‘Fame’ singer Irene Cara’s cause of death revealed
‘Fame’ star Irene Cara’s cause of death is believed to have been high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
According to TMZ, which claimed to have reviewed the 63-year-old’s medical records from the Pinellas County Medical Examiner in Florida, the singer’s official cause of death is arteriosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
The documents would also indicate that Cara was diabetic.
The Post contacted the medical examiner’s office, as well as a representative for Cara.
Cara died Nov. 26 at her home in Largo, Florida. She is best known for the massive soundtrack successes of the films “Flashdance” and “Fame”.
Her top hits include 1980’s “Fame” and 1983’s “Flashdance…What a Feeling”, the latter of which won her an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
Irene Cara circa 1970. Michael Ochs Archive
Although she once sang that she wanted people to remember her name, the 80s icon has reportedly become a “recluse” in recent years.
“She hasn’t spoken to anyone,” Roseann Nolan, who lived across the street from Cara, told The Post in December. “I didn’t even know she was the one living there until a few years ago. It was the best kept secret ever.
Cara is best known for her acting and singing on the “Fame” and “Flashdance” soundtracks.
Her neighbor, Maria Contreras, 59, also told the Post that Cara would never offer her a walk on the beach or socialize. Contreras claimed she tried to befriend Cara before she even learned of her glitzy past, but no one, even the man who mowed her star’s garden, ever entered her home.
“She greeted you outside the garage,” Contreras recalled.
Irene Cara pictured in 1983. Getty Images Irene Cara’s neighbors have called the star a “recluse” in recent years. WireImage
“She got mad at me when I took down a fence between our houses because I wanted to put up a new one. She sent me such crazy messages that I saved them on my phone. She was worried that she wouldn’t be safe with the fence down, even for a day,” she added.
However, Cara’s rep, Judith Moose, and her Los Angeles manager of nearly two decades, Betty McCormick, had a different take on Cara in recent years. McCormick told the Post that she disagreed with Neighbors’ assessment of Cara’s final years, but admitted the COVID-19 pandemic was tough on the singer.
Cara appeared at the Covenant With Youth Awards gala in Beverly Hills on April 26, 2007.Getty Images
“She was very afraid of catching the [COVID] virus,” McCormick said. “She really struggled during that time.”
Her reps also told the Post that Cara left Hollywood and the music industry on her own terms, for the most part, and tried to revive her career in the months before her death.