AURORA MIRANDA

Aurora Miranda (right) and older sister Carmen in Buenos Aires in 1937.

Aurora Miranda da Cunha  * 20 April 1915  + 22 December 2005

Aurora made her debut on the radio in 1932. Her first single “Cai, Cai, Balão” written by Assis Valente, came out in 1933. She recorded successful carnaval themes and soon began performing as a duo with her sister Carmen. Her greatest hit was “Cidade Maravilhosa”, the official anthem of Rio de Janeiro.

Aurora Miranda, Custódio Mesquita & Carmen Miranda some time in 1935.

At Cine Republica in São Paulo on 5 February 1936 - Aurora (3) & Carmen Miranda (2); Vassourinha (4); the boys wearing white jackets were the members of Bando da Lua; the guy wearing black jacket and bow-tie on the right is song-writer Custodio Mesquita. All performed at Cine República in São Paulo. 

Aurora Miranda and arranger & band-leader Simon Boutman in 1935's 'Allô Allô Brasil'.

Miranda sisters in São Paulo - 'Folha da Manhã' 19 January 1937.

clear-eyed Aurora Miranda.

Carmen & Aurora fotographed in Buenos Aires.

weekly Argentine magazine 'Antena' - 15 May 1937.

'Para Paulo, cordialmente, Aurora Miranda 1940'. 

Aurora Miranda in the U.S.A. 

Aurora Miranda on top of the world in the USA in the 1940s.

Aurora chats with Walt Disney her boss.

Carmen tells Walt Disney to treat her sister Aurora gently...

on the cover of weekly magazine Carioca.

Aurora Miranda's 10" for Sinter in 1956.

Aurora in a 'The Three Caballeros' glossie; Aurora Miranda's swarthy beauty had its spell on Hollywood for a short while. Aurora though was clever enough to realize that Mondo-Hollywood was a lot of bullshit and took off returning to Brazil to lead a 'common' life as a wife and mother. That turned out to be the right decision. Her sister was not so lucky...

Miranda Sisters are all smiles...

Ary Barroso & Aloysio de Oliveira sit at the piano while Aurora holds her mother and Carmen is squeezed tight by the Uruguayan consul to Los Angeles... at Carmen's house in Beverly Hills.

at Miranda's living room: Aloysio, Carmen, Aurora, Nestor Amaral & Zé Carioca.

Dinner in Hollywood, California: from left to right: ?, ?, Aurora Miranda, Gabriel Richaid, Lavínia Lessa Martins, Vinicius de Moraes, Rosina Pagã, Fernando Vasconcellos Martins, Carmen Miranda & ?  

Gabriel Richaid & his wife Aurora Miranda. Richaid worked for the US government in an aircraft factory during the War. Aurora toured the US with a musical revue during the 1940s. Then Aurora thought she had her fill of the US and moved back to Brazil where she resumed her singing career for a while but soon retired into private life. She lived in Rio de Janeiro until her death.

Aurora Miranda in a Hollywood 'glossie'; clip from PIC magazine - 23 December 1941.

Aurora at a Universal Picture glossie - 1943.

Aurora's autograph shows she had an almost identical hand-writing as her sister Carmen.

Aurora as Estela Monteiro, a singer in a Manhattan night-club in Robert Siodmak's film-noir classic 'Phantom Lady' shot at Universal, in 1943 and released on 28 January 1944. 

Universal Pictures photo session for 'Phantom Lady' (1943).

Carminha and her mother Cecília Miranda in Beverly Hills.

David Alfred Sebastian, Carmen Miranda & Gabriel Alexandre Richaid Jr. in Hollywood.

27 December 1951 - Aurora Miranda arrives in Rio de Janeiro on board of the liner Boa Vizinhança, after having lived in the USA for 11 years. She was accompanied by her husband Gabriel Richaid, a couple of children and her mother. 

3rd August 1952 - Six months after arriving back in Rio de Janeiro, Aurora Miranda records 'Risque', the latest Ary Barroso tune, for Continental Discos. Unfortunately, Aurora's recording didn't catch the public imagination until it was recorded by Linda Baptista.

sisters Aurora & Cecilia saying good-bye to Carmen in 1955. Carmen would be dead within 6 months.

28 August 1955 - Newsreels of Carmen Miranda's colossal funeral in Rio de Janeiro were shown at Rio cinemas 3 weeks after it happened...

6 September 1955 - exactly 4 weeks after Carmen Miranda died on 5 August 1955, Aurora Miranda declared to the Brazilian press that her sister had a lot more money than husband Dave Sebastian had acknowledged to the US newspapers. Aurora said Carmen had properties in California that far exceeded 120,000 dollars and not only 13,000 as Sebastian claimed. Carmen had stocks and bonds in excess of half a million dollars. 

25 March 1956 - OESP says Radio Nacional Paulista announces Aurora Miranda in a series of radio shows presented by Aloysio de Oliveira, starting on 2nd April 1956. Pianist song-writer Vadico would be the musical director.

25 March 1956 - On the very same day OESP brought a note about Aurora Miranda's programmes at Radio Nacional de São Paulo, Cine Normandie announces the re-play of 20th Century Fox 1941 production of 'That night in Rio' (Uma noite no Rio). This was probably the last time a Carmen Miranda movie was shown in a major cinema in Brazil.  

8 April 1956 - daily OESP columnist Mary Wynne writes a note about Aurora Miranda's visit to Sao Paulo to take part in Radio Nacional Paulista's hour 'Melodias Inesquecíveis'. Ms Wynne shows her age confessing she'd met Aurora & her sister Carmen in the 1930s; 10 years later Mary saw Carmen Miranda's night club act at the Baker Hotel's Mural Room in Dallas, Texas.

In 1956, Aurora sings at Radio Nacional Paulista & TV Paulista on Mondays at 8:00 pm and at Radio Mayrink Veiga in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesdays at 10:00 pm. revista Careta no.2497. 

Radiolandia #338, 15 October 1960: Aurora Miranda confesses: 'I'm tired of singing!' 

Aurora sings at Carlos Machado's revue 'Mister Samba' presented at Rio's night-club 'Night & Day' as homage to song-writer Ary Barroso - 'O Cruzeiro' 19 October 1957; on the right Aurora is on the cover of Revista do Radio 21st September 1957.

revista Intervalo de 1966 mostra Aurora Miranda sendo recebida no 'Bossaudade', seu programa semanal gravado no palco do Teatro Record na Rua da Consolação em São Paulo.

This article was printed on Intervalo, Brazil's TV Guide in 1966. Aurora Miranda who had returned to Brazil fifteen years earlier, was all of a sudden, the main attraction at 'Bossaudade' a weekly musical show introduced by popular singer Elizeth Cardoso. 

Since returning from the USA in 1950, Aurora tried to live a private life. Sometimes she'd give in and accepted a guest appearance on radio or TV. At  'Bossaudade', a TV show MCed by Elizethe Cardoso Aurora talked about her famous sister and her life in Hollywood. Then she sang a few songs and was applauded heartily by all the theatre.

Many thanks to Ruan Esteves who posted the article on his page and Gustavo Lopes who showed it to me. 

Vinte anos depois Aurora Miranda volta com Bossa

Renata Fronzi, Marlene, Aurora, Dick Farney and Luiz Delfino in Rio, circa 1956. 

Ninguém esperava o sucesso da apresentação, mas Elizeth deu corda e Aurora aproveitou. 

Com calorosos aplausos do exigente público do Bossaudade, Aurora Miranda se apresentou na televisão de São Paulo, atuando num musical. Essa primeira apresentação constou de um bate-papo entre ela e Elizeth Cardoso , durante a qual contou passagens pictorescas da vida artística de Carmen Miranda..., e no final, cantou numeros musicais, sucessos antigos, que ainda fazem vibrar as platéias.  Terminou emocionada, cantando sua criação 'Cidade Maravilhosa', hoje hino oficial da Guanabara.

Mamãe deixou filhinha espantada com o seu sucesso.

Aurora Miranda se vale de sua simpatia para quebrar a resistência do marido Gabriel Richaid - e da filha Maria Paula, que ficou espantada com o sucesso da mãe - e, vez por outra, aparece num programa de TV, só para matar a saudade dos fãs de ontem e de hoje.  

Mas não pretende se ligar a contrato a qualquer emissora 'Cantarei muitas vezes quanto possa, no Bossaudade, no Corte-Rayol Show e no Fino da Bossa, porque laços afetivos muito fortes prendem minha familia a Paulo Machado de Carvalho, meu padrinho de casamento. Mas meu marido e meus filhos são o que tenho de melhor na vida e a obrigação contratual implicaria em prejuízos na minha vida doméstica.'

Aurora Miranda, nos Estados Unidos, onde morou durante  muitos anos, apareceu em vários filmes, ao lado de Ella Raines, Robert Taylor e Heddy Lamar. Foi estrela do famoso 'The three caballeros' (Você já foi à Bahia?), em que pela primeira vez Walt Disney empregou seus desenhos animados ao lado de atores. Revista Intervalo - 1966

Aurora Miranda later in life, in her apartment in Rio de Janeiro.

Gabriel Richaid, filho de Aurora Miranda junto de Carlus Maximus na Exposição sobre Carmen Miranda no Memorial da América Latina em S.Paulo em 2009.