NEW YORK (AP) — Oscar, Golden Globe and two-time Grammy winning 
singer-actress Irene Cara, who starred and sang the title cut from the 
1980 hit movie “Fame” and then belted out the era-defining hit 
“Flashdance ... What a Feeling” from 1983's “Flashdance,” has died. She 
was 63.Her publicist, Judith A. Moose, announced the news on 
social media, writing that a cause of death was “currently unknown.” 
Moose also confirmed the death to an Associated Press reporter on 
Saturday. Cara died at her home in Florida. The exact day of her death 
was not disclosed.“Irene’s family has requested privacy as they 
process their grief,” Moose wrote. “She was a beautifully gifted soul 
whose legacy will live forever through her music and films.”During
 her career, Cara had three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, 
including “Breakdance,” “Out Here On My Own,” “Fame” and “Flashdance ...
 What A Feeling,” which spent six weeks at No. 1. She was behind some of
 the most joyful, high-energy pop anthems of the early ’80s.Tributes
 poured in on Saturday on social media, including from Deborah Cox, who 
called Cara an inspiration, and Holly Robinson Peete, who recalled 
seeing Cara perform: "The insane combination of talent and beauty was 
overwhelming to me. This hurts my heart so much.”She first came 
to prominence among the young actors playing performing arts high 
schoolers in Alan Parker's “Fame,” with co-stars Debbie Allen, Paul 
McCrane and Anne Mear. Cara played Coco Hernandez, a striving dancer who
 endures all manner of deprivations, including a creepy nude photo 
shoot.“How bright our spirits go shooting out into space, depends
 on how much we contributed to the earthly brilliance of this world. And
 I mean to be a major contributor!” she says in the movie.Cara 
sang on the soaring title song with the chorus — “Remember my name/I’m 
gonna live forever/I’m gonna learn how to fly/I feel it coming 
together/People will see me and cry” — which would go on to be nominated
 for an Academy Award for best original song. She also sang on “Out Here
 on My Own,” "Hot Lunch Jam" and “I Sing the Body Electric.”Three
 years later, she and the songwriting team of “Flashdance” — music by 
Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Cara — was accepting the 
Oscar for best original song for “Flashdance ... What a Feeling.”The
 movie starred Jennifer Beals as a steel-town girl who dances in a bar 
at night and hopes to attend a prestigious dance conservatory. It 
included the hit song “Maniac,” featuring Beals’ character leaping, 
spinning, stomping her feet and the slow-burning theme song.“There
 aren’t enough words to express my love and my gratitude,” Cara told the
 Oscar crowd in her thanks. “And last but not least, a very special 
gentlemen who I guess started it all for me many years ago. To Alan 
Parker, wherever you may be tonight, I thank him.”The New 
York-born Cara began her career on Broadway, with small parts in 
short-lived shows, although a musical called “The Me Nobody Knows” ran 
over 300 performances. She toured in the musical “Jesus Christ 
Superstar" as Mary Magdalene in the mid-1990s and a tour of the musical 
”Flashdance" toured 2012-14 with her songs.She also created the 
all-female band Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel and put out a double CD 
with the single “How Can I Make You Luv Me.” Her movie credits include 
”Sparkle" and “D.C. Cab.”

'Fame,' 'Flashdance' singer-actor dies at 63