Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda (1909–1955) was likely the most internationally recognized Brazilian performer of the twentieth century. Born in Portugal, she spent her youth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attending school and singing for parties and festivals. At one time, she operated a successful hat shop, an interest that undoubtedly spawned the iconic fruit and flower hats that she donned for her many movies and concert performances. By her early twenties, Miranda had achieved a modicum of fame as a radio star in Brazil, and by 1930 she had earned a recording contract with RCA/Victor Records. Throughout the 1930s, she appeared in several Brazilian films, among them Alô Alô Brasil! (1935) and Banana da Terra (1939). By the end of the decade, she traveled to the United States with her band, Bando da Lua, to perform on Broadway, where she met with immediate success. The following year she began her American film career, starring in Down Argentine Way (1940), which initiated a string of films throughout the decade. She was soon the highest-paid female entertainer in the United States, a distinction she held for several years, earning more than $200,000 in 1945 alone. Amid her successful film career, Miranda performed nonstop around the globe and was known as the "Bombshell of Brazil." She suffered a heart attack on August 5, 1955, after filming a television episode for The Jimmy Durante Show, and died later that night.