![]() She made several more films, in between a heavy touring schedule that took her across South America several times. The movie A voz do carnaval, a musical comedy made in Brazil and released in 1933, marked Miranda's big-screen debut. While not a particularly gifted vocalist, her style was appealing, and she was sometimes billed as "The Singer With The 'It' On Her Voice." The record was a massive hit, propelling Miranda to a string of top-sellers that turned her into one of her country's biggest stars of the 1930s. Her breakthrough came in 1930, when she made "Prá Você Gostar de Mim," a traditional Brazilian marcha tune by composer Joubert de Carvalho. Miranda recorded a few albums with composer and violinist Josue de Barros, but these failed to catch on with Brazilian listeners. Reportedly, he changed his mind when he learned of the generous offer and agreed to let her perform, provided he serve as her manager and she not be billed under her family name. Soon Miranda was offered a nightclub singing job, but her conservative father strongly opposed the opportunity at first. When a guitarist overheard one of her impromptu performances, he invited her to sing with him on a local radio show. She worked in a Rio department store as a model and millinery sales-woman, and during her breaks she often performed popular Brazilian hit songs to entertain co-workers. Nuns schooled her at the Santa Teresinha convent academy for girls, but her education ended at age 14, when she had to take a job to help support her family. Miranda was raised in a strict Roman Catholic household. The nick-name "Carmen" dated to Miranda's childhood, when her family reportedly dubbed her that after the Georges Bizet opera by that name. They lived in central Rio de Janeiro and her father worked as a salesperson and a barber. Her parents, Jose and Maria, left the town of Marco de Canaveses, near Oporto, when she was still an infant they settled in Brazil, home to many Portuguese immigrants. Miranda was born in Portugal in February of 1909, and christened Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha. "Many of her compatriots never forgave her for the pastiche of mischief and malaprops that became not only Miranda's trademark Hollywood act but also synonymous with Latin America itself," Mac Margolis wrote in Newsweek International. She appeared in more than a dozen movies, often along-side the era's top stars, but was usually typecast as the exotic songstress in the plots. Known for her colorful outfits and fruit-bedecked headgear, Miranda was one of the first ambassadors of Latin American popular culture. At the peak of her career, Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda (1909–1955) was the highest paid woman in Hollywood.
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