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Diva. Di-va n. pl. divas [It, lit., goddess, fr. L, fem. of divus, divine, god—more at DEITY] (1883): Prima Donna. Thus, the dictionary describes what we know as the great female singer who dominates our culture. Brazil has had her share of these goddesses, and Brazzil is taking this opportunity to take a closer look at these ladies. A new generation of these great ladies of song is growing up, but we would be doing an immense disservice to the listeners of today, if we left out those that came before and created the tradition of the Brazilian DIVA.
CARMEN MIRANDA (1909-1955)
The Lady with the Tutti Frutti Hat.
Carmen was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha on February 9, 1909 in Marco de Canavezes, Província de Beira-Alta in Portugal. Thus, she was not born Brazilian as many think. She was still a toddler when her family moved to Rio de Janeiro, where she was raised in the carioca Bohemian environment. She loved to sing, something that cost her a job as a necktie saleslady. The manager of the establishment fired her for distracting her co-workers, who stopped working to listen to her sing.
Her début on the carioca stages was a success. Josué de Barros, well known composer of that era, perceived her potential when he first saw her. He resolved to invest in her career, paying for singing and diction lessons and even accompanying her to radio shows and record companies. This effort was not in vain. Soon she recorded her first record.
Carmen Miranda was a petite woman, somewhere around 153 cm (just over 5 feet). Consequently, she liked to wear very high-heeled platform shoes. For this reason, radio personality César Ladeira baptized her "The notable little one."

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Best Supporting Actors Among Oscar Winners
The voters could have stacked this ballot with no less than three actors – Hackman, Richard Harris and Morgan Freeman – but they settled on Hackman, and a good thing: Otherwise, the three would have cancelled each other out and the Oscar would have gone to someone less deserving.
Hackman is absolutely brilliant as Sheriff Little Bill Daggett, a middle-age frontier cop who is extremely upset to have his planned retirement in a home he’s building on the range upset by a dust-up over whores and the arrival of bounty hunters in his once quiet county.
2. Kevin Kline, “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988)
It isn’t easy playing dumb and funny, and it’s harder still to imagine an actor getting an Oscar for it. But Kline was fabulous as Otto, an overachieving thief who is his own worst enemy. I was thrilled that Kline won this award because comedy usually does get no respect and because he is perhaps the most under-used comic talent in movies.
I preferred Pesci in “Raging Bull,” where he played Jake LaMotta’s frustrated brother. But, he only managed a nomination for that role, and got the gold for this one, playing a mobster with a lovably funny personality and a quick-trigger temper.
4. Jack Nicholson, “Terms of Endearment” (1983)
It’s hard to think of this performance as supporting since Jack’s former astronaut Garrett Breedlove is the dominant character. But, of course, the movie belonged to Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger as a mother and daughter torn by disappointments and reunited in tragedy – except when Nicholson was around, and then it was his movie.
5. Timothy Hutton, “Ordinary People” (1980)
No way, no how was this a supporting performance. Hutton’s Conrad Jarrett, a teenager filled with guilt over his brother’s accidental drowning, was the central character and the “leads” – Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore – supported him.
But it’s hard to get a Best Actor nomination for a newcomer, so Paramount Pictures campaigned him in the supporting category and got away with it. I hold nothing against Hutton; he gave an astonishing performance – the best of his mostly disappointing career, as it has turned out.
Best of All Supporting Actor Nominees
2. Kline, “A Fish Called Wanda”
4. Ralph Fiennes, “Schindler’s List” (1993) – His Nazi concentration camp commander Amon Goeth is one of the most chillingly sociopathic villains in screen history.
5. Edward Norton, “Primal Fear” (1996) – An ingenious bit of bait and switch, playing an altar boy faking dissociative identity disorder to beat a murder rap.
Whether you want an answer to an obscure movie question, argue about the Oscar nominees, wonder who would have won a fight between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, or who’s the best Batman - Christian Bale or George Clooney (Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton aren’t in contention) - I’ll take it on. And more. I’ve covered Hollywood as a reporter, critic and movie editor for nearly 30 years and in that time have interviewed hundreds of stars, gotten under the skin of dozens of movie executives, and rescued at least one movie - Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” - from the philistines guarding the gate.

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