Irene Cara was an American singer and actress. She sang and co-wrote the song "Flashdance...... What a Feeling" (from the film Flashdance), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1984.

But she rocketed to fame when she was cast in the 1980 musical "Fame." She was initially cast as a dancer but then had the role of Coco Hernandez written for her and she sang the title track.

Irene Cara was born in The Bronx, New York City, the youngest of five children. Her father, Gaspar Escalera, a factory worker and retired saxophonist, was Puerto Rican, and her mother, Louise, a movie theater usher, was Cuban-American. At the age of three, Irene Cara was one of five finalists for the "Little Miss America" pageant. She began to play the piano by ear, then studied music, acting, and dance seriously, first having dance lessons, aged five.

Her performing career started on Spanish-language television, professionally singing and dancing. She made early TV appearances on The Original Amateur Hour (singing in Spanish) and Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. In 1971–1972, she was a regular on PBS's educational program The Electric Company, as a member of the show's band, The Short Circus. As a child, Cara recorded a Latin-market Spanish-language record and an English Christmas album.

Irene Cara, a beautiful, talented person will now be In Heaven with the Stars forever.