Irene Cara, Alan Parker, Maureen Teefy, & Paul McCrane Interview on "Fame" (June 28, 1980)

Fame is a 1980 American teen musical drama film directed by Alan Parker. Set in New York City, it chronicles the lives and hardships of students attending the High School of Performing Arts (known today as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School), from their auditions to their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years.
Producer David De Silva conceived the premise in 1976, partially inspired by the musical A Chorus Line. He commissioned playwright Christopher Gore to write the script, originally titled Hot Lunch, before selling it to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). After he was hired to direct the film, Parker rewrote the script with Gore, aiming for a darker and more dramatic tone. The script's subject matter received criticism by the New York Board of Education, which prevented the production from filming in the actual High School of Performing Arts. The film was shot on location in New York City, with principal photography beginning in July 1979 and concluding after 91 days. Parker encountered a difficult filming process, which included conflicts with U.S. labor unions over various aspects of the film's production.
MGM released Fame using a platform technique which involved opening the film in several cities before releasing it nationwide. The film grossed over $42 million worldwide against a production budget of $8.5 million. It initially received a mixed response from reviewers who praised the music, but criticized the dramatic tone, pacing and direction although the film has been reappraised over the years. The film received several awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards for Best Original Song ("Fame") and Best Original Score, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song ("Fame"). Its success spawned a media franchise encompassing several television series, stage musicals and a remake released in 2009.
Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959[note 1] - November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress[13] who rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film Fame, and for recording the film's title song "Fame", which reached No. 1 in several countries.
In 1983, Cara co-wrote and sang the song "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (from the film Flashdance), for which she shared an Academy Award for Best Original Song and won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1984. Before her success with Fame, Cara portrayed the title character Sparkle Williams in the original 1976 musical drama film Sparkle.
Sir Alan William Parker CBE (14 February 1944 - 31 July 2020)[1] was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts, many of which won awards for creativity, he began screenwriting and directing films.
Parker was known for using a wide range of filmmaking styles and working in differing genres. He directed musicals, including Bugsy Malone (1976), Fame (1980), Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982), The Commitments (1991) and Evita (1996); true-story dramas, including Midnight Express (1978), Mississippi Burning (1988), Come See the Paradise (1990) and Angela's Ashes (1999); family dramas, including Shoot the Moon (1982), and horrors and thrillers including Angel Heart (1987) and The Life of David Gale (2003).[2]
His films won nineteen BAFTA awards, ten Golden Globes and six Academy Awards. His film Birdy was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the Top Ten Films of 1984 and won the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury prize at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. Parker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the British film industry and knighted in 2002. He was active in both British cinema and American cinema, along with being a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain and lecturing at various film schools.
In 2000, he received the Royal Photographic Society Lumière Award for major achievement in cinematography, video or animation.[3] In 2013, he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the highest honour the British Film Academy can give a filmmaker. Parker donated his personal archive to the British Film Institute's National Archive in 2015.[4]
Maureen Jane Teefy is an American actress. She is best known for her appearances in the films Fame (1980), Grease 2 (1982), Supergirl (1984), and Startime (1992).
Her last film appearances to date were in the 1997 film Men Seeking Women, then 20 years later in 2017's Hollywood Girl: The Peg Entwistle Story.
Paul David McCrane (born January 19, 1961) is an American film, television and theatre actor, as well as a television director and singer. He is known for his portrayal of Montgomery MacNeil in the 1980 film Fame, Frank Berry in the 1984 film The Hotel New Hampshire, Emil Antonowsky in RoboCop, and Robert Romano on the NBC medical drama television series ER.

[@DEKMAN99]

Irene Cara was a 💎 of a billion.

[@sarabrown3821]

RIP irene. A great actress

[@elijahdeweese]

RIP NICE TO MEET YOU IN HEAVEN

[@Outpost36]

Fly in glory, Irene. That was your last dance on this dark little planet.

[@mysticakhenaton1701]

WE...make it a DARK planet. with our dark thoughts, and the way we treat each other, and the environment.

[@eddiehanson2738]

@@mysticakhenaton1701 I was paraphrasing a line from the movie. You are quite correct, but I see life as being full of love and light. We need to choose what we see, and choose carefully what we do.

[@rosendomaki3634]

En 30 días 1°Aniversario Living for Ever. Nov25th. #IreneCara Alto al Fuego y mutua seguridad Donbass/Gaza #OrtotaxiaPeru

[@kengeorgejones6855]

Thanks. Fame had a great cast, even if the movie was often hokum. It still made you care. These interviews press them a bit, which isn't what I expected. They handle it well.

[@thewizboy]

Maureen Teefy was also in GREASE 2

[@natejennings5884]

Paul McCrane also played one of the gang members in Robo Cop (1987). He successfully nailed two wildly different characters in two classic movies.

[@Sunrise6410]

She was so young and wide eye here. Still had her innocence before the ugliness of the business took over. Irene did an interview in 2002 that's on KZbin when a similar question was asked to her about parents having their children in the entertainment business. Her reply was a complete 180-degree turn compared to what she said here in 1980. Nevertheless, she was the REAL deal. A full on entertainer, the complete package. ❤

[@rosendomaki3634]

El pueblo es eterno. #RenunciaBoluarte #CastilloLibertad #APnuncaMas Ogni giorno ti voglio #IreneCara C@r@ performance @mic@

[@MrJimmy527]

Irene Cara as the Voice of Leonette from the Jungle King

[@socaljarhead7670]

Irene Cara was equal parts elegant and cute. A rare combination in a woman.

[@glenh6503]

❤AGREED ❤❤❤

[@honey4503]

4:10 She just turned 21 then 😂