Mirandamania

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I have an potentially unhealthy obsession with the singer and actress Carmen Miranda. In Brazil I was able to visit several Carmen Miranda-related locations including the Art Deco Casino in Urca where she performed in the 1930s and the tiny little Carmen Miranda museum in Flamengo.  We even got to see a lavish Carmen Miranda musical production. A lot of the strips I drew around this time were influenced by the Brazilian Bombshell.

Trivia fans take note.  Carmen Miranda was neither born nor died in Brazil!  At the height of her Hollywood  career she was the highest-earning woman in the United States.  She owned and ran a hat shop before she became a successful entertainer. She died after suffering a heart attack live on the Jimmy Durante Show.