Aurora Miranda da Cunha Richaid (20 April 1915 – 22 December 2005) was a Brazilian singer and actress. Her sisters were Carmen Miranda and Cecilia Miranda. She began her career at the age of 18 in 1933. She carved out her own niche, first as a pioneering singer
and later as the first human being to interact with cartoons in a Walt Disney production. She appeared in the film The Three Caballeros, a mix of cinema and animation in which Aurora starred alongside Donald Duck.
In 1932, aged 18, she was asked to perform on the Mayrink Veiga radio station by Josué de Barros, the same composer who had launched her sister's career 10 years earlier. Soon she was snapped up by a rival station and within 12 months she made her recording debut on May 25, 1933. On that day she sang Assis Valente''s marcha "Cai, Cai, Balão!" and 'Floriano Ribeiro de Pi'nho''s samba "Toque de Amor" in a duo with Francisco Alves, Brazil's greatest male singing star.
Her record company was Odeon, and her principal competition--her sister Carmen--recorded for Victor. During the rest of the decade, Aurora recorded 162 more sides, many of them enormous hits, such as "Se a Lua Contasse" (Custódio Mesquita), whose composers were her constant songwriters, along with Walfrido Silva and Assis Valente. But perhaps her greatest legacy was the first recording of Rio de Janeiro's unofficial anthem, Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvellous City), in 1934.
In 1936 Aurora appeared in the film Alô Alô Carnaval (1936), in which she was seen with Carmen dressed in gold-lamé top hat and tails, singing "Cantores do Rádio" (João de Barro / Alberto Ribeiro / Lamartine Babo). This film is apparently lost except from some short sequences.
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| Carmen & Aurora Miranda |
In 1940 Aurora married Gabriel Richaid clad in a gold-embroidered wedding dress shipped from the US by Carmen. Carmen also gave the couple a trip to the US as a honeymoon present, and before long Aurora was appearing in American nightclubs and revues.
During the war, when Walt Disney was producing his "Good Neighbour" south-of-the-border films, he wanted to cast Carmen with Ethel Smith in a picture to be called "Blame It on the Samba". Carmen was unavailable, and the technology wasn't advanced enough for making that film (it would eventually be made in 1948 (Blame It on the Samba (1948)) with Ethel as the only live character.
However, Carmen recommended her sister, and Aurora was cast in The Three Caballeros (1944), in which she shined in the Bahia sequence, dancing with Donald Duck and Zé Carioca to the tune of Ary Barroso's "Os Quindins de Iaiá.". She also appears in the film noir classic Phantom Lady (1944), in which she can be seen as a nightclub performer.Unlike her sister, Aurora preferred married life to her career. In 1951 she returned to Rio de Janeiro and resumed her singing career for a while. In 1956 she appeared in the show of Carlos Machado Mr. Samba , in homage to Ary Barroso. In the same year, she re-recorded some old hits on an LP and released two albums by Odeon, ending her remarkable career in which she recorded over 160 songs.
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She retired into private life as a wife and mother but often spoke of her sister Carmen and appeared in many documentaries such as Once Upon a Mouse and Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business.
She retired into private life as a wife and mother but often spoke of her sister Carmen and appeared in many documentaries such as Once Upon a Mouse and Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business.
Aurora Miranda died at the age 80, on December 22, 2005 in the Carioca neighbourhood of Leblon. Maria Paula Richaid, daughter of the singer, said that the death was quiet, caused by the natural health problems of her age. According to Maria Paula, during the last three years, Aurora had progressively lost vitality and memory especially after previously contracting pneumonia. She was buried in the Saint John the Baptist Cemetery, near the tomb of Carmen.
(Edited from various sources but mainly from IMDb Mini Bio)