TAMPA, Fla. — The music of the 1980s comes alive with the Irene Cara estate auction at Richard Stedman on Saturday, November 18. The 280-lot sale spans the lifelong career of the late musician, who began as a child performer and capped her career with the films Fame and Flashdance…What A Feeling. The catalog is now available for bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
Born Irene Cara Escalera (1959-2022), the actress best remembered as Coco from Alan Parker’s 1980 motion picture hit Fame, Cara actually began with child prodigy appearances at Carnegie Hall. She was a cast member of the PBS program Electric Company in the 1970s and would hit superstardom with Fame and later her vocal performance on the hit single for Flashdance in 1983. Cara won Oscar, Grammy and Tony awards across her remarkable career.
Stedman’s sale is wide-ranging, featuring clothing, jewelry, awards and proclamations, mementos, videos and vinyl, posters, vintage playbills and artworks as well as the dress she was wearing when she won a Grammy, a Roots gold pendant, a touring wardrobe trunk, photos, childhood memorabilia and scores of dresses, handbags, shoes, bracelets and stage wear.
One of the sale’s top lots is Cara’s Fame cast baseball cap from the production. Found in her touring trunk by auction catalogers, it was clearly a personally important possession from a key moment in her career. The cap is estimated at $1,000-$3,000.
Cara attended the 1983 Grammy Awards to perform her nominated — and ultimately winning — single Flashdance…What A Feeling, defeating Linda Ronstadt, Donna Summer, Sheena Easton and Bonnie Tyler for the honor of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for that year. She wore this dress to the occasion and on stage during her performance, clearly a must-have for any fan of the talented star. It is estimated at $300-$900 and may represent the stealth lot of the sale.
As a child, Cara participated in the circa-1969 Little Miss America pageant, where she rose to semi-finalist. This sash was also found in the touring trunk that housed her most prized possessions. It carries an estimate of $300-$900.
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