São João Batista Cemetery in Rio de Janeiro.