Oscar-winning singer of Eighties joyful anthems

Irene Cara's role in 'Fame' and title songs for that movie and 'Flashdance' made a memorable mark on pop culture

- BRIAN MURPHY VICTORIA BISSET

Irene Cara, a child actor who later belted out 1980s anthems of joyful creativity and freedom with the title songs for Fame and Flashdance, but then battled for royalties in a legal fight that sidetracked her career at its peak, has died aged 63.

Cara's imprint on pop culture has lived on through the decades as Fame (1980) and Flashdance (1983) became touchstones for the 1980s with their music and style, including the urban chic of New York teens in Fame (which was subsequently turned into a hit TV show, albeit without Cara among the cast) and the freeform moves, leg warmers (and, of course, the famous wet-andwild shower scene) of Flashdance.

Cara's "Flashdance... What a Feeling" still ranks No 38 on Billboard's All-Time Hot 100 Songs nearly 40 years later. And it seems to keep finding new audiences through reboots, social media retro clips and spoofs.

In the original film musical Fame - playing Coco Hernandez, one of the students auditioning for New York's High School for the Performing Arts - she did songs including the title track with its booming refrains such as: "I'm gonna live forever. Baby, remember my name." (The film won an Academy Award for best original score.)

Cara then won her own Oscar for "Flashdance... What a Feeling", which she co-wrote in an afternoon session after being asked to sing some of the tracks on the film starring Jennifer Beals as a welder by day and erotic dancer by night who dreams of the ballet stage.

Cara never regained such heights, however. In 1985, she opened a legal action seeking $10m (£8.1m) from a record company executive, Al Coury, claiming he took advantage of her trust with "unjust and oppressive" contracts for movie and recording deals that cut her out of significant royalty income.